It’s Purely time for Purim

Everyone knows about Passover. Charlton Heston helped make it famous in Pop Culture with the movie “the Ten Commandments.” Passover commemorates when God took the first born children of the Egyptian aristocracy, while passing over the houses of the Jewish slaves, ultimately resulting in their freedom from bondage under the guidance of a guy named Moses. Indeed, it was a momentous occasion. But, today celebrates a slightly less dramatic event in the history of the Jewish people. It’s Purely time for Purim. If you aren’t familiar with the story and celebration, there’s probably a good reason. Besides a parody in the movie “For Your consideration”, It doesn’t get a lot of press.

These days, the celebration is very much in line with those of the vernal equinox. It is a joyous occasion, marked by feasts, costume wearing, and partying. Gifts of food and donations to the poor abound. Unlike other celebrations of the Jewish faith, the vibe is more upbeat instead of contemplative. Yet, it still commemorates another in a long line of examples of how the Jewish people have been persecuted throughout history. Of course, this story comes with a large dose of revenge. It happened during the time of the Persian empire when the Jewish people turned the tables on a decree to wipe out the jews in the empire. The Jewish people turned the tables and wiped out those who wanted them dead.

At temples around the world, It’s Purely time for Purim

How did we get here? The story dates back to the Book of Esther. Somewhere around the year 482 BCE, there was a Persian King named Ahasuerus. At the time the Persian empire stretched from India to “Nubia”, covering 127 provinces. Apparently, during a months long drinking festival, he ordered his wife to parade naked before the court. When she refused, he dumped her and chose a new wife from a parade of eligible young women. Among them was Esther. Many believe she was a teenager at the time. She caught the eye of the 30 something year old king, and they were married.

Her cousin, Mordecai, adopted her when her parents died, and served as her protector. When she ascended the throne, Mordecai instructed her to keep her religion a secret. And, he took up a post near the palace gates. While there, he uncovered a plot to assassinate the king, and relayed it to the king via Esther. His deed was “recorded” in the King’s “diary”.

The plot thickens

The king’s top advisor, Haman, demanded fealty from all. But, Mordecai refused to bow to him. So, Haman drew up a decree to Kill all Jews via a lottery (the term Purim refers to “lots”). Mordecai got Esther to seek an audience with the king (even as Queen, this was unheard of). She set up a banquet where she would reveal her religion and Haman’s plan to exterminate her and her kind. The King, also, was reminded of the recorded note that Mordecai thwarted his assassination. Seeing this, he fired Haman, and promoted Mordecai to Haman’s position. Unable to annul the original decree, Mordecai wrote a new decree calling for the death of all those intent on killing the Jews. Haman was Hung on the gallows intended for Mordecai. And, a hunt began to exterminate those sympathetic to Haman’s antisemitism. About 75,000 people died.

So, the tale is one of redemption, salvation, and revenge. And, the symbol of the day is “hamantaschen”. These are a triangular shaped pastry with a variety of fillings. Most are sweet. But, there are also savory versions. The term translates to Haman’s ears or hat (depending on who you talk to). It was customary to cut of criminal’s ears at the time. Alternatively, the triangular shape is representative of the Hat he wore. Either way, they can be quite tasty. When you see them on a table, it’s a pretty good indication that It’s Purely time for Purim.

What to do about Purim

This story goes back a long time. But, we see shades of it in the modern political landscape. Thanks to populist rhetoric, many politicians spout political grievances, vowing revenge against their political opponents. Haman wanted revenge for disrespect. And, Mordecai wanted revenge for a physical threat to he and his kind (plus, a pre-history of disrespect from Haman’s predecessors toward the Jewish people) . But, should we really be teaching revenge as an equalizing force. In the long run, it doesn’t equalize anything. It merely shifts power from one group to another.

The Purim story illustrates a long pattern of antisemitism in the world. However, the resolution resulted in the deaths of “the enemy”. But, aren’t we all human beings? And, as humans, don’t we have a commitment to protect each other regardless of belief? Whether you believe in the Jewish, Muslim, Christian, Buddhist, or other god is immaterial to what we are. The survival of our species is more dependent on working together than against each other.

Unfortunately, people place revenge above all else, as evidenced in Shakespeare’s famous scene from the Merchant of Venice:

Hath not a Jew eyes? Hath not a Jew hands, organs, dimensions, senses, affections, passions; fed with the same food, hurt with the same weapons, subject to the same diseases, healed by the same means, warmed and cooled by the same winter and summer as a Christian is? If you prick us do we not bleed? If you tickle us do we not laugh? If you poison us do we not die? And if you wrong us shall we not revenge? If we are like you in the rest, we will resemble you in that. If a Jew wrong a Christian, what is his humility? Revenge. If a Christian wrong a Jew, what should his sufferance be by Christian example? Why, revenge. The villainy you teach me I will execute, and it shall go hard but I will better the instruction.

