The made-up song "We All Live in a Big Diaspora," sung to the tune of "We All Live in a Yellow Submarine," by the Beatles, reverberated throughout The Boston Synagogue in Boston's West End neighborhood on Monday evening.

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Jewish children across the world — and across Boston — dressed up in whimsical costumes, ate triangular cookies called hamentaschen, and listened to a story of the Jewish peoples' survival on Monday and Tuesday night to celebrate the holiday of Purim.

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The Boston Synagogue's non-denominational egalitarian Purim service was led by members of the congregation, including Rabbi-In-Residence Navah Levine, who covered her head with a scarf when reading the Megillah, or the Book of Esther.

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Across town, the Chabad House of Brookline hosted one Megillah reading on Monday and three on Tuesday. Orthodox Rabbi Shayke Lerner led a more traditional service in front of a crowd of yarmulke-clad boys and skirt-wearing girls before a performer from the Laugh Factory put on a magic comedy show.

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"Purim at Chabad Center of Brookline is a really happy and festive time where we celebrate the salvation of the Jewish people in ancient Persia," Lerner said in his community-wide Purim address.

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The Chabad House drew Jews from across the religious and cultural spectrum — young Israeli families looking for traditions of home, Orthodox children and their parents, and single adults who consider themselves non-denominational.

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"I like the environment, and I'll also be a little honest — it helps that they start [Shabbat] services later because I'm a late riser," Eliot Schickler, 60, of Brookline, said in an interview. "I'm not Orthodox, not even close, but I respect all denominations. I am more observant than I was back in the day. The house is completely kosher."

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Wearing a New York Giants Michael Strahan jersey, Schickler sat with a few other men around a round table in the Chabad House's basement. On the table were plates full of green beans, potatoes, brisket, and mixed nuts.

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Back at The Boston Synagogue, plates were full of hamentaschen, fruit, and other multicolored cookies, but not many congregants were focused on the refreshments. They were too busy dancing the horah as Klezmer music band Ezekiel's Wheels serenaded them with joyous and upbeat Eastern European melodies.

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"I think it's really fun. It makes people want to dance, you know? It's a really rich tradition," cello player Kirsten Lamb said in an interview. "We also do a lot of vocal Yiddish music with this band too, and we're not playing just for dancing."

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Children dressed as cows, bunny rabbits, Iron Man, and princesses ran across the dance floor as all their parents joined hands and stepped in a circle to the beat of the music. The tradition of wearing costumes on Purim comes from many different reasons — one being that it is an "allusion to the nature of the Purim miracle, where the details of the story are really miracles hidden within natural events," according to Chabad.

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With all its children, the Boston Synagogue prides itself on being a multi-generational space for Jews to come together 52 weeks a year, according to Synagogue Chair Susan Weingarten. She said that Purim isn't the only time the congregation features Klezmer music.

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"We are the only fully-functioning synagogue in downtown," Weingarten said, as she placed snacks on the table for the dancers to eat once they got hungry. "We have Klezmer music at least once a month, whether it's a jam, so everybody can come down with their instruments."

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In both congregations, Purim celebrations ended as children became sleepy, having to be carried to their parents' cars.

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"A successful night," Schickler said before pulling his Giants beanie further down on his head.