The U.S. Embassy Terror Warning That Felt Like a Purim Joke

Following Brussels attacks, U.S. Embassy warned Americans living in Israel against traveling to Europe, apparently forgetting that vigilance is a language we learned with Hebrew.

Allison Kaplan Sommer

Mar 24, 2016 12:05 AM

The world is supposed to be a little crazy, backwards and upside down on the Jewish holiday of Purim, which began on Wednesday. The festival’s traditions are all about spoofs and parodies and bizarre behavior.

Comments

Sign in to join the conversation.

Sort comments by

1

ICYMI

Smoke and fire following reported Syrian government forces' bombardment on the town of Khan Sheikhun, Idlib, June 6, 2019.

A New Alliance Is Emerging in the Middle East, and What's Behind Trump's Tweet?

Rabbis debating

Who Decided What Books the Hebrew Bible Would Contain?

An envelope that held a letter from Janina Iwanska to her father. The hidden message: “Five female Polish political inmates have escaped. We are preparing a new escape.”

Nazis Experimented on These Women. They Told the World, in Brilliant Code

Queen of the Skies: How El Al flight LY001 and the 747 made the Jewish world smaller

How El Al's 747 Connected Israel and the Jewish World

Israel Defense Forces soldiers carrying the coffin of Sgt. Itamar Ilya, one of the members of the elite Shayetet naval commando unit who was killed in a raid in Lebanon on September 4, 1997.

Nasrallah Reveals New Details About Ambush, Killing of 12 Israeli Commandos

Palestinian teen Osama Hajajeh attempting to flee Israeli soldiers, Tuqu, West Bank, April 18, 2019.

Israeli Soldiers Shoot Bound, Blindfolded Palestinian Teen Trying to Flee

Sheshonq's name carved into a block of stone, possibly part of a victory stele, found in Megiddo, northern Israel

Move Over, Moses: A Pharaoh May Have Created the Ancient Kingdom of Israel

Cardinals in the Vatican.

Sex Parties, Drugs and Gay Escorts at the Pope's Residence: Undercover in the Vatican

Then Representative-elect Ilhan Omar attends a press conference in the capitol, Washington D.C., November 30, 2018.

Keep It Up, Ilhan Omar

Jordan Peterson. Has a simple explanation for his extraordinary popularity: In a culture that sanctifies victimhood, he proposes that people confront life’s inevitable pain unflinchingly.

The Enlightment According to Jordan Peterson

Jeroboam I praying to the false idols of the golden calves in the temples of Dan and Bethel, lower section of the lancet window of Solomon from under the main North Rose stained glass window, 1233, on the Northern side of the transept of Chartres Cathedral, Eure-et-Loir, France

Meet the Real King David

FILE Photo: A sloth sleeps while hanging from a tree.

Why Do We Need Sleep? Israeli Scientists Solve the Mystery

An electoral campaign poster bearing the portrait of Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, leader of the Likud party. Tel Aviv, April 3, 2019

Netanyahu Deserves to Win the Election. And We Israelis Deserve Him

Cyclone Numa

The Forecast: Stronger Hurricanes in the Mediterranean

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu at a conference on Peace and Security in the Middle East in Warsaw, Poland, February 14, 2019.

With Poland, Netanyahu Discovers the Limits of Playing With History

ILLUSTRATION: Amos Oz

Between Zionism and Hellenism: Amos Oz on Secular Judaism

“Creation of Adam” by Michelangelo at the Sistine Chapel in Rome (c. 1508-1512).

In the Bigynnyng: A Brief History of the English Bible

Benny Gantz outside his home in Rosh Ha'ayin during a protest by members of Israel's Druze community, January 14, 2019.

Benny Gantz, the General Coming to End the Netanyahu Era

Benny Morris and his wife Leah at their home in Srigim.

'Israel Will Decline, and Jews Will Be a Persecuted Minority. Those Who Can Will Flee to America'

An artist’s rendering of Oumuamua. “It waited in place, like a buoy in the ocean, until the ‘ship’ of the solar system ran into it.”

If True, This Could Be One of the Greatest Discoveries in Human History