Religion Briefs
Star-Bulletin staff &
Associated Press
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Prayer breakfast to host diplomat
An American diplomat whose advocacy for international hunger relief and human rights programs drew nominations for the Nobel Peace Prize will speak at the Hawaii Prayer Breakfast.
Tony P. Hall, former U.S. ambassador to the United Nations Agencies for Food and Agriculture, is now engaged in U.S. State Department efforts to foster peace in the Middle East. He represented an Ohio district in the U.S. House of Representatives for 24 years.
The 29th annual prayer breakfast will be held at 7 a.m. April 18 at Hilton Hawaiian Village Coral Ballroom.
The event, which typically draws several hundred people, involves public prayers for members of the military, federal, state and county governments and is endorsed by Gov. Linda Lingle and the mayors of the four counties. Jan Hanohano Dill is chairman of the steering committee.
Tickets are $28 per person, and tables of 10 are also on sale. For reservations, send a check to Hawaii Prayer Breakfast, P.O. Box 29804, Honolulu, HI 96820. For information, call 486-8986.
Jewish groups plan Purim events
The Jewish community will mark the Purim holiday Thursday with a masquerade party, musical skit and other revelry.
Purim celebrates the story told in the scroll of Esther, known to non-Jews as a book of the Old Testament. The Jewish woman, who became queen in the Persian kingdom 2,400 years ago, is the heroine of the story for persuading the king to spare her people.
The festivities traditionally focus equally on the villain, Haman the prime minister, whose plan to destroy the Jews was thwarted. When the story is read aloud at Thursday evening gatherings, attendees will use noisemakers, boos and whistles to drown out the sound of Haman's name. Wearing costumes is traditional for the light-hearted holiday festivities.
» At Temple Emanu-El, 2550 Pali Highway, the celebration will begin with a 6 p.m. reception, followed by reading of the megillah -- the scroll -- at 6:45 p.m. At 7:30 p.m., members of the temple and Congregation Sof Maarav will spin the story in a musical play, "Purim Night Fever -- the Disco Megillah." For information, call 595-7521.
» Chabad of Hawaii will sponsor a "Mexican Purim Festival" at 6 p.m. in a second-floor banquet room of the Ala Moana Hotel, 410 Atkinson Drive. The megillah reading will be followed by a masquerade contest, musical entertainment and a Mexican buffet dinner.
Tickets are $20 for adults and $10 for children. For information, call 735-8161 or write to chabadhawaii@aol.com.
The megillah will be read again at 8 a.m. Friday at the Chabad classroom at the hotel.
