Purim

of all the holidays Purim has always been celebrated with the most gaiety. Feasting, exchanging of gifts, gifts to the poor (shalah manos), and general merrymaking have traditionally characterized the festival. Jewish actors (Purim Shpielers) would stroll from house to house in the Jewish communities of Europe dramatizing the events recorded in the Scroll of Esther adding to the holiday gaiety. Thus, masquerading has become a manifestation of the Purim observance. In Palestine the celebration of Purim was climaxed with a grand carnival called the "Alloyada."

The Megillah (Book of Esther) is read in the synagogue to commemorate the devotion of Esther to her people, and the complete frustration of the villainous Haman when his plot to exterminate the Jews of ancient Persia resulted instead in his own hanging. The reading of Haman's name from the Megillah is greeted by the children with the rattling of greggers (noisemakers) and the stamping of feet. Mordecai, Esther's uncle, is also glorified because he refused to bow down to the wicked Haman, and played a heroic role in warning the Jewish people and preventing their extermination.

The traditional dessert for Purim is Hamantashen, three cornered cakes filled with poppy seeds or prunes. There are various interpretations of the shape of this pastry. Some believe that Haman wore a three-cornered hat, others that he wore a three cornered purse. In Italy there is a legend that Haman's ears were shaped like a donkey's, three-cornered and slightly elongated. The cookies therefore are shaped longer in that country. In Holland and the low countries, small cakes in the shape of a man studded with nuts and raisins like gingerbread men, symbolize Haman.

Other traditional holiday goodies are served on Purim. Various salads can be arranged to form effigies of Haman or to glorify Esther.

SUGGESTED DISHES
POPPY SEED COOKIES, Page 177
MOTHER'S PURIM HALLAH, Page 156
HAMANTASHEN,(all types), Page 174-175
JULIA'S NUT AND POPPY SEED ROLLS, Page 178