By Jacob “Jewish Leprechaun” Kamaras
With the Purim and St. Patrick’s Day holidays overlapping this year, bars in San Diego’s lively downtown Gaslamp Quarter experienced a notable uptick in business on Thursday.
The Purim-St. Patrick’s Day convergence marked arguably the most significant holiday mashup since “Thanksgivukkah.” (On November 28, 2013, for the first time in history, the first day of Hanukkah fell on the same day as Thanksgiving.) March 17, 2022, is now known as “Purim Paddy Day.”
Already decked out in green and catering to the St. Patrick’s Day crowd, bar owners expressed bewilderment at the influx of customers wearing a wide variety of costumes.
“I’ve never heard of Purim, but one customer explained that it’s essentially the Jewish Halloween. Hey, in these COVID times, I’d do pretty much anything to get more people to the bar. When’s the next Jewish holiday?” said Pat Kelly, owner of O’Malleysmith Irish Pub on K Street.
Kelly was subsequently disappointed to learn that on Passover, which is coming up next month, beer and most other forms of alcohol are off limits for Jews observing the holiday’s dietary restrictions.
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This article is part of the San Diego Jewish World’s 2022 Purim Spoof section and is not meant to be taken literally.