38 | MARCH 21 • 2024 

The
 Whole 
 Megillah

Getting ready for Purim.

KAREN SCHWARTZ CONTRIBUTING WRITER

JUST FOR KIDS

H

enry Stern’s getting ready 
for Purim. On the holiday 
itself, which starts in the 
evening of March 23, the 13-year-
old will give mishloach manot, 
gifts of food, hear the Megillah, the 
story of Purim, have a festive meal 
and give tzedakah. Those are the 
main mitzvot of the holiday, says 
Stern, which is sure to bring peo-
ple together, especially this year. 
“I think Purim is a lot about 
bravery because of Esther, and 
how she was brave and how 
she saved the Jewish people in 
Persia,” says Henry, who lives in 
West Bloomfield with his family. “It 
will strengthen the community and 
bring people together. People are 
looking for a time to come togeth-
er with the Jewish community and 
celebrate something. It’s a nice 
time and it’s a break from what’s 
happening.” 
His family goes to the Bais 
Chabad West Bloomfield’s Purim 
party, and sometimes even has a 
party at their house, he says, which 
one year included a play they 
wrote and performed with friends.
One thing he likes about the hol-
iday, Henry says, is its emphasis on 
making other people joyous. “It’s 
not just that you have to be joyous 

and celebrate, but that you have to 
make others joyous and help them 
celebrate,” he says. “I think it’s a 
nice value to make other people 
happy.”
Every year he has a differ-
ent costume, he says. “I like 
dressing up. I like seeing other 
people’s costumes, it’s fun.” His 
all-time favorite costume is King 
Achashverosh, he says, adding 
that he’s mulling a doctor costume 
for this year’s holiday. 
His brother Isaac, 8, says he 
likes baking hamantashen with 
his mom and brothers, getting 
dressed up for the holiday and 
going to Purim parties. “I like hear-
ing the Megillah,” he says, adding 
that the grogger (noisemaker) is 
his favorite part. 
He says he wants other kids to 
know it’s a happy holiday, which 
shares the lesson that “God is 
everywhere, and always with 
the Jewish people.”
Their family drives around 
handing out mishloach 
manot to friends and neigh-
bors, says Leo Stern, 10. “I 
like it because it’s a nice 
thing to do,” says Leo, add-
ing they include hamantash-
en, fruits and candy. 

This holiday, he’s planning to 
dress up as a king, like he does 
most years, “because he was an 
important part of the Purim story, 
and it’s fun to do.” He’ll head to a 
Purim party to hear the Megillah 
and eat hamantashen — his favor-
ite hamantash flavor is Nutella, like 
his brothers, he says. 
He adds that he expects to find 
more togetherness in this Purim’s 
activities because of what’s hap-
pening in Israel. “People are help-
ing each other out more since Oct. 
7,” he explains. “It’s going to be a 
more united Purim; everybody’s 
going to be united and helping 
each other out.” 

Isaac, Leo and 
Henry Stern

 Stern 
 brothers 
 dressed up 
 for Purim.

