PURIM -- -- (Third), Fourth, Fifth and Sixth Grade

PURIM -- -- (Third), Fourth, Fifth and Sixth Grade

I do not talk about Purim in Third Grade, although the children could understand the material.

I believe in introducing only one new holiday a year (if possible). In Third Grade I introduce Sukkot, which is a much older holiday than Purim, and more important than Purim in Jewish tradition. However, I have grouped Third and Fourth Grade together because the rest of their presentations are the same.

Materials: Hamantaschen graggers (noisemakers), party crowns, a hat for you that looks like a hamantaschen. WHEN MAKING A COUNT FOR HAMANTASHEN, DON'T FORGET THE TEACHERS AND TEACHERS' AIDES.

Purchase the graggers by the gross from a Jewish eduation wholesaler such as Ktav Publishing Company. They sell paper party crowns as well. Purchase them in bulk. (Unless several families go together, or your synagague does the purchasing, you are purchasing serveral years worth at a time, but they don't go bad.)

Purchase the hamantaschen as well. Raspberry (or cherry) filling is more likely to be popuolar with kids than poppy seed or prune. Also, the raspberry filing doesn't seem too dried out. (The commercial bakers make hamantaschen well before the holiday and distribute them on a regional basis -- in other words, they are available, just not fresh.)

START OF PRESENTATION

Hello, I am Miram's dad. (Please insert your child's name and your relationship to the child, such as "John's mom" or "Rifka's grandpa.")

I'm here today to talk with you about a Jewish holiday that we will celebrate next Monday. (Please insert the actual weekday on which the holiday occurred or will occur, such as "last Thursday" or "two weeks from now.")

Purim is a Jewish holiday that occurs every year in late winter or early spring. It is also called the Festival of Lots or as we might say nowadays, the Lottery Festival. Purim means a lottery. (Write "PURIM" on the blackboard.)

Can we all say "Purim" together?

PURIM.

Very good.

Purim is not a major holy day, like Rosh Hashanah or Yom Kippur. It is not a major Festival like Succot or Passover. It is a holiday more like Hannukkah. It's sort of like the Christian holiday of Mardi Gras.

How many know what Mardi Gras is? How about Carnival? How about Shrove Tuesday? How about Fasnacht Day?

These are dfferent names for the Christian holiday that celebrates the Tuesday before Lent begins. Mardi Gras is a mid-winter (or end of winter) holiday that is happy and fun, but not as important as Christamas or Easter.

In the same way, Purim is not as important as Rosh Hashanah orYom Kippur or Succot or Passover.

There are other ways in which Purim is like Mardi Gras or Carnival.

In some places like Louisiana, for Mardi Gras, people dress up in costumes, sort of like Halloween, but without as many witches and devils. In some places like Brazil, Carnival is also celebrated by people dressing in costumes.

Purin is not related to Mardi Gras, they celebrate different things, but both have some similar celebrations, like dressing up in costumes.

Purim is a holiday celebrating the story of Queen Esther in the Bible.

I'll tell the story of Purim, but first we'll pass out a special Purim holiday food. A pastry you can eat while I tell the story. (Pass out hamantaschen.)

HOLIDAY FOODS

We've talked about how different holidays have special foods: turkey for Thanksgiving, latkes and souvganyot for Hanukkah, Fasnachts for Fasnacht Day. The special food for Purim is a pastry called Hamantaschen. This is a three cornered pastry with a fruit filling, like dates, poppy seeds or cherries. You have Hamantaschen filled with raspberry jam. The pastry's name is Hamantaschen, which means Haman's hat.

Your pastries look like this. (Hold up your hamantaschen hat.)

Can we all say "hamantaschen" together?

HAMANTASCHEN.

Very good.

Now let's learn about who Haman was. (Now put on your hamantaschen hat. All the kids will laugh, but that's OK. Give them a little time to settle down.)

THE STORY OF PURIM

Purim is the Cinderella story of the Bible, or maybe the story about what happens to the Prince and Cinderella after they get married.

The story takes place long ago, more than 500 years before Jesus was born, more than 300 years before the Hanukkah story of the Maccabees. So Purim is an old holiday, older than Christmas, older than Hannukkah, but not as old as Succot and Passover. At the time of this story, the Persians ruled over most of the Mdidle East including the Holy Land.

King Achashveraus, king of the Persians, has a party. He says to his queen, "Queen Vashti, dance for the guests." But she says, "No way, Jose." The king says, "Get rid of her."

To find a new queen, King Achashveraus holds a beauty contest for all the maidens in his kindgom. Sort of like the ball in Cinderella or the prince in Cinderella going around with a shoe lookng for a tiny pretty foot. In both Cinderella and the Story of Esther, the winner is a poor orphaned girl.

In any event, the winner of King Achashveraus' contest is Esther, a pretty young Jewish girl. The King does not know she is Jewish, but he probably wouldn't care. They get married and the story really begins.

