Sarah and me with groggers Revelers in their masks
(thanks to Sarah for the photos)
On Friday afternoons in January, the elementary school embarks on a popular initiative: teachers offer an array of special classes that children can choose, celebrating ethnic, cultural, religious and international diversity. Try folk dancing! Make dim sum! Study the history of chocolate and the people who first used it! Write haiku! Explore African folktales! Or...come to the library and learn about the Jewish holiday of Purim! School should have been this fun when I was young.
When my colleague Sarah proposed that we collaborate to teach about Purim, I leapt at the opportunity: kids could do a craft (even two!) and hear the gripping story of Queen Esther, who dared petition the King of Persia to save her people, all the while knowing she risked her own death in doing so.
We made groggers (soda cans that children decorated with colored tape and dropped random hardware into), and the enormous noise fulfilled the injunction to drown out the name of HAMAN (the villain who had ordered all the Jews of Persia be killed) whenever he is mentioned in the story. We made crowns with jewels--we could all be royals--and we ate hamentaschen and sang together.
There were about 4 Jewish children in each of the two sessions of 25 kids (ages 5-12). We asked them to describe how they celebrate Purim at home and at the synagogue, and after a detailed description of costumes, masks and delicious foods, those children beamed as the others exclaimed, "Wow! That sounds like so much fun! Like another Halloween! You are so lucky to be Jewish!" I don't think they hear that a lot.
Other comments:
"This is amazing. I actually learned something."
"This is the first fun diversity thing I got to do."
"I don't eat fruit. I don't like fruit. So I can't eat the hamentaschen."
"Thank you so much! This was so great!"
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