ABBA helps Jews celebrate ancient festival in Sydney

Sydney,(ANI): ABBA members Bjorn, Benny, Agnetha and Anni-Frid are said to have helped Jews in Sydney celebrate a festival that dates back about 2500 years. The city"s Jewish community observed Purim, a day marking the story of Queen Esther"s rescue of the Jews from genocide in Persia, reports the Sydney Morning Herald.

Part of the tradition of Purim is attending the annual celebration in dress-up. Sydney"s Great Synagogue became a sea of brightly coloured wigs, masks and a man in jockey silks on February 28. The other Purim tradition is during the reading of the book of Esther - also known as the Megillah - to boo at each mention of royal adviser Haman, who wanted to destroy the Jewish people.

To cap off the celebration, the traditional reading at the Great Synagogue was followed by a performance of Megillah Mia!, a stage show that takes the Purim story and puts it to the music of ABBA. Such performances, known as a “purim spiel" have been absent from celebrations at the synagogue for a number of years.

According to Rabbi Lawrence, the synagogue"s new board and events committee had decided to reinstate the performances as a way to reconnect with in a social setting.