Purim in Washington DC

WJW: If you were on K Street on Tuesday afternoon, you would have seen a king ride a blue-eyed pinto through traffic, Batman wave to pedestrians and a pink-haired clown carrying a ribboned maypole. It was Purim in Washington, D.C., and this cast of characters was part of a parade organized by Ohev Shalom-The National Synagogue's Rabbi Shmuel Herzfeld, who dressed as the winged, nocturnal superhero. The procession, which is expected to become an annual event, began at the intersection of Massachusetts Avenue and Bataan Street and made its way down K Street N.W. ‹all the while drawing the attentions of downtown's lunch crowd. "I did this in my old synagogue" in Riverdale in the Bronx, N.Y., Herzfeld said on Monday. "And the tradition there continues. I spoke to the police here and they were willing to accommodate us...[so] we're bringing some Purim spirit to the streets of the capital." With the help of a police vehicle ‹ courtesy of the permit the Orthodox congregation obtained from the Metropolitan Police Department ‹ costumed volunteers from Herzfeld's synagogue paraded down the middle of the street and handed out the 200 hamantashen that had been donated by a Brooklyn, N.Y., bakery. "I think this is fantastic, but I didn't know what it was until they told me," said onlooker John "Jay" Vaughan, who works on 17th Street at the Youth Crime Watch of America. He took an offered pastry and munched it while he watched the parade pass. Marie Gemmell, a Gaithersburg resident, voiced similar confusion and delight. "I had no idea what it was, but I think it's really cute and fun," she said as she accepted a hamantash. Many people took photos with their camera phones as they watched the spectacle, and motorists waved as Herzfeld shouted "Happy Purim!" down the street. One man, wanting to participate but not sure what the right response was, shouted "Cheers!" at the rabbi and raised his soda bottle. Younger congregation members who attended the parade rode in the back of a black pickup truck that brought up the rear of the parade and tossed hamantashen to pedstrians, construction workers and motorists.....