Blessings in Disguise

This year Purim coincided with International Women’s Day.  That seems fitting because the miracle of Purim came about through a woman.  Esther had both the courage to confront Achashverosh and accuse Haman of planning genocide and the wisdom to unify the Jewish people and bring them back to G-d in their time of trouble.   In a city holy to three religions and with as long a history as Jerusalem there are inevitably many conflicting traditions and confusions of identity.  As with Purim, not everything is as it seems.  Today’s post honours both Purim and International Women’s Day by looking at sites in the city connected to women whose identity is in some way in doubt.

The Chapel of the Ascension
Photo: Adriaticus

Rabia al-Adawiyya

Near the crest of the Mount of Olives in the neighbourhood of At-Tur is a small domed building surrounded by a wall.  It is known as the Chapel of the Ascension or the Mosque of the Ascension.  At its side is a burial crypt revered by each of the three Abrahamic religions.  All agree that it is the burial place of a holy woman but each one has a different opinion as to who is buried there.   For Muslims it is Rabia al-Adawiyya an 8th Century Sufi mystic born in Basra, Iraq.  Christians believe it to be the burial place of a 5th Century saint, Pelagia, who was born in northern Lebanon and who lived an ascetic life disguised as a monk.  Only after she died was it discovered that she was really a woman.  The Jewish tradition is that the 7th Century BCE prophetess Huldah is buried here.  Hulda is mentioned briefly in the Tanach in Kings and Chronicles.   The King, Josiah, had ordered the refurbishment of the Temple.  During this work a book of the Law was discovered.  The High Priest and royal officials consulted Huldah.  She confirmed that the book was authentic and prophesied the destruction of Jerusalem.  She reassured Josiah that, because of his piety, the destruction will not be in his lifetime.   

The eastern Hulda Gates today

At the top of the monumental staircases leading to the southern wall of the Temple Mount are two sets of gates that are now blocked up.   In the days of the Second Temple they were the main entrances to the Temple platform.  One name for them is the Huldah Gates.  Some say this is because of a tradition that Huldah is buried in Jerusalem.  Others point out that the Hebrew word “huldah” means “rat” and that on entering these gates you would walk like rats through underground tunnels up to the Temple plaza.

Imaret Haseki Sultan entrance

Endowment charter
of Haseki Sultan Waqf

Three women are also connected with a building on Aqabat et-Takiya (in Hebrew Ma’alot Hamadrasa Street) in the Muslim Quarter of the Old City of Jerusalem.  In the late 14th Century a woman known as Sitt Tunshuq built a palace in magnificent Mamluk style here to serve as a hostel for dervishes.  Across the street from the palace she built a tomb building (turba) for herself and was buried there in 1398.  Very little is known about Tunshuq though she was clearly a wealthy woman.  It is thought that she may have been the wife of a Mamluk sultan.  Haseki Hurrem Sultan, known in the west as Roxelana, was the favourite wife of Suleiman the Magnificent, the 16th Century Ottoman ruler who built the walls of Jerusalem.  In 1552 she endowed the building of a charitable complex that contained a soup kitchen, a mosque, a pilgrim hostel and an inn for travellers.  Haseki Sultan’s complex was built next to Tunshuq’s Palace which was incorporated into it.   In the 1870s the building became the Saraya, an Ottoman local government office that included the residence of the Pasha. 

Christians came to call the complex the Hospital of Saint Helena.  They believed that it had been established in the 4th Century by Helena, mother of the Roman Emperor Constantine, to house workers building the Church of the Holy Sepulchre and that it became a hostel for poor pilgrims once the church was completed.  The tradition that this had been the Hospital of Saint Helena or at least stood on the site of the former hospital persisted and was widely believed.  It was even reported in the 1906 edition of Baedeker’s Guide to Palestine and Syria.

Adloyada

Old Jerusalem with snow
Photo: Infinitely Digital

It’s snowing at last here in Jerusalem just in time to give the city its own Purim costume – to hide its face.  Disguises are very much part of Purim lore.  In the Megilla Esther hides her true identity and nationality from King Ahashverosh.  More importantly G-d himself hides his face.  In a hidden allusion to the Purim story in Devarim 31:18 He says: Ve’anochi haster astir panai...”  You can hear the name of Esther as you read the Hebrew words.  The verse in English says: “I will surely hide My face from them on that day because of all the evil they have done in turning to other gods.  Indeed the name of G-d does not appear in the Megilla itself.  The miracle of Purim is hidden in a story of intrigue at the Persian court.

Most years we would have already seen children out in the streets in their Purim disguises (If you have one why wear it for only one day?).  This year we have been blessed with so much rain that their parents have wisely decided to keep the precious costumes safe until Purim itself. 

Adloyada Tel Aviv 1950s

As a child Rabbi Haim Sabato was not so fortunate.  In his book From the Four Winds he describes his first Purim in Jerusalem.  On the first of Adar 1959 he arrived at school to see a bright poster announcing “With the start of Adar our joy increases.”  The teacher told the class that on Purim they should all come to school in costume.  All this was strange to him.  He was a new immigrant, the grandson of Hakham Choueka from Egypt.  Over the next few days he came to understand as girls appeared in the streets dressed as Queen Esther and boys dressed as cowboys or Indians.  Despite their distinguished background the family was poor.  On Purim morning his father could only afford to buy him a cowboy hat made from paper.  He was thrilled.  At last he was a cowboy!   That morning the rain was heavy and the wind was strong.  By the time the young Haim Sabato arrived at school all that remained of his hat was a ball of wet paper but he didn’t notice.  That day he was a cowboy!

In a famous statement the Sage Rava tells us that “A person is obliged to drink on Purim until he can no longer tell (Hebrew: ad delo yada) the difference between ‘Cursed is Haman’ and ‘Blessed is Mordechai.’”  There is much discussion amongst the rabbis as to what exactly that means.  Should we be intoxicated by Purim rather than drunk on Purim? Should we just get drowsy after our Purim meal?  In Israel a new custom has arisen that turns the Hebrew phrase “ad delo yada” into a new word Adloyada that means a Purim carnival. – a festive parade with bands and colourful floats.  The first Adloyada was in Tel Aviv in 1912.  Many towns around the country have their own Adloyada but the biggest one of all is in Holon.  This year the theme of the Holon Adloyada is “Tastes of Childhood” featuring all the foods that children love.  Don’t miss it.  Purim sameach!