On Sunday, March 12, approximately 100 people attended the Purim Carnival at Temple Sinai, under the direction of CRAFTY (Cranston Federation of Temple Youth) 

Rick Cohen was behind the idea and serves as Temple vice president and Chair of the Youth Group Committee.

“When I was a kid we had fun at Purim, so I wanted to bring it back,” said Cohen. 

The story of Purim is told in the biblical book of Esther. The heroes of the story are Esther, a beautiful young Jewish woman living in Persia, and her cousin Mordecai, who raised her as if she were his daughter. Esther was taken to the house of Ahasuerus, King of Persia, to become part of his harem. King Ahasuerus loved Esther more than his other women and made Esther queen, but the king did not know that Esther was a Jew, because Mordecai told her not to reveal her identity.

The villain of the story is Haman, an arrogant, egotistical advisor to the king. Haman hated Mordecai because Mordecai refused to bow down to Haman, so Haman plotted to destroy the Jewish people. The king gave the fate of the Jewish people to Haman, to do as he pleased. Haman planned to exterminate all of the Jews.

Mordecai persuaded Esther to speak to the king on behalf of the Jewish people. This was a dangerous thing for Esther to do, because anyone who came into the king's presence without being summoned could be put to death, and she had not been summoned. Esther fasted for three days to prepare herself, then went into the king. He welcomed her. Later, she told him of Haman's plot against her people. The Jewish people were saved, and Haman and his 10 sons were hanged on the gallows that had been prepared for Mordecai.

The traditional food for Purim is a three-pointed cookie called Hamentash, which is supposed to symbolize Haman's hat.

When the children at temple hear Haman's name during the telling of the Pruim story, they yell, boo, stomp their feet, clap their hands and make lots of noise to drown out Haman's name.

The Purim Carnival was organized by CRAFTY, under the supervision of President Emma Rosenfield and Programming VP Mia Gershon. There are approximately 28 children involved in the program.

In addition to costumes worn by children, there were also 10 stations where children could win tickets for food or prizes.