If St. Patrick’s Day wasn’t enough of a reason to party this weekend, many celebrated the Jewish holiday of Purim — a biblical holiday when particpants dress up as characters from the Torah. The holiday coincided with TribeFest, a national event celebrating all things in Jewish culture. This year, TribeFest was held in New Orleans, drawing crowds of devotees to Canal Street for food, fun and topical discussions.
Following morning religious services, the conference kicked off Sunday with an introduction and opening talks by several guest speakers, including “Rugrats” writer David Weiss and Avital Zeisler, known for developing The Soteria Method of women’s self-defense.
After the opener, attendants were given an hour to sit in on a variety of assemblies. The sessions dealt with political and social issues concerning Jewish people both in America and overseas. Some meetings were on the lighter side, such as “A Wandering Jew’s ‘Global Jewish Comedy Show’” presented by comedian Noah Gardenswartz and a talk on backing Israel involving the use of Internet memes.
As made evident by the opening stage’s crowd, TribeFest’s turnout consisted of people from all corners of the earth, depicting Judaism’s reach across nations. Joelle Medina, a member of the Jewish Federations of North America from Montreal, looked for “key take-away ideas of how to grow [her] youth initiatives.”
For many of TribeFest’s attendants, most of the fun came from meeting other people of their faith. There was an overwhelming sense of familiarity on each floor of the conference, as if complete strangers were meeting like old friends. A majority of TribeFest participants were adults looking to aid in Jewish education in their homeland.
“For me, to come here, to see the Jewish spirit in Louisiana particularly, it’s inspiring,” said Binyamin Gan Or, CEO of the educational tourism program IsraelWay. “I came to speak, to present some of the Jewish way, and I find myself studying.”
The sessions coincided with a carnival celebrating Purim. While there, people could partake in carnival games, face painting and making their own megillah, a traditional Purim activity. One of the carnival’s participants was Dina Mann, the national marketing and outreach coordinator for Reboot, a program devoted to reinstituting tradition and distinctiveness to young Jews everywhere.
“I’ve been having a great time in New Orleans. Purim is considered almost like the Jewish Mardi Gras,” said Mann, a speaker on Torah study at the event as well as a TribeFest participant.
TribeFest’s first day concluded with a dinner party to help end the Purim holiday. People gathered together to enjoy kosher cuisine and drinks while dancing to the music of Jewish/Middle Eastern rock act Soulfarm.
Sunday night finished with late night services and community events for those interested.
Monday’s activities included testing for Jewish genetic diseases, service projects and yoga sessions.
Ending at noon today, the third day of TribeFest contains additional talks concerning networking and the Jewish identity. Closing words will be given by a number of speakers such as TribeFest co-chair Emma Samuels and Doug Ulman, the president and CEO of LiveStrong.
TribeFest event goers eat and socialize during the Purim seudah Sunday, March 16, 2014 at the Sheraton New Orleans Hotel.
