New Free Pandemic Coloring Page #100!
Copy, Print, Color! Happy Purim!
Today is day 358 of quarantine and this is the 100th free pandemic coloring page that I have posted. I'm posting it a day early so that people have a chance to print it and give it to their children to color for the holiday. This page is for Purim, which begins at sundown on Thursday evening (February 25th, 2021) and will end on Friday evening at sundown.
Purim is usually celebrated with a carnival, but due to the pandemic, temples are not hosting carnivals this year. Kids and many adults dress up in costumes of characters from the story of Purim (or any other character they like) for this festive event. A temple member, often the Rabbi, reads the story (also called the Megillah) aloud. Everyone listening to the story shakes a grogger (a noise maker) when they hear the name of the bad guy, Haman, the evil advisor to King Ahasuerus (Ah-ha-shu-air-us). Listeners also yell "YAY!" or clap or give a thumbs up or something similar when they hear the names of King Ahasuerus or Queen Esther. While, at first glance, you may think that this story is all about these two men, it is actually about brave Queen Esther saving the Jewish people. The interactive story is great fun every year. A story of girl power.
When I was little, we would dress up and go to temple where adults would run carnival booths and give little prizes to the kids. Most of the other kids dressed as Queen Esther or King Ahasuerus, but what did I dress up as? Well, I would dress up as the King's dog (with a crown that I made from foil and cardboard) or a Hamantaschen - the delicious triangular cookie filled with fruit or chocolate in the center (triangle in shape to replicate the 3 pointed hat worn by Haman in the story).
In my coloring page, you can see "Purim", two Hebrew words that say "Happy Purim", Hamantaschen, a crown (for the king and queen), and a grogger - our noise maker.
If you would like to learn more about Purim, check out this link at My Jewish Learning.
