The costumes are packed and the hamantaschen have been consumed, but the memories of the Jewish Federation of Greater Philadelphia’s Kehillot Purim programs are still very much alive. Showing their ruach (spirit), the neighborhood groups reunited their communities after time apart due to the pandemic for carnivals, parades and volunteer opportunities. Throughout the Greater Philadelphia area, families and individuals came out to participate in the Jewish holiday that commemorates the thwarted plan to destroy the Jewish population of the Persian Empire.
The Kehillah of Buxmont brought Purim to the Horsham Center (formerly the Abramson Center) for Jewish Life as part of their Joy of Purim Project. Volunteers delivered mishloach manot (Purim gift bags) with goodies, including cards and crafts created by synagogue children, to the residents on Tuesday, March 15 and Wednesday, March 16.
Close to 1,000 people showed up at Reform Congregation Keneseth Israel for Kehillah of Old York Road’s Purim Carnival on Sunday, March 13. This Israeli-themed event featured fun for the whole family, from music to inflatables to a Magic Mirror Studio and more!
It was a packed, wonderful day for Lower Merion Kehillah’s PurimFest as parents and children celebrated at the Kaiserman JCC on Sunday, March 13. The program featured games, bouncy houses and mask-decorating.
Northeast Jewish Life kept Purim alive throughout the weekend with a car and walking parade that began at Beth Ami and ended at Politz Hebrew Academy on Sunday, March 20. Attendees wore costumes, decorated their cars, and brought matanot l’evyonim (charitable gifts for those in need) for the Jewish Federation’s Mitzvah Food Program as well as the Emergency Response Fund for the crisis in Ukraine.
***
The Kehillot are part of the Jewish Federation’s neighborhood initiative to foster a vibrant Jewish community throughout the Greater Philadelphia region. To learn more about your Kehillah or community group, please contact Senior Director of Leadership Development and Community Engagement Addie Lewis Klein at alewis@jewishphilly.org.