It was not just empathy; eros, always lurking in the corner, also spread its wings. As the day wore on and night descended, the bunker became a fraternity of sorts; besieged by an implacable enemy, strangers bonded in an atmosphere of conviviality and camaraderie. An Israeli young couple sang and danced, with desperate abandon, converting the bunker into a makeshift disco. This was Saturday night, and they were not going to miss all that fun! Many young Israelis invoked the Purim holiday by shouting “Adloyada!” The night before, there was Purim party, similar to the Holi festival in India. Purim harks back to a phrase from the Talmud, according to which Jews must drink until they can’t distinguish between two of the holiday’s main protagonists: Haman the cursed and Mordecai the blessed. Now, we didn’t know who was cursed and who was blessed – we were in it together.
