Good morning! Bom dia! Boker tov!Shabbat Shalom to all 🖖Tomorrow is the start of my favorite holiday Purim. 🎉🎉🎉Growing up in a former Soviet Union we were not encouraged to celebrate religious holidays. We were all supposed to be good marxists and atheists.So of course many did.We celebrated in secret. We made the traditional food and (my family was lucky) my great uncle could read Yiddish as well as speak it and knew all the blessings, prayers and traditions by heart.Purim had Purimshpiles done in private homes (apartments) for about 10-20 people at a time…couldn’t fit anymore and it was safer that way anyway.Sometimes plays and sometimes puppet shows they had strong political undertones and were absolute gems!I hope that the script’s have survived and someone will publish them some day.Purim was also fun because of the hamantaschen. I didn’t grow up in a family of great cooks or where bubbi used to make delicious meals and bake amazing goodies so hamantaschen made from scratch with poppyseeds (my favorite) and prunes…the only available ingredients, was a real treat.And of course Purim like most Jewish holidays is a celebration of survival.Jewish people survived despite of great odds and vanquished their enemies, their would be murderers.And all thanks to a woman!A beautiful, strong woman, Ester, who saved the Jews of Shushan!It’s very empowering for a young girl to hear the story of Purim and to see this queen portrayed in plays by small and large, short and tall, heavy and slender women.It taught me that no matter your outward appearance it’s your inner strength that counts!Here in the west purim is a fun holiday akin to a carnival, but it’s so much more!Especially now.Wishing everyone Purim Sameach 🎉May our hostages come home and May our people be safe wherever they are 🖖✡️Shabbat Shalom everyone!The Queen Papercut