Purim is one of those festivals that I always dread...
I don't like clowns, I don't like sweets, I don't like dancing and something about the prescribed atmosphere of silliness seems so terribly un-British...
But when Purim comes around, all my fears dissipate and I generally have a rather nice time. This year has been particularly good fun. We invited some gentile friends over on Shabbos Zachor for a pre-Purim seudah and then we had an 'un-official' megilla reading (using five different bible translations) which was complete with gragger rattling (fret not, Shabbos had gone out by this point), table banging, boos, hisses and so forth.
Then we went to our local progressive synagogue (Alyth Gardens) to hear the megilla and attend a fantastic lecture by Rabbi Levy on rabbinic attitudes towards drink.
But it was next morning when the real highlight came (to pass).
For those of you who haven't heard Rabbi Belovski's megilla reading... make a date to hear it at Golders Green Synagogue next year. OMG! What a feat! His performance included distinct voices for all of the main characters, his 'kingly' voice for Ahashverosh embodied both nobility and stupidity (quite an accomplishment), Esther's voice sounded like that of a pantomime dame, and the evil cackling kol of Haman (boo!) was scarier than Rabbi Yitzchak Schochet trapped in a room full of converts. Rabbi Belovski built up tension throughout his performance which seemed to peak with a dramatic crescendo at the point where the 'miracle' occurs (the bit where the king can't sleep).
Also noteworthy were the horse noises (hasuuuus!). I'm not sure how he made the clopping sound; I think maybe he had a couple of half-coconuts with him on the bima. All in all a fantastic experience. 10 out of 10! yasher koach, Rabbi Belovski!