Drenched from being dunked in a dunk tank, students wrapped in towels lined up in Bruin Plaza on Wednesday.
The dunking, among other activities, was part of Purim Carnival 2012, an event organized for the first time by the Jewish Leadership Council to commemorate Purim, a cultural holiday that commemorates Jewish history.
“(Purim is) like Mardi Gras meets Halloween,” said Joey Blatt, a second-year geography student involved in the games and activities at the carnival.
Purim memorializes a story in the Hebrew Bible, in which Jewish people in the ancient Persian Empire escaped a plan of destruction orchestrated by Haman, the main antagonist in the text, said Anet Navi, a second-year business student and a member of the Jewish Leadership Council.
This was the first time the Purim Carnival was held on campus, and organizers hope to make it an annual event, said Desiree Soleymani, a fourth-year psychology student and head of the Jewish Leadership Council.
The festival was put together by the Jewish Leadership Council, a network of more than 20 Jewish student groups on campus.
The council’s main mission and vision is to unite the Jewish community at UCLA in order to create one strong voice and to educate the outside community about Jewish culture, said Azeen Nafisi, a fourth-year psychology student, event organizer and vice president of holidays at Hillel Jewish Students Association.
“The reason we chose to commemorate the day with a carnival and activities fair is because we want to make it a celebration of our people and perseverance,” Nafisi added.
Members of the Jewish Leadership Council also distributed hamantashen, a traditional dough pastry filled with various fillings such as chocolate and jam, to passersby.
During the week, Purim will be celebrated at UCLA with readings from the Bible and traditional dinners which aim to fulfill some of the main pillars within the Jewish tradition.
“We had a lot of new, uninvolved students walking by because of all of our attractions and information booths about all the sub-groups of (the council),” Soleymani said.
Alex Serrano, a first-year psychology and political science student, stopped by to take part in the activities. Serrano said he was attracted to the event by the music, games, and food, even though he is not Jewish.
He stayed after the activities to obtain information about the Jewish students groups from the booths.
In addition to hosting the Purim festival, the Jewish Leadership Council hopes to put together future events to unify Jewish students at UCLA.
“We want to facilitate a collectiveness for all Jews and to make all of (the Jewish organizations) to come together as part of one Jewish community,” Nafisi said.