Purim is this coming Sunday, and I have to come up with a costume for my small son. This year he really understands the story, and he wants to be Haman. Yep, you got it right, the villain of the piece who schemes to destroy the Jews of Persia, is foiled by the heroism of Esther and her Uncle Mordechai, (and did anyone else ever notice as a kid that Esther was in a position to do something because she concealed her background?), and in the end is hanged on the scaffold Haman had ordered constructed to execute Mordechai. Hearing tales like that, is it any wonder I understood irony before I started school? But that’s beside the point.
So lacking utterly in costuming inspiration, I decided to look for images of Haman online. He’s generally depicted as wearing a lot of black, which really doesn’t make sense to me. Yes, black is the color of villainy in our culture, but this was a guy whose vanity and hubris were what brought his downfall. He was the King’s principal adviser. I’d expect him to be wearing cloth-of-gold and purple silks, not black. Ok, inspiration is beginning to strike, and I think I can find something suitable in my stash. Tunic with wrapped over-robe, but let’s see what else Google can turn up for me.
So I clicked on a link for a Purim carnival, to find that…it’s an SCA event in Pennsylvania. My first thought was “wow, that’s unusual!” And my second was “No, wait.” Back when I was in college, my oath-sister had been Seneschal of the SCA group in Bloomington. We had needed a theme for a spring event, and there was darn near open warfare between the warrior and pacifist contingents. We needed something that both could enjoy, and the date provided inspiration. I suggested a Purim Carnival. Never mind that I was the only Jewish member of the group at the time. Never mind that no one else even knew what Purim was, let alone what a Purim Carnival entailed or how to organize one. For that matter, never mind that I had never organized anything larger than a family Seder at the time. I agreed to be autocrat, along with a friend, and we did it. In spite of things like my lack of written recipes and anything resembling administrative skills, we carried it off. If we could do that in 1979, then I don’t know why I should be surprised to find it being done in 2007. It would be more surprising if it weren’t.
And having figured that out, I’m going back to designing a suitably gaudy costume for Haman. I wonder if I can convince my son to wear a gold cloth turban.
Any opportunity to wear a gold cloth turban should be taken with hesitation or reservation. Especially if it includes gaudy brooch and peacock feather.