In preparation for Purim this week (Yay!), we started our lesson today by taking a deep dive into the Megillah, a.ka. the Scroll of Esther. We looked at the differences between Megillah and Torah scrolls, noting the beautiful illustrations and ornaments  that can be found on the former. Torah scrolls remain beautiful in terms of their calligraphy, but without embellishment.

Here's a medieval illustrated Megilah as an example.

We listened to different regional chanting of the book of Ester: Ashkenazi, Yemenite (Gabe's personal favorite), 

Moroccan,   Yerushalmi, and Miron's favorite, the Spanish Portuguese, 

courtesy of the amazing alto Cantor Ocanto-Romo of Congregation Ohev Shalom in PA.

Then we looked at the Liturgy of the holiday, listening to  and reviewing the Al Hannism prayer (used on Chanukah, Purim and sometimes on Yom Haatzmaut).  We spent time talking in our chevruta (study pairs) about the meaning of the holiday. Next, we took an anonymous survey about how personally important Purim is to us, and how we view it in contrast with the other costume holiday middle schoolers know about, Halloween. We ended the lesson with another edition of “What's Gabe Lying About?”, which was played this time with Israeli news headlines.  

 

Don't forget to bring a tallis for next week!