On the eve of Purim, the Russian Jewish Congress hosted a charity evening in the style of hip-hop

Today, March 2, the Russian Jewish Congress (RJC), on the eve of the most cheerful Jewish holiday Purim, held a charity evening in the style of hip-hop. They decided to celebrate the holiday on a grand scale in the synagogue on Poklonnaya Hill. More than 100 people came to the synagogue for the holiday, including actress Yuri Rutberg, director Iosif Reichelgauz, Chief Rabbi of the Russian Federation Adolf Shayevich, director Mark Rozovsky, Moscow City Duma deputy Evgeny Bunimovich, journalist Alexander Minkin, executive director of the RJC Anna Bokshitskaya, Plenipotentiary Minister of the Israeli Embassy in the Russian Federation Ronen Kraus.

“Purim reminds us of the salvation of the Jewish people from destruction in the 4th century BC,” the organizers of the evening explained to Kommersant. “On this day, the Jews remember how, during the time of the Persian king Ahasuerus, his wife Esther and her uncle Mordechai exposed the king’s adviser Haman, who wanted to destroy the queen and all the Jewish people.”

“This year we decided to hold Purimshpil in the hip-hop style, which arose in the late 1970s among multicultural and multinational youth, among whom were young Jews,” Mikhail Savin, official representative of the RJC, told Kommersant.— In addition, hip-hop includes elements of recitative and poetry, which are closely related to traditional Jewish culture, where recitation and reading of the Torah scrolls also play an important role.” According to him, “holding Purim in the style of hip-hop is an interesting experiment for RJC, which combines two cultures – traditional Jewish and modern youth.”

It was possible to get to the event by invitation, which had to be supported by a charitable contribution in the amount of 10 thousand rubles. The main purpose of the event, according to Mr. Savin, was to raise funds for food for children from low-income families. “One of the Purim commandments is shalakhmones, edible gifts,” he explained.

The guests were introduced to the Old Testament story in the genre of recitative to music performed by the actors of the Dmitry Brusnikin Workshop. The role of King Ahashverosh was played by Rodion Dolgirev, and Haman by Daniil Gazizullin. Esther was played by Maria Lapshina. While the performance was going on, the guests treated themselves to traditional Purim sweets, “Aman’s ears” pies, drank vodka and wine, “so as not to distinguish good from evil,” as the commandment of the holiday says.

Pavel Korobov