Un-Halloween Party 2006

Halloween is so~ pagan. that’s the short of it, and i don’t have the time to get into the whole thing right now, but shouldn’t there be some alternate celebration that could be experienced instead that is more uplifting and wholesome? my friend Tammie Lindsey had given me the idea about two years ago referencing the Jewish celebration of Purim. and after studying into it over the last month or so, i really saw that there could be something to that idea. so last Sunday i had a un-Halloween Party this year at my house.

(photo taken by Andrea using Aiko’s camera)

me, Aiko, Thea, and Moises doing last minute dinner preparations. i think was cutting some Italian parsley for my eggplant and lentil salad and Aiko was finishing her salad while Thea was helping Moises cut the persimmons.

there was a lot of food or i should say enough food for everybody because in the end there was just some leftovers as opposed to a lot. there was bread, bruchetta, fruit, persimmons, egg rolls, eggplant and lentil salad, chili garlic roasted brocolli, salad, and baklava. here are some close-up pictures of the food.

fruit salad

bruchetta

(photo taken by Aiko)

after dinner we sang some songs. i don’t know why Andrea and Heidi are giving amused smiles at me.

(photo taken by Aiko)

i had forgotten how funny looking i get when i play guitar. maybe that’s it. anyways, after singing we went into studying the Jewish celebration of Purim by going directly to where it started… in the Book of Esther. for me it was quite an interesting study over the past month and as always there is always much more to learn and much more deepness to go.

(photo taken by Aiko)

for those of you who don’t know, Purim is celebrated in the 14th and 15th month of Adar which is around early spring. the upcoming Purim is March 4-5, 2007. so why have a party around Halloween? well, not only is the overall theme of Purim the “hiddeness of God revealed” but two principle social commandments of Purim are: 1) sending food gifts to friends, and 2) giving charity to the poor. Thanksgiving is just around the corner as well as the upcoming food drive that the youth and young adults will be participating in. so in the spirit of Purim and the timing of giving to charity i figured why not? this year’s Bible study was an overview, however i think it would be cool to continue this tradition next year where we can break the story down in its elements.

i have more photos and will post them in a gallery when time permits.