Another Jewish Holiday Mashup: 'Cinco de Iyar'

On the heels of 2013’s highly successful “Thanksgivukkah,” and following the drunken revelry of “St. Purim’s Day” this past March, comes the latest in Jewish holiday mashups: “Cinco de Iyar,” which is a combination of Mexican-American “Cinco de Mayo” and Israel’s Independence Day, which falls on the 5th day of the month of Iyar on the Hebrew calendar, and happens this year to coincide with May 5th on the Roman calendar as well. 

For some reason, Israelis spend a lot of time on Independence Day hitting each other with plastic hammers (see Reuters photo from 2011, above). Over here, we’ll celebrate with some Middle Eastern food, a couple of concerts later this month, and–of course–the greatest Adam Sandler movie ever made, You Don’t Mess with the Zohan.