Hundreds attend Israeli American Council’s second annual Adloyada parade

Hundreds of people came out Sunday afternoon to celebrate the Jewish holiday of Purim in Las Vegas.

The Israeli American Council Las Vegas held its second annual Adloyada parade, featuring festive participants including dancers, Disney and Looney Tunes characters, a juggler, a unicyclist and a few paraders making their way atop stilts.

“Purim is the celebration of the rescue of the Jewish people (thousands of years ago) in what’s now called Iran, but used to be Persia,” said Noa Peri-Jensch, chief communities officer for IAC Las Vegas. “There was a plot to kill the Jews. … They were able to (stop) the plot and were saved, and so we celebrate it today.”

The Adloyada parade originated as a Purim tradition in Tel Aviv more than 100 years ago and eventually made its way to Jewish communities in the United States.

It’s common for attendees to dress in costumes. Some of Sunday’s attendees donned costumes as pirates, bumblebees and a Fred Flintstone. But while the costumes are fun, they have a deeper meaning.

“Purim is the holiday that God makes miracles,” said Rabbi Yossi Shuchat of Or Bamidbar — Chabad East Las Vegas. “So some miracles are revealed, and some miracles are hidden in nature. So that’s why we dress up, to show that from outside it looks like one thing, but deep inside, we’re really someone else.”

IAC Las Vegas said more than 600 people of all ages came to Sunday’s parade, which IAC Las Vegas regional director Ofra Etzion assessed as “very successful.”

“It was great to see everyone coming together,” Etzion said. “It was a great event … and we’ll keep doing it again every year, to celebrate and be united together.”

Contact Justin Razavi at jrazavi@reviewjournal.com. Follow @justin_razavi on Twitter.