Children in Israel and beyond are dressing as Batman for Purim to honor the slain Bibas brothers

A costume shop in Jerusalem offered up Bibas-honoring Batman garb for just 10 shekels (about $2.75).

By Philissa Cramer, JTA

For a year and a half, a photograph of the Bibas family wearing Batman pajamas served as a symbol of the global vigil for their return from captivity in Gaza.

Batman was a passion for Ariel, who was 4 when he and his family were abducted from their home in southern Israeli on Oct. 7, 2023. He had dressed as the superhero for Purim that year, and his parents, Shiri and Yarden, were happy to buy matching gear for the entire family, including his new baby brother Kfir.

Now, on the first Purim since Shiri, Ariel and Kfir were confirmed dead and returned to Israel for burial — and with Yarden back in Israel after a hostage release last month — Jews around the world are dressing as Batman in their honor.

In Israel, entire classes of schoolchildren have worn orange Batman capes and masks, in a nod to both Ariel Bibas’ passion for the superhero and the brothers’ red hair, while a costume shop in Jerusalem offered up Bibas-honoring Batman garb for just 10 shekels (about $2.75).

“This is a pure loss from my own pocket, but I want to do it,” the store’s owner told the Jerusalem Post. “I see in all the comments that there’s a huge desire to dress up as Batman for Purim in honor of the Bibas family. So I got masks — one shekel each — just so TikTok on Purim will be filled with this mask.”

In the United States, parents have imbued their children’s dress-up closets with emotional significance. “My little Batman has no idea of the significance of his Purim costume choice this year,” one mother wrote on an Instagram story this week. Another family posted a video about putting together Batman-themed mishloach manot, the sweets-filled gift bags that are traditionally distributed on the holiday.

A Purim call to action began circulating in late February, after Hamas released Shiri, Ariel and Kfir’s bodies as part of a ceasefire deal. In the days leading up to the holiday, which commemorates the ancient Persian Jews’ triumph over a plot to kill them and is celebrated with costume parties and other rituals, the Bibas family said it had gotten many questions about whether it was appropriate to take part in the call.

Yes, said the family, which has sought to manage the collective memory of Shiri, Ariel and Kfir as well as Yarden’s exposure to new trauma. And on Wednesday, as Israel began its festivities, the family posted about the widespread Batman costumes.

“The heart missed a beat twice today. Once when we woke up to a morning without new photos of Ariel and Kfir dressed up for Purim, and the second time when we saw all the incredible gestures on the streets of Israel,” the family said on its social media account alongside a photograph of Yarden holding a plea for the return of his best friend David Cunio and his brother Ariel Cunio, who remain in captivity.

“Time after time during the last almost year and a half and especially during the last few weeks, you have shown us that Ariel and Kfir will never leave us,” the family said.

The family became an intense symbol of the Israeli hostages in Gaza for the more than a year during which Ariel and Kfir were the only children who remained in captivity, and their fate remained unknown.

“All kids are Batman for Purim. Mine don’t want to be. What do I do?” one parent wrote to the pro-Israel influencer Jonny Daniels, in a question he posted on his Instagram account. His response: “Let them do exactly what they want. This is a festival for them, not our guilt. … We all mourn and connect in different ways. We don’t need to force our children to do that.”