Thread by @JewWhoHasItAll

#DearTeachers,

During the #busy #holiday #season it is important we not overlook our #Christian #minority in their celebration of Yom Saint Patrick Ha’Kadosh.

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Although it coincided with Purim last year, Yom Saint Patrick Ha’Kadosh is not the Christian Purim.

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Yom Saint Patrick Ha’Kadosh is the yahrzeit of Saint Patrick Ha’Kadosh, a Christian tzaddik who died on 20 Adar II, 4221.

His yahrzeit is celebrated according to the Pope Gregory #calendar on 17 March, which this year falls today, on Adar 24th.

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Saint Patrick Ha’Kadosh is an especially meaningful tzaddik to the Christian inhabitants of Medinat Eire, which has a substantial Christian minority.

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Saint Patrick Ha’Kadosh was enslaved by pagan pirates and was credited with introducing the Christian religion to Ireland and building schools and Christian shuls there.

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Christians believe that Saint Patrick Ha’Kadosh banished all snakes from the island of Eire, much like the Pied Piper; however, modern scientists dispute this claim, since they are unable to find evidence in the fossil record that Eire ever had snakes.

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Some scholars believe that ‘banishing snakes’ is a euphemism for converting pagans to Christianity, but if so, Saint Patrick Ha’Kadosh was not very successful, since pagans clearly outnumber Christians by a considerable margin in Medinat Eire.

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In fact, some scholars believe that Yom Saint Patrick Ha’Kadosh was set for the 17th of “March” in order to give Christian children something to celebrate in the season of #Ostara.

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Christians in Medinat Eire have a custom of celebrating Yom Saint Patrick Ha’Kadosh with tefillah at their Christian shul in the morning, and a festive seudah in the evening.

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Though this yom tov falls in the middle of Christian Omer II (“Lent”), a month of traditional fasting, normal Lent restrictions are lifted in honor of the yom tov, as with Lag B’Omer.

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However, there are no bonfires, no haircuts, and no shooting of arrows on Yom Saint Patrick Ha’Kadosh.

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Christian-Americans of Irish descent may also observe the holiday of Yom Saint Patrick Ha’Kadosh with a street parade of other Irish-Christian families, perhaps organized by a local Christian shul that davens according to Nusach Irlandi.

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Some cities with large populations of Irish-Christians, like Chicago, even indulge them by granting petitions to dye their rivers green for Yom Saint Patrick Ha’Kadosh.

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Among Christian-Americans of Irish origin, it is customary to celebrate Yom Saint Patrick Ha’Kadosh by eating traditional Irish-American dishes such as pickled brisket, boiled potatoes, boiled cabbage, and a traditional yeast-free, chemically leavened bread.

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On Yom Saint Patrick Ha’Kadosh it is traditional to drink copious amounts of #Irish beer, which has a special harp-shaped hechsher to indicate it is kosher for yom tov. Some beers may be tinted green in honor of the yom tov.

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There is no obligation to drink until you no longer recognize the name of Saint Patrick Ha’Kadosh.

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Even though yellow and white are the traditional colors of Christianity, the Christian people, and all Christian holidays (because it is traditional to color-code another people based on the colors of a foreign country’s flag)…

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… many Christians have a custom of wearing green to mark the holiday of Yom Saint Patrick Ha’Kadosh.

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They believe wearing green is a way of making themselves invisible to playful green-clad elves called Leper-cons, which pinch anyone who has not shielded themselves with green attire.

Some take it upon themselves to do the pinching, in gross violation of negiyah consent.

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Leper-cons are believed to be ill-tempered fairies who mend the shoes of other fairies. Christians believe that Leper-cons keep stashes of golden coins whose location is marked by a rainbow.

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Another motif of Yom Saint Patrick Ha’Kadosh is a clover with three leaves, which was considered by early Irish people to be a sacred symbol of the arrival of spring.

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Leper-cons and clovers are elements of traditional Celtic and Christian #religions and are therefore not considered appropriate motifs for #PublicSchool observances.

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However, the color green, harps, and rainbows are acceptable secular motifs for #PublicSchool use, in classrooms where teachers may wish to teach their students about this minority holiday.

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Shabbat shalom to everyone, and Yom Saint Patrick Ha’Kadosh Sameach to those who celebrate!

Liam Levitsky-Greenblatt
Principal

#MedinatAmerica

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