Megillat Esther Study Sheet

HOME

   
Introduction
In the following exercise pupils are required to study specific pesukim and sections of Megillat Esther.  The exercise can be employed as it is, but the teacher may well wish to add or subtract from it.  Either way, it forms the basis for a great deal of discussion around some of the major themes and lessons inherent in the Megilla.

Each time I use this exercise I think of new ideas and usually include new sections for study.  I recommend this for ages 10 / 11 upwards.  The notes below, under the heading "What is meant by 'important'", emerged directly out of my teaching this unit, as I repeatedly stopped the activity to provide the pupils with tips on how to best to work on this.  Both individual and pairs work have been successful.  Pairs work is certainly fertile for fruitful activity, but some children preferred to work by themselves and did so conscientiously.

Finally, you will need to decide how much you prepare the class for this task.  Will you review the story, introduce some of the themes that the exercise is intended to highlight, or work through part of the exercise together before directing the pupils to continue by themselves?  The idea of the exercise is to gain an appreciation of the messages in the Megilla through studying, comparing and contrasting specific textual and narrative elements, rather than a mundane reading from start to finish.  However, you may find it is worthwhile preparing for the activity by reminding the class of how Hashem is hidden in the Megilla and that we can notice Him if we watch very carefully as the story unfolds.  This should attune the pupils to the kinds of responses you want encourage.  Just don't 'feed' them too much!

Behatzlacha!

Megillat Esther Study Sheet 

1.  Look in your Megilla and find the following pesukim.
     In your book, write down,
     a) what the pesukim are about and 
     b) why you think they are important*.

2.  Now read chapter 6.  What do you think is the
     relevance of this chapter to the rest of the story?

3.  Look at perek 7, pasuk 9.  How do you understand
     the role of Charvona?

4.  Compare the following pairs of pesukim: 
     perek 3, pasuk 10 and perek 8, pasuk 2
     perek 6, pasuk 11 and perek 8, pasuk 15

5.  Look at the Hebrew of perek 9, pasuk 22 - 
     which mitzvot do we learn from this pasuk?
     Write down the phrases in the pasuk
     that teach us these mitzvot and, next to each phrase,
     explain how each mitzvah should be performed.

6.  Into how many parts can you split perek 10 pasuk 3
     (the last pasuk in the Megilla)?
     Explain what we learn from the different parts of this pasuk.

***

*What is meant by "important"?

a)  Think about how these pesukim indicate how Hashem is working on His plan to save the Jewish People 'behind the scenes'.

b)  If the particular pasuk involves a person, decide what is the role of that character in the story and how their participation affects events and outcomes later on.

c)  Imagine the Megilla without the event or character in the particular pasuk.  How would things have turned out differently?  This should help you understand why it is important that the event or character is there.

This study sheet in pdf format

Back up to the beginning of the task.