Purim in Israel was canceled because of the Iran war. Or was it?

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War may have shut down Israel's biggest Purim parties, but in bomb shelters and at smaller celebrations Israelis kept dancing. Is this resilience or escapism to the point of denial?

Purim is the most cheerful holiday on the Jewish calendar. Every year Israelis come up with clever, bold and outrageous costumes, many of them taking aim at the country's political and public dramas of the moment, and events and parties usually take place throughout the week. Yet Purim this year was overshadowed by the U.S.-Israel war with Iran, which brought the festivities to an abrupt halt. Instead of streets filled with people wearing homemade costumes, we got shelters crowded with tired Israelis with messy hair and mismatched pajamas.