Purim and the creative and spiritual pulse of Jerusalem

Jerusalem’s thriving cultural community of artists, musicians and intellectuals not only rivals the creativity of Tel Aviv but is infused with the deep spirituality that comes with living in the Holy City.

By LAURA KELLY
Revelers at last year’s Purim Olam Haba party. (photo credit: DAVID MOR)
Revelers at last year’s Purim Olam Haba party.
(photo credit: DAVID MOR)
On Sunday, March 15, the third annual Purim Olam Haba party will take place on the Mamilla Rooftop, graduating from its previous locations of Yemen Moshe and Mount Zion. The party aims to bring together Israelis and olim with a host of attractions including music, art and Jewish learning.
Jerusalem’s thriving cultural community of artists, musicians and intellectuals not only rivals the creativity of Tel Aviv but is infused with the deep spirituality that comes with living in the Holy City.
This scene culminates in the Purim Olam Haba party.
“We need to make a meaningful party that actually has to do with Purim,” said Yitzchok Meir Cohen, the director of the Jewish Unity Project and one of the organizers of the event. The party is a collective of many organizations, each of which attracts a certain hevre to the dynamic of the party, Cohen says, itself a sampling of the diversity of Jerusalem.
Cohen’s organization works towards bridging the gap between English-speaking olim and Israelis.
“What we want to do is bring together all different types of Jews, bringing together spirit and party.”
Also sponsoring the event is the Abraham Hostel, recently named the eighth-best large hostel worldwide. It attracts a young, engaged, international crowd and frequently puts on events that provide visitors with the opportunity to become involved during their stay.
The party is also sponsored by Trumpeldor Vintage Clothing, a popular secondhand store in the heart of Nahlaot run by husband-and-wife team Avi and Shira Friedman, members of the Anglo community in the neighborhood.
Art for Life, an organization that works to showcase local artists in music and art while raising funds for charity, is cohosting the event.
The entertainment will consists of popular DJ Duboor- Dvir Cohen playing Balkan breakbeats, and G-Nome project, best described as “live-tronica.”
In advance of Sunday’s party, various groups involved with Purim Olam Haba will organize a public Shabbat lunch on the light rail tracks – part of a wider initiative to better integrate the local and international, spiritual, secular and creative residents of Jerusalem.
“The main core of people that come to this party are very spiritual people,” Cohen says.
Tickets are NIS 50 at the door, NIS 40 in advance. More information: jewishunityproject.com/purim-in-olam-haba-2014/