Jerusalem plans first Purim parade in 42 years, despite war
City’s arts and culture department taps local artists, evacuees, and residents for celebrations even as holiday is ‘draped in sadness’ amid ongoing fighting in Gaza
Jessica Steinberg, The Times of Israel's culture and lifestyles editor, covers the Sabra scene from south to north and back to the center
There was no war or 130 hostages in Gaza when the Jerusalem municipality started planning its first Adloyada Purim parade in 42 years.
Yet despite the difficult atmosphere in Israel following the October 7 Hamas attacks, Jerusalem is celebrating Purim this year with a parade.
The city’s Adloyada will include 30 floats and seven stages along the one-kilometer downtown Jerusalem route from 10 a.m. until 2 p.m., on Shushan Purim, March 25, when the ancient walled city celebrates the holiday.
“I’m proud that Jerusalem is going ahead with this,” said Tamar Berliner, who heads arts and cultural events for Jerusalem. “Canceling anything cultural during a war is easy. It’s challenging to carefully plan an event like this when Purim is draped in sadness.”
Adloyada, shorthand for the Aramaic phrase in the Talmud describing the commandment to drink and make merry as part of the holiday celebration, is the name often given to Purim parades held across Israel.
Jerusalem celebrates Purim on Shushan Purim, one day after the rest of the country. The capital city last held Adloyada parades in 1957 and then in 1982, said Berliner.
But those Adloyada parades were often focused on marchers showing off their Purim costumes, said Berliner, who has wanted to plan an Adloyada parade for years.
She got the go-ahead months ago, with plans to organize it with the staff of the Karon Theater, a children’s theater complex in the city’s Liberty Bell Park.
That was before October 7, when Hamas terrorists attacked southern Israel, killing about 1,200 people and taking 253 hostages. Once Purim came around, the Jerusalem municipality decided to go ahead with the original plan.
“That took a lot of courage from the mayor,” said Berliner, referring to Moshe Lion. “To be in a war, and to say you believe the war will end, and that we have to figure out how to celebrate despite all that.”
It’s a subject that’s discussed widely in every Israeli town and city, said Berliner, who recently returned from a conference for municipal cultural departments in Eilat where she spoke about Jerusalem’s decision to go forward with its Purim plans, along with its recent marathon and events around Ramadan.
“There’s no sense of instant happiness right now,” she said, “especially in Jerusalem which has suffered so many losses. You have to look at things a little differently.”
Her response was to create an Adloyada that’s specific to Jerusalem, without any floats or presentations that are “ready-made,” in order to make the artistic process part of the event, said Berliner.
Working with the recently renamed Karon Theater, with its staff of artists, puppeteers and theater designers, local artists took part in the creation of floats and presentations, alongside evacuees from the north and south currently living in local hotels.
Each participating team chose a theme that relayed their wishes for Jerusalem residents, for children, for evacuees and for the city’s future.
As a result, said Berliner, there are familiar figures like Sammy the Fireman, as well as the story of Holocaust savior Janusz Korczak, along with a group of kangaroos created by a group of evacuees to show that they want to be held and hugged by the city.
There are also works created by the Tower of David Museum, and by the Bloomfield Science Museum about Albert Einstein as a child.
“The whole city was drafted into this march,” said Berliner. A massive wooden lion, the symbol of Jerusalem, which was supposed to be used as part of the canceled Midburn Negev festival in November, will also play a role in the event.
The parade will begin at the Inbal Hotel, adjacent to the Karon Theater complex, and continue on King David Street and Shlomo Hamelech to Tzahal Square, Jaffa Road and King George Street before ending at the plaza in front of the former Mashbir building.
Stages will be set up in front of the YMCA, at the Mamilla intersection, Tzahal Square, Safra Square, Beit Yoel, Zion Square and the Mashbir plaza, with musical events including orchestras, DJs, oud players and other performance groups.
