No Way to Spend Purim

It is said, that all Jewish Holydays follow a similar theme: They tried to kill us, we survived, let's eat...

The festival of Purim (which begins on Thursday night) is no exception. It recalls, according to the above link,

Jewish exiles from the Kingdom of Judah who had been living in the Babylonian captivity (6th Century BCE) found themselves under Persian rule after Babylonia was in turn conquered by the Persian Empire. According to the Book of Esther, Haman, royal vizier to King Ahasuerus / Xerxes, planned to kill the Jews, but his plans were foiled

Jewish people commemorate Purim by:

1. Listening to the public reading, usually in synagogue, of the Book of Esther in the evening and again in the following morning (k'riat megilla)
2. Sending food gifts to friends (mishloach manot)
3. Giving charity to the poor (matanot la'evyonim)
4. Eating a festive meal (se`udah)

much of it while wearing funny costumes.

Nice.

John McCain just toured Sderot, in Israel and had this to say, of the Hamas fired rockets, thousands of which have hit Sderot and which continue to be fired daily:

"To live with an advance notice of 15 seconds is not the way for children to celebrate Purim", said Senator John McCain Wednesday afternoon during a tour of Sderot with Defense Minister Ehud Barak.

"No nation can afford not to respond when attacked or when its citizens are attacked," added the Republican presidential candidate.

If you really want to know what's going on in the Middle East - and what's not being reported elsewhere - you should read Israeli newspapers.

15 Seconds refers to the early warning the residents of Sderot receive that a missile has been launched. Palestinian propagandists frequently argue that Israel uses "disproportionate force" as many more Palestinians have died than Israelis. They forget that nobody would need to die if Hamas stopped trying to murder Jews. However, thanks to decades of Arab attempts to wipe out the country, Israel has developed a very capable civil defence system. Air-raid sirens, bomb shelters in every building, hardened glass as part of standard building construction and so forth. That (and a bit of luck and maybe divine intervention) is much of the reason many more people haven't died. Not for lack of trying on behalf of the Palestinians.

What could you do in 15 seconds?