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Tzedakah Fair
At Beth El

Pie Benji's P•U-R•E•E•M Story

By RABBI BENNETT M. HERMANN

"Benji, it's 6:00 p.m. Go to
your room and do your homework.
We have to leave for the Temple
soon. Tonight is Purim! The Rabbi
will read the Megillah at 7:30
sharp!"
Benji trudged up to his room.
He wasn't exactly in the mood to
do his homework. In fact, he rarely
was ever in the mood to do his
homework. Benji plopped down on
his desk chair and began gently
tapping his computer keys: P-U-R-
E-M. The computer wrote back:
Error. Wrong. Write over.
Benji stared at his disc drive
— `P-U-R-E-; "one or two E's," he
thought? "Let's try two E's — `P-
U-R-E-E-M' That's right. No back
talk from Mr. Computer. Sometimes
Mr. Computer sounds like my
English teacher, Mrs. Kilfoil" She
is constantly correcting my
spelling."
Once again, Benji punched in
the name of the oncoming holiday:
P-U-R-E-E-M, and once again, P-
U-R-E-E-M. All of a sudden, there
was a huge noise like one of his
Mom's hamantashen exploding.
Benji's room went beserk. It
was shaking. His bedroom was
being transformed into a space
station of a thousand sounds and
colors. His computer blurted out a
command. "Prepare for take-off.

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Fasten your seat belt." Benji did
not know what to think or what to
do. "Where did I get that disc?
Probably from Glenda. Her discs
are always doing something
weird!"
"Ready! Begin count-down!"
"Shevah, Sheysh, Cha-meysh."
"What's this, an Israeli
computer," Benji wondered.
"Arbah, She-losh, She-ta-
yeem, Ehchad."
"Oh, oh, here goes," shouted

Benji and he closed his eyes.
Blast-off, boom, bang!
Benji opened his eyes and
found himself and his computer
inside a flying saucer Hamantash.
Bright lights beamed all over the
body of the craft. "Wow! If
everyone could see me now!"
Swoosh — the flying
Hamantash slipped out of his
room through a narrow opening in
the window. He was off. Off to
where?
Benji looked down at his
computer. He typed in a question.
"Where are we going? " The
computer answered, "To the magic
kingdom of Ahashuerus."
"Oh, I know him. He fought
Judah Maccabee."
"Wrong," said the computer.
"You are thinking of Antiochus."
"He's right," said Benji. "He's
always right just like Mrs. Kilfoil. I
think I'll introduce my computer to
Mrs. Kilfoil."
The clouds whipped by. "Boy,
can this Hamantash travel! I
wonder what it uses for fuel?" "P-
R-U-N-E-S, C-H-E-R-R-I-E-S,
R-A-S-P-B-E-R-R-I-E-S," his
computer answered, "Wow! What
fuel!" This should prove to be a
fruitful trip."
Suddenly a dark cloud
appeared off Benji's starboard
bow. His computer was flashing a
warning signal. "D-A-N-G-E-R
A-H-E-A-D. P-A-S-S-I-N-G
T-H-R-O-U-G-H T-E-R-R-I-T-O-R-Y
0-F H-A-M-A-N T-H-E A-G-I-T-E.
B-E-W-A-R-E."
Not the wicked Haman? How
do I fight him?"
"T-H-I-N-K, T-H-I-N-K."
"I'm thinking; I'm thinking."
The black clouds surrounding
his flying Hamantash increased in
thickness. "How will I ever get out

of Haman's territory?"
Suddenly his flying saucer
stopped. A powerful force was
pushing against the nose of his
Hamantash. Benji looked in
panic at his program book. He
turned to Section H and went
down the list of names to Haman.
"Haman antidote: Press M for
Mordecai and E for Esther."
"That's it! A royal good idea,"
thought Benji. "Quick, and let me
spell it right the first time."
"M-O-R-D-E-C-A-I and E-S-T-H-E-
R."
Benji was startled by a
booming voice. "We will not bow
down to your wicked designs.
Down with the evil Haman! Up
with justice and righteousness. Let
goodness triumph over
wickedness."
Suddenly the powerful force
which had been pressing against
Benji's flying saucer lifted and
bright golden rays of light filtered
into his cabin. Outside his vehicle,
Benji could hear voices singing.
"Chag Pureem. Chag Pureem.
Chag Gadol La-ye-hu-deem. The
holiday of Pureem, holiday of
Pureem, a glorious holiday for the
Jewish people."
Benji suddenly landed back in
his bedroom with a thud. His
terminal desk rocked back into
place. There was a knock at the
door "What's that?" It was his
mother. "Did you finish your
homework?"
"Almost, Mom. I'll finish it
when we get back from Temple.
We can't be late for the Megillah
reading. By the way, Mom, did you
ever ride inside a Hamantash?"

Reprinted with permission from
Shofar Magazine, March, 1985.

The meaning of tzedakah. will
be brought home to several hundred
5th grade children on March 18 at
Temple Beth El.
Scheduled for 9:30 a.m. until
noon, the fifth annual Tzedakah Fair
will be co-sponsored by Temple
Beth El, the Jewish Welfare
Federation Women's Division and
Jewish Experiences for Families
(J.E.F.F.). Fifth graders, their parents
and teachers from Jewish and
public schools throughout the
Detroit area are invited. Last year,
over 500 people attended the fair.
The fair is designed to teach
youth and their parents about
tzedakah and its importance to their
lives. Poet, author and nationally-
known "mitzvah mayven" Danny
Siegel will be the guest speaker.
• A new highlight of this year's
fair will be the contribution of food
to the Yad Ezra food pantry. Yad
Ezra distributes nonperishable
kosher food so Jews who are
hungry can still observe dietary
laws.
Many Jewish organizations will
also participate in the fair, and each
student will have an opportunity to
give tzedakah to the organization of
his or her choice.

Myer's Masquerade

By ELMA EHRLICH LEVINGER

David, David, come and see
What my mother made for me:
Funny suit of red and green,
Funniest hat you've ever seen!
Won't I be the queerest sight,
When I sing tomorrow night:
Heint is Purim, morgen is ois
Git mir a groshen, und varft mir
arois!*
*"Today is Purim, tomorrow it's o'er
Give me a penny, and show me the
door!"

I shall be a jolly jester;
Sister Ruth will dress as Esther;
Mother's skirt and cloak she'll wear,
And shining things upon her hair;
And Sam is Haman—Dave, his nose
Will be a foot long, I suppose.

Come and mask on Purim night!
Mother'll help you dress right.
You can be a Persian king,
Soldier, slave, or anything;
Buy a mask and come along,
And help us sing our Purim song:
Heint is Purim, morgen is ois
Git mir a groshen, und varft mir
arois!

THE DETROIT JEWISH NEWS

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