Purim

The reason why I designed such a lesson plan for Chinese children to learn about Purim culture and food is because I think this lesson will teach children in China about our traditions for one the most popular holidays in Israel. Children in Israel look forward to Purim and love to dress up costumes and eat the delicious Haman's ears.

The lesson includes materials that I found on different sites on the Internet and things that I added to reinforce teaching English as a second language such as reading, writing and grammar and listening.

I think that the cultural exchange is very important and it also includes a recipe for everyone to enjoy.

The story I chose is about the heroine Ester who was not afraid to stand up to the king and save her people. It is an inspiration to women everywhere.

In Jewish tradition, many times a hero rises and saves its people. We celebrate the miracle of Purim to remember this special occasion when the Jews were saved and Haman the evil prime minister did not succeed in his plot to kill all the Jews of Persia.

by Marsha Goren, Israel and John Wu, China

Purim

Purim is a beautiful Jewish holiday. Purim is a children's holiday. On Purim we wear costumes, masks of something or someone that we admire or do not like. Purim's story is in Esther (book of the Bible). The story happened many years ago in Persia . It's about a queen that was Jewish and a very beautiful woman. No one knew that she was Jewish, even the king named Ahashverosh. That story had very happy end for the Jewish people in Persia .

On Purim, we eat special food. We eat ≥The ears of the åEvil Haman'≤ to remember that the king hung him by his ears. When the name of Haman is called in the synagogue, everyone there makes noise with the noisemakers. We give and receive little gifs and presents with our friends. The symbol of Purim is a clown. Every kid in Israel likes the Purim holiday. In the schools in Israel, we celebrate the holiday, one day before Purim. On Purim we don't study at school, and there is a vacation.

Hamentaschen recipe

http://www.cyber-kitchen.com/recipes/Hamantaschen.htm

These filled pastries are traditional on Purim. As well as the traditional prune filling given here, Hamentaschen are often filled with either a prepared poppy-seed mixture or with any sort of preserve.
Ingredients for the dough:

4 eggs
225 g sugar
125 ml vegetable oil
3 tbsp lemon juice
grated rind of 1 lemon
1 tsp vanilla essence
2 tsp baking powder
600 g wholemeal flour

Ingredients for the filling:

675 g prune butter
175 g seedless raisins
125 g chopped walnuts
grated rind of 1 lemon or orange
1 tbsp vegetable oil

Beat the eggs in a mixing bowl and gradually stir in the sugar. Gradually mix in the oil, lemon juice, lemon rind and the vanilla essence. Add first the baking powder and then the flour. Turn the dough out on a floured surface and knead (add more flour if necessary) until a stiff, non-sticky dough is formed.
To make the filling mix all the ingredients together well.
Preheat the oven to 190 C. Roll out the dough until thin and cut 2,5 cm circles of dough. Place 1 tsp of the filling in the center of each dough and pinch together 3 points on the circle tightly to make a triangle.
Place the hamentacshen on a greased baking sheet and bake 20 minutes.

Haman's Ears
the meaning behind the reason why we eat the ears on Purim

We eat Haman's ears on Purim to remember the cruel man who wanted to destroy the Jewish people in Persia. It was said that he wore and three cornered hat and that he had a crooked nose. By eating Haman's ears at the Purim meal, it symbolizes getting rid of evil opinions this is symbolized by the hearing ears. Amalek which was Haman's tribe hated the Jews and were a real danger to the Jewish people. We celebrate the holiday by eating the ears and to rejoice Ester the queen who had the courage and bravery to influence King Ahashverus a stupid but extremely wealthy king not to destroy her people.

Ester who becomes queen after the kings first wife Vashti is dethroned by the king for not coming to him for a ball when requested.

The king who was easily influenced by his Prime Minister Haman to write a decree stating that all Jews would be executed on the 13^th of Adar. Ester using the advice of her Uncle Mordecai goes to King Achshverosh and asks him to prepare a banquet in honor of Haman for her.

The king does not know that Ester is Jewish and he loved her dearly because she was extremely beautiful. She proclaims she is Jewish at the dinner and the king is furious and decides to hang Haman and his sons from the highest tree in the land instead of the Jews.

Now to this day, we celebrate Purim by drinking wine because we are happy and gay and we eat Haman's ears to remember the evil who was destroyed by our heroine Queen Ester who had the courage to save her people.

Token from: http://www.holidays.net/purim/story2.htm 

http://www.holidays.net/purim/images/gragger4.gif

ESTHER

Esther was a beautiful young woman, and King Ahasheverosh chose her to be his queen. Haman was the kingπs highest officer, and he didnπt like the Jews who lived in his country. Haman had planned to kill all of the Jews. Esther was worried when she found out about his plan. She was also a Jew. Esther wanted to tell the king about Hamanπs evil plan, but she couldnπt go right in to see him. If she went in without the king calling her, the law said that she would be killed. The only way she would live was if the king would hold out his scepter to her. Esther took that chance. She bravely walked right in to see the king. Everyone was shocked! What would the king do? He lowered his scepter to Esther, and she touched it. When Esther told the king about Hamanπs evil plan, the king had Haman killed. Esther saved her people.

 Questions

1. Who chose Esther to be his queen?

2. What evil plan did Haman have?

3. Why was Esther afraid to walk up to the king?

4. What did the king do when Esther walked in?

5. What happened to Haman?

6. When have you had to be brave?

Find the opposites in the story.

Find the word or words that mean:

Fill in the correct form of the verb: Present simple, progressive, future, past and past progressive.

Purim _______ (be) a happy holiday for children.

People __________ (celebrate) the holiday to remember the miracle of the Jews.

Years ago there _______ (be) a king named Ahasverosh.

He ________ (rule) more than 127 countries and ________(have) a lot of power.

His Prime Minister Haman _____________ (hate) the Jews and ____________ (want) to destroy them.

We _________ (have) a weekend off of school for Purim next week.

While the king _____________ (plan) his feast, Vashti ____________ (refuse) to arrive. The king _____________ (become) angry and _____________ (order) her to be killed.

He then __________ (hold) a beauty contest to find the most beautiful woman in all of his lands.

He immediately ____________ (fall) in love with Ester because of her beauty and charm.

Mordecai, her uncle ___________ (hear) Bigatan and Teresh plotting to kill the king.

While the children ______________ (get) ready for the party, Mother ___________ (prepare) a cake for them.

The class ___________ (celebrate) Purim at school this week. It ____________ (be) a lot of fun.

We ________________ (not want) Purim to end!

They ______________ (not recognize) Dan because of his costume. He __________ (look) funny!

________ you ___________ (go) to a party this weekend for Purim? We __________ (hope) you have a great time.

While father _______________ ( decorate) the classroom, the lights ____________ (go) out.

The teachers ____________ (wear) costumes for Purim on Friday. They _______________ ( look) funny!

Last year my Purim holiday _________ (be) great. I _______ (eat) hamantaschen and I _________ (drink) wine at a party. Everyone ____________ (danced) until morning. We _________ (sing) many songs too. We __________ (play ) games and we ___________ (win) prizes! I _____________ (wish) this year is the same!

Happy Purim!