Newspaper Page Text
NOAH’S ARK
A newspaper for Jewish children
March. 1986 / Adar i-Adar ii, 5746
Purim is one of the happiest holidays on the Jewish
calendar. We dress in costumes, give gifts to friends and
relatives, eat hamantashen, and twirl our groggers (mak
ing all the noise we want in synagogue - at the right mo
ments, of course)! But there’s more to Purim than fun.
One of the Purim rules is to include the poor and needy
in our thoughts and actions.
On Purim, everybody is required to give tzedakah
(charity). Even people who are poor must give to other
poor people, to remind themselves that there are always
others who are needier.
We start thinking about giving tzedakah on the Shab-
bat just before the Hebrew month of Adar begins. (For
more about Adar, see “Two Months of Joy” on page 2.)
That Shabbat has a special name: Shabbat Shekalim.
On that Shabbat, we are reminded that once all of the
Jews were required to give one-half of a shekel to the
Temple. A shekel was the type of money used in Biblical
times, like a dollar is used in the United States today -
so a half-shekel was like a 50 cent coin. All Jews were
taxed one-half shekel, rich and poor alike. To show that
everyone was equal, no one could give less or more.
Because we no longer have our holy Temple standing
in Jerusalem, the Jewish people aren’t taxed one-half
shekel anymore. But after Shabbat Shekalim, many Jews
begin to put money aside for the poor to be given on Pur
im. In some synagogues, people attending Purim ser
vices bring a 50 cent coin (or whatever is half of the type
of money used in their country) to give to the synagogue
to remember the half-shekel tax. Even if money isn’t col
lected during services, Purim tzedakah should be given
both to an institution (for example, the synagogue or
Jewish Home for the Aged) and to an individual.
The tzedakah we give on Purim must not come from
our regular charity donations. For example, children
who give money to tzedakah each week in religious
school can’t take from that to give to the poor. Purim
tzedakah must be extra charity.
The tzedakah is supposed to be given on Purim day,
but Jews who don't know anyone who needs charity are
supposed to put the gift aside and save it until they find
someone who needs it.
By the way, the rule of giving tzedakah on Purim ap
plies to every Jew, including children! So start saving
your shekels - or nickels, dimes, and quarters - because
Purim starts Monday night, March 24, 1986!
1 Free - 3 Million To Go!
All freedom-loving people around the world
celebrated on February 11, 1986. On that day,
Anatoly Shcharansky (pronounced Sh-ran-
skee) was freed from prison in the Soviet
Union and taken to the homeland of his
dreams, Israel!
Shcharansky had been arrested in Moscow
on March 15, 1977 because the Soviets said
he was a spy for the American government.
Shcharansky was not a spy, of course. He was
just a Jew who had applied for permission to
leave the Soviet Union and immigrate to Israel.
But the Soviet government sentenced him to 13 years in prison!
Most of the time he was in prison, he was living in a small cell, ail
by himself. He was not allowed to talk to anybody. But he never lost
hope, and he never gave up his dream of praying at the Western
Wall in Jerusalem!
NOAH’S ARK would like to send thousands of letters congratu
lating Anatoly Shcharansky! If you would like to write a letter, send
it to: Anatoly, c/o NOAH’S ARK, 7726 Portal, Houston, Texas
77071.
THE SOUTHERN ISRAELITE March 21, 1986