Beth El Ner Tamid Synagogue's Vibrant Purim Traditions

by Sophia I.

Once Purim rolls around, the congregants of Beth El Ner Tamid Synagogue know that it’s time for fun. BENT has lots of ways for everyone to celebrate Purim together. All congregants, young and old, have a great time during our Purim celebrations. Every year, we make delicious Hamentaschen, perform mitzvot, hold a fun-filled Megillah reading, and have an awesome Purim carnival. All of these events make Purim memorable.

Each year, the Men’s Club and Sisterhood hold a Hamentaschen-making event. The religious school students get to go into the kitchen and help make them. Once the Hamentaschen are finished, they're put into shaloch manot bags along with other goodies. The bags are decorated by the students and are sent to the congregants. Making Hamentaschen is one of the great ways our synagogue celebrates Purim together.

Our religious school students also perform many mitzvot during Purim. One of them is decorating shaloch manot bags to be sent out to the congregants of the synagogue. Another mitzvah is visiting the residents of the Sarah Chudnow Center. We sing songs to them and play bingo with them. They have lots of fun with us. The students also personally deliver shaloch manot bags to the residents who are congregants at our synagogue. All the mitzvot we do are fun and help build good character.

Another event we have to celebrate Purim is a Megillah reading. Everyone comes in costume for the event. There is also a costume parade and contest to add to the fun. Congregants young and old have a good time listening to the Megillah being read. Our Megillah reading is a wonderful way we celebrate Purim together.

One more awesome thing our synagogue does to celebrate Purim is a carnival, sponsored by our Men's Club. After Sunday school, all the kids gather to have lots of fun. Activities include a bounce house, games, and prizes to win. Plus, there is a delicious lunch there, including the Hamentaschen we helped make. This year, we also had two of the Brewers’ racing sausages come to visit. The Purim carnival is yet another cool way for the youth to enjoy Purim.

As one can see, there are many ways our synagogue celebrates Purim together. All of them are exciting and get the youth to participate. There are lots of smiles during these events. Every year, we all look forward to spending our Purim time together.

Sophia I. is an eighth grader at Urban Middle School and lives in Sheboygan.