Temple Emanuel’s Purim Shpiel & Cast Members Featured in Jewish Journal
Purim, the loudest of all Jewish Holidays, commemorates the salvation of the Jewish people from Haman, a Persian court offical. The Jews defeated Haman on the 13th of Adar, celebrating their victory the next day. It has been the tradition in synagogues to celebrate this holiday with carnivals, food, customes, a fun-filled service that includes the reading of the Book of Esther – or the Megillah – that tells the story of how Esther, a Jewish queen in ancient Persia risked her life to save all the Jews in the land, and Purim shpiels.
Purim shpiel simply means “Purim play” in Yiddish and is a staged retelling of the Purim story. The dramatization is often a comic affair that includes the traditional tale updated to include pop references and modern settings.
The Jewish Journal published a story on Purim shpiels at area synagoues, including Temple Emanuel’s 2025 Frozen-themed Purim shpiel, directed by Cantor Rachel and featuring a fabulous cast of adult and youth congregants. Read an excerpt from the article below and come see our Purim shpiel for yourself on Friday, March 14 at 6:30 pm and Sunday, March 16 at 9:00 am.
“Temple Emanuel of Andover’s Cantor Rachel Reef-Simpson also goes all out in her spiels. This year, she chose the animated Disney musicals “Frozen” as the theme. “On top of the bimah will be the backdrop to ‘Frozen’ and all around the sanctuary, as well. Most of the characters will be dressed in costumes from the movie. There’ll be a little taste of Olaf thrown in there, even though Olaf is not in the story of Esther, obviously.”
Reef-Simpson has been putting on spiels for as long as she’s been a cantor – 22 years – and before that performed in them as a congregant. Over that time, she’s appropriated both popular music by the Beatles and show tunes from “Les Misérables,” “Grease” and “The Lion King.” She revises the lyrics from the adopted songs to fit the Megillah – for the most part. “All the songs are chosen because they have something thematic to do with the Jewish people: being proud, being strong or continuing to have diversity. We’ll keep some lyrics, if they match. Queen Vashti is banished for not dancing for the king, and that’s how Esther then ultimately becomes the second queen. So, ‘Let Her Go’ [from ‘Frozen’] is the perfect song where you change the lyrics, but you keep the chorus, at least in part.”