Now I must tell you: although Esther's parents had died, she did have a wise uncle named Mordecai who was also Jewish.

Now King Achashveraus has an advisor named Haman, who is very stuck up. Haman wants every one to bow down to him, the way Persians bowed down to Persian gods. Mordecai refuse to bow down to Haman because the Jews do not believe in bowing to the Persian gods.

Haman is so mad he swears he'll get even, not by killing just Mordecai, but by killing every Jew in the kingdom.

It came to pass that Mordecai overheard two soldiers plotting to kill King Achashveraus. Mordecai warned the King and saved the King's life. Later the King rewarded Mordecai for saving his life. That only made the jealous Haman hate the Jews even more.

Haman tells King Achashveraus, "There is a certain people, in your kingdom, whose laws are different from those of any other poeple and who do not obey the king's laws, and it is not in your majesty's interest to tolerate them." The King says, "Take care of it."

Haman decides to send an army of assassins to kill all the Jews. this is how Haman and his friends choose the day they will kill all the Jews. They put all the possible dates in a pot and pick one. Thisi is called picking lots. Today we might call this holding a lottery.

Mordecai learns of the plot to kill all the Jews. He tells Esther. Esther tells King Achashveraus that she is Jewish and turns the King against Haman. So on the day that Haman had picked to kill the Jews, Haman is hanged, the Jews defend themselves against the assassins and are saved, and Esther and the King live happily ever after.

And every hear on that day, we celebrate Purim.

Why do you think the holiday is called Purim? The Lottery festival? (Let a child answer.)

Right, because Haman used a lottery to choose the day to kill the Jews.

HOLIDAY SOUNDS

We've talked about special Purim foods: Hamantaschen.

There are special songs to sing at Purim, but I will not have time to sing any. There is also a special instrument. Not really a musical instrument, but a noise maker, called a gragger.

Doesn't its name "gragger" sound like the noise it makes? (When the name of an object sould like the sound the object makes, we call that onomatepia.)

Please don't use your graggers yet. You will have a chance later.

HOLIDAY TRADITIONS

Here are some holiday traditions.

On Purim, Jewish people, especially children, dress up in costumes. They may have Purim carnivals or Purim parties. They dress up in their costumes and go to the synagogue to hear the reading of the story of Esther. Many of the girls will dress up as beautiful Queen Esther. Many of the boys will dress up as the wise Mordecai or grand King Achashveraus. Some will even dress up as the no good queen Vashti or evil Haman.

This is like going to church in your Halloween costumes.

During the reading of the story of Esther, whenever the name Haman is read, every one makes noise, to drown out the sound of the name Haman. By shouting, twirling their graggers, stamping their feet. Let's try that. BUT YOU HAVE TO STOP THE NOISE WHEN I AM DONE SAYING THE NAME. Get it? You make noise whenever I say Haman.

Here we go.

Wait, every one put on your crowns. You will each be Queen Esther or King Achashveraus or nobles in the Persian court.

Now.

(As you tell the story, you can signal a time to make noise, such as by holding your hand out. Then, after a moment, you can signal that it is time to be quiet, by closing your hand and bringing it down, like a chorus conductor.)

King Achashveraus, king of the Persians, has a party. He says to his queen, "Queen Vashti, dance for the guests." But she says, "No way, Jose." The king says, "Get rid of her."

To find a new queen, King Achashveraus holds a beauty contest for all the maidens in his kindgom. The winner is Esther, a pretty young Jewish girl and the King marries her. The King does not yet know she is Jewish.

Now King Achashveraus has an advisor named HAMAN, who is very stuck up. HAMAN wants every one to bow down to him, but Esther's uncle, Mordecai, refuses to bow down to HAMAN.

HAMAN is so mad he swears he'll get even, not by killing just Mordecai, but by killing every Jew in the kingdom.

HAMAN tells King Achashveraus, "There is a certain people, in your kingdom, whose laws are different from those of any other poeple and who do not obey the king's laws, and it is not in your majesty's interest to tolerate them." The King says, "Take care of it."

HAMAN decides to send an army of assassins to kill all the Jews. HAMAN and his friends choose the day they will kill all the Jews by a lottery.

Mordecai learns of the plot to kill all the Jews. He tells Esther. Esther tells King Achashveraus that she is Jewish and turns the King against HAMAN. So on the day that HAMAN had picked to kill the Jews, HAMAN is hanged, the Jews defend themselves against the assassins and are saved, and Esther and the King live happily ever after.

SUMMARY

Purim tells the story of how Queen Esther and her uncle Mordecai saved the Jewish people throughout Persia and the Holy Land over 2500 years ago. Holiday celebrations include dressing up in costumes, playing with noisemakers and eating three-sided fruit-filled pastries.

You have been a good audience. Do you have any questions? (Take questions.)

Thank you for listening so well.