By Madeline White
This year, March rolls in with color, noise, and just enough momentum to remind us that Purim is close. Costumes are coming out of storage, groggers are preparing for their annual return, and the Book of Esther is ready to be told again – not quietly, and not without some good commentary.
This year at Temple Beth El, our Purim Spiel leans fully into the fun and spectacle with“ JPop Haman Hunters: The Golden Purim Spiel.” Inspired by the music and energy of the movie“ KPop Demon Hunters,” the story of Esther gets a pop-culture twist that feels unapologetically fun.
There are no demons in this telling – just one Haman( boo!), and we already know how his“ Takedown” ends. If you are not quite sure what that reference means, consider consulting the nearest child, grandchild, or teenager in your life.
On the surface, it is playful and over the top. Beneath that, it is doing exactly what Purim has always done.
The Book of Esther is a story about performance long before it is a story about parties or costumes. Esther hides who she is to survive.
She learns how power works by watching it up close. When the moment comes, she must decide whether silence is safer than speaking up, knowing that either choice carries a big risk. That tension may be ancient, but it does not feel distant.
Purim has endured because it refuses to stay frozen in one form. Every generation retells the story of Purim using the cultural language with which it is most familiar. Sometimes that language is satire. Sometimes it is Broadway. Sometimes it is pop music, with dramatic flair and groggers spun with full commitment. The costumes change, but the question does not. What does courage actually demand of us?
Purim insists on joy, even when the world around us is heavy. It reminds us that humor is not a distraction from seriousness but a way through it. Laughter and fear live side by side in the Purim story, just as they do in our own lives. We read about danger, and then we sing. We remember vulnerability, and then we celebrate survival.
Esther’ s story turns into a realization that still resonates deeply. She understands that the position she occupies, however uncomfortable, is also an opportunity.“ Who knows,” she is told,“ perhaps you were created for such a time as this?” It is a question that feels especially relevant in times when keeping our heads down often feels easier than stepping forward.
But Purim refuses to let us stay quiet. It calls us to gather, to tell the story again, to make noise,
The Charlotte Jewish News- March 2026- Page 9
When the Megillah Meets the Movie Screen
2025: A Wicked, Wicked Spiel
Shayna Putterman and her children
to dress up, and to remember that Jewish survival has always included creativity and community. Even when the spiel is playful, the message is serious. Or maybe the other way around.
So yes, this year the Megillah meets the movie screen. Costumes are encouraged. Dramatic grogger spinning is required. And beneath the modern retelling is a very old story that still knows our name, reminding us that courage can wear sequins, joy can be loud, and telling the story together is part of how we endure.
And if Queen Esther were here today, it is hard to imagine that she would object to a little bit of spectacle and chaos. She understood better than most that sometimes the bravest thing you can do is step into the spotlight and speak.