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B'nai Emet -> Messages -> Conservative Jewish Commitment -> 2005It is crucial to hear every word of the Megillah!It is crucial to hear every single word of the Megillah! At certain points in the reading where Haman's name is mentioned, it is customary to twirl graggers and stamp one's feet to "drown out" his evil name. Tell the children Purim is the only time when it's a mitzvah to make noise! This is one of the four Rabbinical commandments fulfilled twice during the holiday. Interestingly, we call it "reading" the Megillah when what we really do is "hear" the Megillah from the mouth of the one person reading it. Hearing isn't really enough and it's imperative to read the text along with the chanter of the Megillah. Many people customarily read along personally from a "kosher" megillah flawlessly written on parchment. There is the standard chant that differs from the regular cantillation for reading the Torah or Haftorah. Because there is an element of entertainment in the reading, there are some congregations in which the cantor uses a different "voice" or intonation for the various main characters in the Megillah: the narrator, King Ahasverus, Haman, Mordechai, and Esther. In the Jewish communities in Italy, it was a custom for people to break clay pots and shout, "And He shall break it as a potter's vessel is broken" (Isaiah 30:14). In Ismir, Turkey, they would write the name of Haman on the head of a hammer and pound with it. I guess that by now you get the point of this Haman thing. If not, you certainly can't miss it when you go to the synagogue. In some services, it is customary to hiss also when Zeresh, Haman's wife, is mentioned. On a side note, there is a tradition that holds that every beat of every hammer, foot, and noisemaker in response to Haman's name is felt by him over in Hell. Who knows, but it sounds good! |
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