The Irish in Tel Aviv were enjoying Purim yesterday. Purim is a Jewish holiday which celebrates the foiling of a plot against the Jews by the wicked Haman.
It has been said that most Jewish holidays have the same basis. They tried to kill us all, let's eat. The Irish are equally consistent. It's a holiday, let's drink.
So it is that Purim provides an opportunity for disparate cultures to blend.
The Israeli police, no funsters at the best of times, were on Operation Level Three for the occasion. Operation Level Three is one step down from all out war and mayhem - or St Patrick's Day as we Irish call it.
Anyway, the eating and the drinking and the sunkissed conviviality extended beyond sunset and heedlessly into the Sabbath. When everyone comes around today, there is a World Cup soccer qualifying match - a plot against the Israelis by the wicked Brian - to be played at 6pm Irish time. How it is all commemorated in future years remains to be seen.
Group Four is nicely balanced, with France, who visit Tel Aviv next Wednesday, Israel and Ireland all tied at the top on eight points.
Israel's haul may have been fattened by easy pickings against Cyprus and the locals are a little less than sanguine about this afternoon's game, yet it is an important event in Israeli history.
Until last April, international football had been banned from Israel for security reasons. The visits of Ireland and France represent the first proper steps back to the big time and, as such, the 44,000-seater national stadium has been sold out for some time in anticipation.
All the Irish players came through training unscathed at Jaffa yesterday. The little flap over Shay Given's damaged hip has passed and there are fewer worries about Matt Holland's state of mind, his wife having been involved in a riding accident earlier this week.
Manager Brian Kerr is optimistic about it all in a downbeat way and, continuing a little theme of the week, is playing mind games about his possible line-up.
"Everybody came through training this morning. Shay will definitely start. I'm glad I came out here this week without my mind being made up about the team selection. One or two players have really impressed me.
"The first 15 minutes or so will be crucial, they always are at this level. We have players, though, who are experienced and have played in front of passionate crowds in places like Georgia, Albania and Iran."
Those three adventures brought respectively a win, a draw and a loss. Take your pick for this afternoon.