The lesson that if you teach me revenge, I shall exact it upon you proves true in too many instances. And, all it builds is resentment. In the 1990’s, Israel and Palestine were on a path toward a peace deal. But, Hamas took over the Palestinian government on a platform of revenge. On the Israeli side, the people voted in the Benjamin Netanyahu as a hardliner vowing to squash any resistance from Hamas. He served for a single term and was voted out. In 2009, he came back into power for 12 years. Again, he was voted out and embroiled in legal trouble. He returned to power again, using grievance politics. Hamas saw his return to power as a threat to Palestine, and launched the horrific attack of October 7.

So, it’s been a back and forth of you wronged me, so I’ll wrong you. And, this has gone on for thousands of years. So, who is right? Neither. No one has the right to kill in the name of their belief or sovereignty. And, when Hamas kills one person, Israel kills 10. How is that productive?

It’s Purely time for Purim, but, not for revenge.

With the conflict in Gaza today, hopefully, it doesn’t embolden the Israeli government to relive the tale. Or, for Hamas to seek revenge for what happened to Haman 2500 years ago. The villain in the Purim tale was Haman. And, the villain in today’s war is Hamas. It’s too easy for one side or the other to say “you wronged me first, so I am due my revenge”. If you remember how that scene in the Merchant of Venice turned out, Shylock was offered his “pound of flesh” with the caveat that if one drop of blood falls with the flesh, “he will be guilty of conspiring against the life of a Venetian citizen and all his lands and goods will be confiscated by the state.” This is a materialistic summation of what happens to those seeking revenge. If you get your revenge, you lose all that makes you human.

So, it appears that over thousands of years, tribalism and revenge won out over humanity, and continue to separate instead of joining people together. And, it will continue for the foreseeable future. But, that doesn’t mean one can’t try to be better. Calls for peace usually fall to the wayside when the reality of the situation comes to bear. Hamas used brutal tactics, and continues to not bargain in good faith. And, Israel, having been through millennia of battles and wrongs is skeptical of any deal coming from people who hate them. So, hate breeds hate. It’s a self fulfilling prophecy, and, a perpetual circle of hate and mistrust.

Leave out the bad

But, if we look at the tale of Esther without the violence, the central tenet of reconciliation and acceptance is a noble pursuit. The Persian King accepting his Jewish wife and family, and recognizing the humanitarian act of Mordecai thwarting his assassination despite having a different religious perspective is something to be proud of and strive for. So, to celebrate Purim, we must turn a blind eye to the whole revenge scenario, and place our faith in Hope for all people of all denominations to aid each other in humanity.

So, let’s get this party started with some hamantaschen.

Mazel Tov!

Jam Filled Hamantaschen

cheffd

Print Recipe

Prep Time 30 minutes mins

Cook Time 10 minutes mins

Chilling time 2 hours hrs

Course cookie, Dessert

Cuisine Hebrew, Jewish

Ingredients

  

• 1/2 Cup Butter
• 3/4 Cup Sugar
• 1 Large egg
• 1 Tbsp Milk
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• 1 1/2 Cup AP Flour
• 1/4 tsp Baking Powder
• 1/4 tsp Kosher Salt
• Jam to Fill Preferably apricot and/or Berry

Instructions

 

• Beat the butter and sugar until smooth in a mixing bowl. Add the remaining wet ingredients. Mix thoroughly.
• Sift the flour, baking powder, and salt together. Mix in a little at a time until a firm dough forms. If it is still a little wet and sticky, you can add a little more flour.
• Wrap the dough in plastic and refrigerate for at least an hour, up to a full day.
• Preheat oven to 400.
• Remove the dough from the fridge. Flour a surface and roll out the dough to about 1/8 to 1/4 inch thick. Cut out circles with a round cutter or whatever is clever. Place a dollop of jam in the middle of each circle. Then, pinch in the corners on three sides to make a triangle. Refrigerate for another 10 minutes.
• bake for about 8 to 10 minutes until just slightly browned and firm. Cool and serve.

Notes

Traditional fillings are apricot  or berry jams. But, you can play with the fillings. Try a cheesecake filling or ricotta for a cannoli variation. You could do lemon curd, or a myriad other variations.

 

Keyword cookies, hamantaschen, Jam, Traditional