Yair Lapid, a cultural icon in Israel, was asked which holiday he’d like to see removed from the Jewish calendar.

“I would omit Purim,” he answered without hesitation to that 2007 query. “The story about an anti-Jewish conspiracy that is foiled due to the fact that someone forces his virgin niece into the bed of a womanizing king, and because of this the Jews receive permission to commit genocide against 70,000 people and then they get drunk from happiness, does not bring us much honor.”