If you don’t know it, Purim is the Jewish holiday that celebrates the occasion of the Persian Jews outwitting the wicked minister Haman who was out to annihilate them. Haman was going to have all the Jews put to death, but the Jewish uncle of the queen (whose name was Mordechai) found out about Haman’s evil intentions and passed word to his niece (Queen Esther), who in turn told the King, who decided to put Haman to death instead of the Jews. The triangular shape was said to be taken from the tricorn hat that Haman wore. An alternative origin story is that they were made by central European Jews based on the German mohntaschen—“mohn” means “poppyseed,” “tasch” means “pocket.”
Like many Jewish holidays, Purim is a tale of impending tragedy that is turned into salvation. The Purim story—where the wicked minister almost comes out on top but ends up losing seemed fitting for what we hope will happen in Ukraine this year. From which we decided to donate from the sale of each Hamantaschen to humanitarian relief funds for the millions of innocent victims of the violence in Ukraine. Haman and Vladimir Putin are hardly the same person, and the Purim story is not the same as that of the horrific Russian invasion of Ukraine, but in both cases, a single leader with evil intentions assumes the power to destroy the lives of so many others. In the Purim story, the “happy” ending is that Haman’s efforts were stopped and the Jews of ancient Persia were saved. In Ukraine, many thousands have already died and the destruction is beyond what I can imagine, and, unlike the Purim story, there’s not yet any end in sight. A year ago, out of despair at being unclear on what we could do from so far away, I wrote this piece about applying the revolution of dignity—honoring Ukraine’s ejection of the Russian-sponsored leader in 2014—to our daily lives here in the safety of southeastern Michigan.
The beautiful little triangularly shaped, all-butter cookie dough crust pockets are stuffed with an array of fillings: cream cheese (from the Creamery) and vanilla bean, apricot, Hungarian prune preserves, and, Paul’s favorite, Dutch poppy seed. All are excellent. The two newest flavors—both introduced last year—are winning raves: Apple Pie and, yes, you read it right, Chocolate Birthday Cake. It’s a Jewish tradition to bring gifts at Purim, so a box of hamantaschen dropped off at the office or your neighbor’s house would be a great way to do that.
