Purim Ponderings

                When I started this blog, I had a hard time finding an appropriate background design. I wanted something academic-looking, but none of the templates exactly fit, so I ended up choosing the one I have now – a world map. But it’s certainly turned out to be apropos!

                One of the nicest things about studying in Israel is the Jewish holidays, and this week, it’s Purim. We don’t have classes tomorrow, and there are parties going on all over. Purim’s the celebration of the story of Esther; traditional elements of the celebration include wine, pastries, and costumes. On Tuesday there were already children wandering around dressed as various things. It’s kind of like Halloween, but without the pervading death motif.

                We talked about the origins of the tradition in Hebrew today. One of the reasons given for costumes was Esther’s concealment of her identity, and the fact that God is hidden in the story of Esther (He’s never explicitly mentioned). Also, the article explained, dressing up as someone else symbolized the many plot twists and fortune reversals in the story of Esther. (My face must have shown my skepticism at the second reason; the professor paused to say “yes, Lauren, I know it’s a stretch.”)

                Also in Hebrew this week, I gave a short presentation on a couple of campaign ads for the upcoming Israeli elections. No one else wanted to present the first week of class, so I ended up volunteering; it went well, and now I’m covered for the rest of the semester as far as that goes.

                I really like my class schedule here. It’s quite different from Harvard. Instead of starting 7 minutes late, classes usually end 15 minutes early (they’re scheduled for an hour and forty-five minutes). In addition, each normal class really is three hours a week; they don’t add in sections and labs and CA hours like Harvard does. Between this, having easier classes in general, and not having ROTC to get me up early or a cappella to keep me up late, I honestly feel like I’m on vacation.

                Being able to wake up at seven and not five means that I have a lot more time for sleep, but this unexpected plethora of free time is also very helpful for other things – learning German, for instance, or touring the country with friends. Lately I’ve been spending a lot of time reading the Great Books: I’ve finished the Iliad, Metamorphoses, several plays of Euripides, the Orestia, and more.

                I grew reading a lot of modern books that idealized ancient books – time after time I read about protagonists inspired by stories of grand heroes and epic quests, of daring charges and impossible victories, of dragons and knights and princesses and so on and so forth. But for all the classics I’ve read, I’ve yet to come across these stories.

                Of course, it’s entirely possible I haven’t gotten to them yet, and I’m sure they exist somewhere. But I can’t help but think that many of the people who moon about these stories have never actually read them. The Iliad is, for sure, an amazing poetic work. It’s the story of a great battle fought by demi-gods. It’s also the story of a bunch of trash-talking rich guys who decimate an entire city through pillaging, arson, rape, and infanticide because one man ran off with another man’s wife (this man, it should be noted, had several wives, not to mention concubines). Not what I consider the stuff of legends; surely there are better role models out there.

                Anyway, that’s my rant on the Iliad; apparently if you want inspiring legendarium, you have to go to Lord of the Rings. I could go into a long philosophical muse on the place of legend in pagan and Christian thought, and how that influences what I’m saying, but that’s not the point of this blog. In any case, I’m thoroughly enjoying my pseudo-vacation and looking forward to a long weekend. I hope everyone has a lovely Purim, and I’ll talk to you next week!