Part of proper Purim partying is the preparation and packaging (as presents) of triangular pocket pastries of poppy seeds or other pleasant puréed produce (jams; marmalades; honey and walnuts). You take a circle of cookie dough, drop a dollop of something sweet in the centre and fold in three sides to make this popular Purim delicacy. There are plenty of recipes available if you need more detail (but mum’s are the best).
As the Yiddish name “Hamentaschen” (hamentashen, hamantaschen, hamantashen, homentaschen, homentashen, hamentash, hamantasch, etc…) suggests, these are an exclusive tradition of European Ashkenazi Jewry, and yet they have been borrowed into Israeli (and thus international Jewish) culture as “אוזני המן” (Oznei Haman, “Haman’s ears”). It might seem predictable enough for something named after the infamous Book of Esther character Haman to become part of the Purim tradition, but it’s not quite so simple… (more…)
I was using the siddur (prayerbook) “Mizkeret Yerushalayim” for a change this morning, and came across the following line in Psalm 100:
דְּעוּ– כִּי יי, הוּא אֱלֹהִים: הוּא עָשָׂנוּ, ולא (וְלוֹ ק’) אֲנַחְנוּ– עַמּוֹ, וְצֹאן מַרְעִיתוֹ.
Know that the LORD, He is God; He made us and not (as written; read instead: His) [are] we, His people, and the flock of His pasture.
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Last Sunday night, we entered a new month on the Hebrew calendar. Throughout our childhoods it was often related to us:
The month of Cheshvan (חשון) is the only month in the Jewish calendar that has no special days. Some say this is why we call it Mar-Cheshvan (מרחשון), or Bitter Cheshvan. According to another legend, all the months got together to cheer up Cheshvan by giving it the title, Mar (Mister.)
Even a more adult-focused web site insists: “Cheshvan, the eighth month of the Jewish calendar, is often referred to as Mar Cheshvan (”Bitter Cheshvan”) because it has no holidays.” And many young Jews grow up feeling very compassionate and sorry for the month.
Adding titles to a month’s name is not unheard of in Judaism, and we entitle the month of “Av” as “Menachem Av” (comforting Av) for reason of the tragedies that are commemorated in that month. But it turns out this “mar” isn’t quite the same. (more…)
I recently discovered (well, not before he told me), that my brother, Simon, has also started a blog. It turns out he’s written on something a little up my alley, on the idea of not eating nuts in the new year in Judaism. (more…)
In high school english we were always taught to look for the techniques that the author used to give a particular literary effect. The Tanakh and other ancient texts should not at all be seen as an exception.
It was around this time last year that I contacted my Classical Hebrew teacher, Shani Berrin, to point out some nice alliteration and wordplays used in the parsha of Chukat-Balak, read this weekend in synagogues across the diaspora. (more…)