Jewish students celebrate Purim holiday

Superblock was quite the place to be Thursday night at 5:30 p.m. All sorts of entertainers blanketed the area, including jugglers, bands and even a unicycle rider. The entertainers were gathered to take part in a parade to celebrate Purim, a festive Jewish holiday, which began Thursday evening. The parade was led by a Mummer's Band, which consisted of about 15 men and women dressed in colorful sequined outfits. They played a variety of music, ranging from "Mr. Sandman" to "Hevenu Shalom Aleichem." A brass band followed shortly behind, contributing to the festive mood. The two jugglers and the unicyclist were from the performing group Give and Take Jugglers. Dave Gillis, who juggled fire as he marched along, is a University alumnus. "This is what a masters in liberal arts is used for," he quipped. The parade started in Superblock, travelled across the 38th Street footbridge and continued on Locust Walk. The marchers cut onto Spruce Street near the Quadrangle and then back onto Locust Walk. They ended their travels at Houston Hall. Afterward the crowd gathered in Bodek Lounge, and the band played "Happy Days are Here Again" while students mingled and took advantage of the free champagne and hamantashen. Then everyone sat down and Mask & Wig took the stage. They performed two skits and sang two songs from their current show. The performance was followed by a reading of the Megillah, the story of Purim. And the festivities concluded with a few songs by the a cappella group Pennsylvania 6-5000. The evening was sponsored and organized by the Steinhardt Jewish Heritage Program, whose goal is to appeal to the mainstream Jewish population at the University. Many students said they feel the organization has been successful. "I really think it's good that they're doing things to promote Jewish identity on Penn's campus," said Wharton freshman Michelle Bornstein. Engineering freshman Graeme Lemmer summed up the evening. "Nothing beats the spirit of Purim," he said.

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