Beatles purim 5773

We take a moment noisily

Megillah Blessings

Baruch Ata Adonai, Eloheinu Melech ha’olam, asher kidshanu b’mitzvotav vitzivanual mikra megilah. Baruch Ata Adonai, Eloheinu Melech ha’olam, she’asah nisim l’avoteinu bayomimhaham bazman hazeh. Baruch Ata Adonai, Eloheinu Melech ha’olam, Shehechiyanu v'kiy'manu v'higiyanulaz'man hazeh. Amen.

Chapter 1

Long ago, in the land of Persia, in

the city of Shushan, there lived a

very rich King whose name was

Ahasuerus. He was a jovial King

who spent most of his time in the

palace giving parties. One day, he

invited his Queen, Vashti, to come

to a banquet at the palace.

Vashti refused. King Ahasuerus

became very angry and sent her

away from his Kingdom forever.

Ahasuerus held a contest to

choose a Queen. He called all the

maidens in the country to appear

before him. A man named

Mordecai brought his young cousin

Esther to the palace to enter the

contest.

Chapter 2

Ahasuerus thought she was the

most beautiful and chose her

to be his new Queen.

Mordecai warned Esther not

to tell the King that she was

Jewish.

One day, when Mordecai came to

visit Esther, he heard two of the

palace guards plotting to

overthrow Ahasuerus. Mordecai

told Esther, and Esther told the

King. The King's officers arrested

the two men. The story of how

Mordecai saved the King's life

was written down in the Royal

Diary.

Chapter 3The chief minister in the King's

palace was a very wicked man

whose name was HAMAN. All the

people in Shushan bowed down

before HAMAN except for

Mordecai, who refused, because

Jewish people worship only God.

This made HAMAN very angry, and

he decided he would get rid of

Mordecai and the rest of the

Jews.

HAMAN asked his magicians to

select a day to get rid of the

Jewish people. They used purim,

or lots which were magic

numbers, to select just the right

day. They chose the 13th day of

the Jewish month Adar.

HAMAN told Ahasuerus that “a

certain people” did not obey the

King's laws and should be gotten

rid of. The King agreed to issue a

Royal Order to destroy that

“certain people.” HAMAN took care

of it.

Chapter 4

Of course, HAMAN meant the Jewish

people. When Mordecai heard that

he and his people were in danger,

he went to see his cousin Esther,

the Queen. He begged Esther to try

to change the King's mind.

Esther was afraid. She knew that

no one was allowed to visit the

King without permission, but she

realized that she alone could

save the Jewish people. She

agreed to go. Mordecai told her

to pray for courage. For three

days, Esther did not eat or sleep.

On the third day, Esther went to

the palace. When the King saw his

lovely Queen, he stretched out

his golden scepter and invited

her to come in. Esther

approached the throne. The King

asked her what she wanted.

Because she did not wish to make

the King angry, she did not tell

him her real reason for coming.

Instead, she invited him to a big

Chapter 5

Chapter 6The night before the banquet, the

King had trouble falling asleep. He

called his servants and asked

them to read aloud from the

Royal Diary. He heard how

Mordecai the Jew had saved his

life. He asked if Mordecai had been

rewarded for his bravery and was

told that he had not.

Just then, HAMAN came to see the

King. Ahasuerus asked HAMAN how

he would reward a brave and

good man. HAMAN, thinking that the

King wished to honor him,

suggested that the person be

dressed in the King's royal robes

and crown and led on the King's

horses through the streets of

Shushan. The King liked this idea,

and ordered HAMAN to carry out

his own plan, but to honor

That night, the King and HAMAN

came to Esther’s banquet. The King

saw that Esther looked very

unhappy. Because he loved her, he

promised her that she could have

anything she wanted from his

whole kingdom.

Chapter 7

Esther told the King that a

wicked man was planning to get

rid of her and the rest of her

people, the Jews. The King became

very angry and demanded to

know who the wicked man was.

Esther pointed to HAMAN. The King

ordered that HAMAN be gotten rid

of immediately.

He was.

Chapter 8

The King appointed Mordecai to

take HAMAN’s place as chief vizier

and dressed him in royal robes

of blue and white, with a great

golden crown.

Chapter 9

The Jews were very happy to be

saved. On the 14th day of Adar,

they celebrated with great feasts

and banquets. They sent gifts of

food to their friends and to

people who are poor.

Mordecai told the Jews that

each year, on the same day, they

should celebrate to remember

how they were saved from

HAMAN’s evil plot. The holiday

became known as Purim, after

the lots that HAMAN had used.

Chapter 10

The End.