This photo was taken on Purim night at the home of the Gadol HaDor, Hagaon HaRav Chaim Kanievsky, as he heard Megilas Esther.
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Hundreds of Israelis participated in a mass Purim party at the Carmel Market in Tel Aviv on Wednesday night, a day ahead of the government-imposed three-day curfew over Purim in order to prevent mass gatherings. Videos and photos of the party on Israeli media showed large crowds partying in the market, with no social distancing or wearing of masks. Police arrived at the scene and the partyers fled, avoiding fines, but the partyers then resumed the fun at Rothschild Boulevard. Health Minister Yuli Edelstein slammed the party revelers, telling Army Radio on Thursday morning that the future loss of lives and the closing of businesses will be on their consciences. “You see how young people are also becoming seriously ill, how death comes to all ages. Come to your senses!

As Am Yisrael prepares to celebrate Purim in the shadow of the coronavirus, the Gedolei HaPoskim in Eretz Yisrael wrote a letter calling for people not to drink to the point of drunkenness this year. The letter was signed by HaGaon HaRav Yitzchak Zilberstein, Rav of Ramat Elchanan and a member of the Moetzes Gedolei HaTorah, HaGaon HaRav Shimon Badani, a member of the Motetzet Chachmei HaTorah of Shas, HaGaon HaRav Shariel Rosenberg, Gaon Av Beis Din of Bnei Brak, and HaGaon HaRav Yehudah Silman, Av Beis Din in Bnei Brak. In a letter entitled: Drinking To The Point Of Drunkenness During The Coronavirus Pandemic, the Rabbanim wrote that “a state of drunkenness is very risky and unseemly.

L’chvoid all the Purim Shluchei Mitzvah, As the events of this past year has caused all of us to alter our plans, traveling this Purim to collect for the Mosdos Hatorah and Chesed are unfortunately no different. As someone living on the west coast, although it may be a tad more difficult, I’d like to try and help in my own small way. Just over the last two weeks, between emails, voicemails and texts, I’ve received over a thousand requests to participate. It’s been hard for me and people assisting me to decipher most of the messages. Among the communications, there were duplicative, incoherent messages, some missing the names of the Mosdos, their addresses and a host of other pertinent information. I’ve therefore created a new email just for this Purim.

In the outer Jerusalem neighborhood of Ramot, there has long been a debate about whether the neighborhood is halachicly part of Jerusalem, with Purim celebrated on the 15th, on Shushan Purim, or whether it’s halachicly separate from Jerusalem, with Purim celebrated on the 14th. Ashkenazim in Ramot celebrate Purim on the 15th, per the p’sakim of HaGaon HaRav Shlomo Zalman Auerbach, z’tl, and HaGaon HaRav Yosef Shalom Elyashiv, a p’sak later upheld by HaGaon HaRav Chaim Kanievsky when the debate arose in more recent times.

Israel’s reproduction number continued to rise, standing at 0.9 on Wednesday, raising concerns for health officials despite the continued decrease in daily virus cases and number of seriously ill patients. Health Minister Yuli Edelstein said on Wednesday morning that despite the success of Israel’s vaccination program, with about 4.5 million Israelis vaccinated with at least the first dose, not enough of the population has been vaccinated for Purim to be celebrated without any restraints. “In the Megillah, Am Yisrael, in an act of solidarity, fasted for Esther for three days,” Edelstein stated. “We don’t need three days of fasting now – just adhere to regulations.

Senior Israeli and Saudi officials held several discussions by phone in recent weeks regarding the Biden administration’s plan to rejoin the 2015 nuclear deal with Iran, Kan News reported on Tuesday. The discussions also focused on Saudi Arabia’s concerns about the Biden administration’s focus on human rights. Even before Biden entered office, he stressed that he “will make [the Saudis] the pariahs that they are.” According to an Axios report on Tuesday, Biden is planning on calling Saudi Arabia’s King Salman on Wednesday ahead of the release of a likely damaging intelligence report about the murder of Washington Post columnist Jamal Khashoggi. The call will be Biden’s first contact as president with Salman.

A new coronavirus variant that has some similarities to the South African and Brazilian variants is on the rise in New York City, researchers stated on Wednesday, according to a Reuters report. The new variant, known as B.1.526, was first identified in New York in November. By mid-February, it was behind 12% of new cases, according to researchers at Columbia University Vagelos College of Physicians and Surgeons. The researchers said that when performing an analysis of databases, they identified only a small amount of the South African and Brazilian variants. “Instead we found high numbers of this home-grown lineage,” said Dr. Anne-Catrin Uhlemann, assistant professor in the division of infectious diseases at Columbia University’s College of Physicians and Surgeons.

You don’t have to be a rocket scientist to realize that Purim this year is going to be very different than usual. Normally, it’s tough to deal with the shortened day when Purim falls out on a Friday, but things are already a far cry from the status quo this year. The usual groups of dancing yeshiva boys in colorful costumes won’t be going door to door spreading simcha as they collect money for the institutions of higher learning in most communities. Large Purim mesibas, some of which have a history going back multiple decades have been canceled and the simple act of giving mishloach manos has become a complicated matter for those who are still socially isolated because of COVID. The contrast between this Purim and last couldn’t be more pronounced.

The following is a brief overview of some of the halachos and customs of Purim Meshulash, drawing on several sources. As is well-known, Purim is celebrated in Jerusalem (and other cities that were walled at the time of Yehoshua), a day later than other cities, on the fifteenth of Adar – Shushan Purim. This year, there will be a Purim Meshulash, as the fifteenth of Adar falls out on Shabbos. Residents of walled cities will fulfill the mitzvos of Purim over a three-day period: Kriyas Megillah and Matanos L’Evyonim are fulfilled on the 14th, like in unwalled cities. On Shabbos, Al HaNissim [and additions to Kriyas HaTorah] are said, and on Sunday, shalach manos are given out and the seudah is held.