After two years of well-attended annual Purim celebrations, the Kansas City Jewish community has set a lofty goal for 2024 — event organizers are hoping for 1,000 attendees.
The event, named “Purim 1000” after its attendance goal, is held by Jewish Experiences, a collaboration of Jewish Federation and The J, and will be at The J (5801 W. 115th St., Overland Park, KS 66211) on Sunday, March 24, from 2 to 5 p.m.
More information and registration details are available at purimkc.org. Children under the age of 3 can attend for free.
“Purim has evolved into such a special holiday for Kansas City,” said Jay Lewis, president and CEO of Jewish Federation of Greater Kansas City. “This event brings together Jewish families from every corner of our community and has become a real centerpiece for us. We all should be very proud of this special event and what it represents for our community.”
Purim 1000 is a community-wide, multi-organization effort — participating organizations include Congregation Beth Shalom; Congregation Beth Torah; The Temple, Congregation B’nai Jehudah; and The New Reform Temple; and Congregation Beth Israel Abraham and Voliner and Hyman Brand Hebrew Academy have joined as contributing organizations. Both Sasone and Vaad HaKashruth of Kansas City have donated time and resources to support this year’s event. Josef Loeffler is the event’s title sponsor.
Attendees are encouraged to dress in space-themed or other costumes and engage with new members of the community.
“We are so excited to collaborate with local organizations, synagogues and dedicated individuals to produce our third family-friendly Purim event,” said Ethan Helfand, director of Jewish Experiences. “This year’s theme was inspired by [the TV series] Mystery Science Theater 3000. During the story of Purim, we traditionally boo whenever we hear the name of the villain, Haman – the tradition of heckling is so tied into the holiday, and the tie-in between this and the interaction of Mystery Science Theater felt like a fun fit for a community event.”
Rabbi David Glickman, senior rabbi at Beth Shalom, shared the importance of Purim and what the growth of the celebration means to the Kansas City Jewish community.
“Purim is a holiday where we can make an annual repair and spread baseless love to each other,” Rabbi Glickman said. “I think the growth we have seen in KC’s Purim celebration comes from a very deep need inside Jewish people of all ages to connect with that love for one another and be with each other. Our first multi-synagogue, multi-institution Purim celebration in 2022 at Sporting KC came from the very human and very Jewish need to be physically with one another after needing to be separated. That need for connection through joy has only grown.”
In addition to the partnership across agencies and congregations, private funding has been crucial to the creation of this year’s event.
Guests are encouraged to purchase tickets ahead of time at purimkc.org, but tickets will be available at the door.
