A Pre-Purim Week That Ended With A War |
Today is Sunday, but I wasn’t supposed to go back to Merhavim as I do every week because of the Purim break. In Israel no one expects children to study during the week prior to Purim, and of course not on Purim itself.
At the beginning of the week, when I sat with three second graders to read and discuss the story of Purim, I was surprised by how much they knew. Not only did they know the main characters — Ahasuerus, Vashti, Mordecai, and Esther — but also minor characters like Bigthan and Teresh, who plotted against King Ahasuerus. The children loved the story of the Book of Esther, which is full of........