Olam HaBa

In my first year of rabbinical school—during which my wife, Leah, and I lived in Jerusalem—we celebrated Purim with a group of young Israelis and Americans at an all-night event called Olam HaBa. Imagine, if you can, a hybrid of the Limmud Conference (the Jewish learning retreat), a Purim Carnival, and Burning Man (the “experiment in art and radical self-expression”)—that was Olam HaBa. From early in the evening until very light at night, we and 100 other young people dressed in costumes, studied Jewish texts, discussed current events, read the Megillah, prayed, sang, and danced together. It was one of the best nights of our year.

Purim is the holiday that reminds us that you’re never too old to be a kid. Most days of the year, dressing up as someone you’re not would be out of place. On Purim, we get to be anyone we want to be. Dancing all night at Olam HaBa, I could have been Daniel, or a Blues Brother, or Bill Clinton, or anyone else. It was a freeing experience—a reminder in this serious world that our most important job may be to not take ourselves too seriously.