Beth Shalom hosts interactive
Megillah reading

SHELLI LIEBMAN DORFMAN

Sta If Writer

S

hoshana Ben-Ozer, education director at
Congregation Beth Shalom, decided the best way to
include the crowd at a March 8 Purim celebration
was to make them all a part of the evening's
Megillah reading.
"I created a way for it to be interactive," said Ben-Ozer,
who devised a plan to include parents and siblings of chil-
dren in the congregation. She translated the entire Megillat
Esther (Scroll of Esther) from Hebrew into English and
assigned different sections to 10 families.
"They were told they could divide their chapter however
they wanted," Ben-Ozer said. "The only condition was that
everybody in the family had to dress up."
Those not participating in the reading were included in
another way. "When the audience heard the name Haman,
they used their groggers; when they heard Ahasuerus, they
said, 'ha, ha, ha' because he likes to laugh and party; and
when they heard the name Esther, they all sighed because
she is so pretty," Ben-Ozer explained.
During the ball in the Purim story, the children's classi-
cal/contemporary Russian dance troupe from the Oak Park
Jewish Community Center performed, including its two
members who also are Beth Shalom religious school stu-
dents. Purim songs were led by the synagogue's fourth-grade
Shir (Song) Leaders choir and prizes were given to everyone
who attended in costume.
"I wanted everyone there to know the whole Megillah,"
Ben-Ozer says. "They paid attention because they were part
of the reading. Everybody had first-hand involvement and
everybody had fun." El •

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