Floral gowns, animal ears and athletic jerseys were party-goers’ clothing of choice at Wednesday night’s Purim celebration.
Purim is a day of celebration in the Jewish religion, and people are expected to dress in costume.
Although Purim landed during UF’s Spring Break this year, the Jewish Student Union held the post-Purim celebration to kick off the annual Jewish Awareness Month. It was the first of this month’s seven events, following the kick-off flash mob.
The event featured the official band of Rockeys Dueling Piano Bar, juggler and comedian David Ferman from season eight of “America’s Got Talent,” a photo booth and a variety of traditional snacks like pita and hummus and hamantaschen cookies.
Students can expect Mediterranean food and Israeli music at the Night in the Negev event as well as a presentation from Israeli Defense Force Sgt. Benjamin Anthony, said Jamie Brecher, the month’s director of public relations and a 19-year-old UF mechanical engineering sophomore.
The Jewish Student Union holds Jewish Awareness Month to create a home-away-from-home experience for fellow Jewish students and to share their culture, said Jonah Stein, 19, director of programming and a UF biochemistry sophomore.
“I just have a passion for my religion and for my culture,” Stein said, “and I like to share that with the Student Body here as much as possible.”
[A version of this story ran on page 4 on 3/13/2015]
