Celebrate the joy of Purim
Hamantachen! March 24 is the most joyous day on the Jewish calendar!
It’s Purim, the day our people were saved from a decree of annihilation 2,500 years ago in Persia by the evil Haman. As Jewish holidays go, there’s a special food associated with the celebration. It’s the favorite hamantach pastry, a three-cornered cookie with poppy seed filling. They come in all sizes and forms — soft, hard, flaky and chocolate-dipped — and they are delicious.
But what’s the meaning of the hamantach?
Well, Haman is the name of the villian of Purim, the Persian king’s visor who was able to convince King Achashverosh to sign a decree that all the Jews in the whole Persian empire, the entire known inhabited world, should be killed in one single day, the 13th of Adar.
Mordechai, the Jewish sage and leader, realized this was a decree from on High, as our people were not in top shape in their spiritual practice and religious beliefs. So Mordechai cried, prayed and inspired the Jewish people to repent and mend their ways. He also pleaded with Queen Esther to go the king to plead on behalf of the Jewish people. But Esther was afraid to go to the king because he hadn’t called for her for a long time. And going to the tyrant without an appointment was a death sentence. Even for the queen.
Mordechai pleaded with Esther to risk her life and go. She in turn instructed him to gather the Jews and fast and pray for three days and nights. She, too, fasted and prayed. On the third day, weak from fasting, she went to the king. And after a series of miracles, the king agreed to allow the Jewish people to defend themselves on the faithful day they were to be slaughtered.
The wicked Haman was hanged, and the day of sorrow was transformed to a day of joy and celebration. That’s what “Haman” means, but what about the “tasch”? Tasch is pocket in German and Yiddish. “Haman’s Pocket”? In Israel, they call it Oznei Haman, “Haman’s ears.” What’s going on?
Well, when the king was searching for a queen and couldn’t find any maiden satisfactory, Esther was taken against her will to the palace. She wished to keep her Jewish identity secret, yet wanted to keep her kosher diet, so she requested a diet of seeds. To recall her dedication, we eat poppy seeds on Purim.
We also eat another pastry, kreplach, made of meat-filled dough, to remember that the miracle was a hidden one, with a string of events orchestrated by Divine providence, not an overt miracle. So a pastry filled with poppy seeds was next. In German, poppy seeds are called “mun” hence the name “mun tasch ”or“mun taschen.”
It was an easy leap to “hamantasch” and “hamantaschen” in the plural.
Now, 2,500 years later, the Jewish people find ourselves once again in an existential threat of survival. The enemies of Israel have risen to destroy it with a brutal attack against peace-loving men, women and children. Antisemitism is on the rise around the world with all different kinds of excuses why it’s OK to call for the annihilation of our people. But the sweet hamantach reminds us that G-d protects his beloved people; we have 3,300 years of making the world a better place to show for it.
Just as in the times of Mordechai and Esther, Jewish unity and prayer brought the miracle. So, too, in our times, our people have come together to bond, pray and do mitzvot, and we are certain G-d will provide another miracle.
Will we make yet another pastry, and call it “sinwartaschen”?
Join us Sunday, March 24, for a festive “Purim in the Deli” celebration at the Jewish Center. With New York deli food, music, masquerade and Jewish unity. Happy Purim!