Hey! Hey! What Do You Say?

Hey! Hey! What do you say? Let's sing Purim songs today.

Hey! Hey! What a great day! Purim is a fun holiday.

Come to see the great Purim show.

Get those groggers ready to go!

Listen for the names that we hear.

One we boo, the other we cheer.

Hey! Hey! What do you say? What's the name we cheer today?

Esther! Say "Hip-hooray!" Cheer for Esther, she saved the day.

Come to see the great Purim show.

Get those groggers ready to go!

Listen for the names that we hear.

One we boo, the other we cheer.

Hey! Hey! What do you say? What's the name we boo today?

HAMAN! HAMAN's* the name. Make some noise, that's part of the game.

Turn your groggers, all girls and boys.

Now's the time to make a loud noise.

HAMAN! HAMAN was a bad man.

Drown his name out

loud as you can!

Music and lyrics © 2003 by Carol Boyd Leon

Purim is indeed a fun holiday and perhaps the most festive of all Jewish holidays. The Festival of Purim commemorates a victory over oppression as recounted in Megillat Esther. This Megillah is the scroll which tells the story of Esther--the Jewish girl who became queen to King Ahasuerus and then saved the Jews--her uncle Mordechai and wicked Haman, an advisor to the king who plotted to kill all the Jews of Shushan. Children and adults dress in costume and retell the story, making noise whenever Haman's name is mentioned. This song captures the festive spirit of the holiday; students enjoy the excitement that's part of each refrain.

Suggestions: (1) * Groggers can make noise from here right through to "loud as you can." Con-clude the song by returning to the first verse. (2) Give preschoolers an opportunity to call out which name we cheer and which name we boo. (3) Provide elementary students with songsheets.