The leafy suburb of Culduthel in Inverness was the sunny venue for SCoJeC’s Highland Region Purim party. Many of the participants had travelled for several hours in order to get together with other Jewish people to celebrate Purim, highlighting the value of occasions such as this to people living outwith the larger Jewish communities, and we were also joined by Rebecca Housman, a student from Edinburgh who is researching the sociological aspects of Jewish communities.
The younger children were resplendent in their fancy dress, and everyone participated in telling the Purim story with the aid of lollipop-stick puppets representing the main characters – accompanied by the obligatory sound effects with rattling of graggers and stamping of feet at every mention of Haman’s name.
Over lunch, a kosher buffet that naturally included hamentaschen, as well soup, sandwiches, and cakes, and a splendid salver of fresh fruit kindly brought by newcomer Aileen Ross and her daughters Hannah and Zara, people got to know each other, and discovered many common links.
The event was rounded off with a presentation marking the Highland Launch of the SCoJeC CoNNeCT discussion forum – a new resource that was eagerly welcomed by the participants, many of whom applied for forum membership as soon as they got home.
As Linda Martin, SCoJeC’s volunteer Ambassador for the Highlands and Islands, commented, “Being outwith does not mean being without”, and SCoJeC will continue to expand our activities to provide all interested Jewish people in Scotland with opportunities to be part of, and have a voice in, the wider Jewish Community.
