Purim, 2014 - An Update

     Page Two Hundred-Two.
     A couple of evenings ago, I went to Purim service. Here's what I saw. 
     The Rabbi was dressed up as the Wicked Witch of the West. (This, while standing on the pulpit, reading from the Torah.) The Cantor was dressed as a striped convict because he'd been "jailed" by the synagogue's chapter of USY (United Synagogue Youth - the national youth movement of the Conservative Judaism denomination). Seems the only way to get him released was if congregants bought enough fund-raising raffle tickets from USY; they interrupted the service with this announcement. There were also 40-50 heavily costumed children running around the pulpit during this religious service; then, another few hundred made-up children and adults sitting in the sanctuary. I was among the couple of hundred who weren't dressed up at all.
     My favorite children's costume was the kid who looked like a cross between Marvin the Martian and Daft Punk. My favorite adult was dressed as an ancient Pharaoh. I don't know if any non-Jews would get the irony of a Pharaoh attending any Jewish religious function, but it's completely over the top.
     After the service ended, the party began. The band was good which they always are. But, I didn't stay a long time, just long enough to eat 2 Hamantaschen. I'm not sure where they were purchased, but they weren't my favorite. I ate 'em though, 2 of 'em, in fact. Don't get me wrong. But I didn't love 'em.
     I didn't go to the carnival the next afternoon. Instead, I went and visited an elderly couple I'm friends with. She's 93 and he's 97. I brought them some Hamantaschen and we talked and ate and talked and ate some more.
     One of these days, I should figure out how to do homemade Hamantachen. It just can't be too difficult. I've made bread lots of times and Hamantaschen is simply a sweet dough similar to a Danish breakfast pastry, plus pie filling. One of these days...

Hamentaschen

     Page One Hundred Ninety-Two.
     Purim is next week. That means one thing: Hamentaschen. Yum, yum, yum.
     Purim is a springtime Jewish holiday when the Book of Esther is read in synagogue and Jews celebrate a time about 2500 years ago when our Persian Jewish ancestors faced certain annihilation. But, at the last minute, were saved. However, the holiday has evolved into something of a Jewish Mardi Gras. Synagogues all over the world have carnivals and parties. In Israel there will be parades, merriment and much alcohol consumption. Getting to the specific point, Purim's a blast. It's also one of Judaism's best kept secrets. Few non-Jews know about it and I'm not sure why.
     When discussing Purim's contemporary traditions, the first thing to know is the ancient, biblical story of Esther.
     Here's the super-mega-ultra abridged version of the story:

     King Achashveros of Persia (our 21st century Iran) has a Prime Minister, Haman. 

     Haman tells King that if they kill all the Jews then that would solve all of Persia's problems. 

     King says "okey-dokey". 

     King doesn't realize that his wife, Esther, is Jewish. 

     Esther has uncle, Mordechai. who saves King's life. 

     So Esther goes and says "since you owe my uncle a biggie, how's 'bout if you don't kill me or my people, but instead Haman, his family and all their friends who were going to kill us?" 

     King said "okey-dokey." 

     Everybody lives happily ever after, except for Haman, his family and their supporters who were dead.

     The End.

     Believe you me, the actual bible story is a loooooooooooooot longer with more plot twists than Les Miserables. But you basically have the general idea now.
     Purim traditions are wonderful.
     At all the costume parties the world over (a tradition which dates to 14th century Italy and Germany) children and adults alike will be dressed up as these 4 major characters. Secular costumes have also become extremely popular. Think Halloween. In Israel and New York you might see Orthodox rabbis dressed up as nuns. Literally. The rabbi at my synagogue has dressed up as Sponge Bob, Superman and Oz's Dorothy to name just a few. This, while reading from the bible during a religious service.
     Then, there's the carnival attitude (with 12th century origins). There's singing, dancing, merriment and much, much alcohol. Purim is the only day of the year when the tradition is to get hammered. That tradition comes from the belief that one should drink enough wine that one shouldn't recognize Haman's name. Purim is the only day in the Jewish calendar when excessive drinking is biblically sanctioned.
     Also, there's the duty of giving money and food to your friends and the poor. There are actually gift bags made specifically for Purim food and gifts and they're labeled as such. You know how Christmas bags are labeled and decorated for Christmas? Same thing here except they're labeled and decorated for Purim. But , there are no gifts per se... just food (or money if they need it).

     And most importantly, there's Hamantaschen. Only the most glorious food in the world, Hamantaschen is a pastry only to be found this time of year. Haman wore a tri-corner hat so these pastries are triangle shaped. These bits of heaven are then filled with the usual variety of flavors, hence "taschen", German for bag. There are two different styles of Hamantaschen: cookie style or yeast style. Cookie style are just exactly that. This photo shows cookie dough style with apricot and cherry filling. Yeast dough is my favorite. That style might remind the casual observer of Danish, but with no filling exposed. You simply bite into a flat triangle of slightly sweet bread and suddenly your mouth is filled with gooey sweetness.  It's beautiful.  
     It's extremely possible that Purim's carnival tradition and Christianity's Mardi Gras both have roots in the same Roman springtime festival. Lord knows, Mardi Gras is popular. But again, non-Jews have no idea that Purim even exists. That really is unusual because many Jewish holiday are somewhere in the world's consciousness. Who knows why Purim is Judaism's greatest secret, but it is.
     During the middle ages Christians did know about Purim. Anti-Semitism was so extreme that the general population knew about Hamantaschen. There was a pervasive rumor that Jews kidnapped Christian children, killed them, ground up their bones, then used that fine powder in the making of Hamantaschen. As recently as the late 1990's, there was a front page article in Saudi Arabia's largest newspaper discussing how this actually happens today. Again, this article was written and widely read less than 20 years ago. Then we wonder there's still so much mistrust and misunderstanding between Israel and the Arab countries.
     I'm telling you though, if you live near a Jewish community, phone your largest local synagogue and find out when their Purim carnival or celebration will be. Go. Have fun. Eat. Manga... Manga...

On Decorating For Rosh Hashanah

     Page One Hundred Twenty-Two.
     Right now I'm sitting at my dining room table, writing this blog. Besides my computer, the other things on the table are many decorations for Rosh Hashanah, the Jewish New Year, which is in a few weeks. The reason they're here is because I'll be using them in a couple days to decorate one window at the beauty salon which I manage. Decorating a window for Rosh Hashanah is mostly no big deal. But if you remember from a couple blogs ago (page #119) the salon is almost exclusively African-American. However, here's the thing: my boss, Alma, knew what she was getting herself into when she asked me to be the manager. She knew that my world view is a bit odd, overly embracing and quite rebellious.
     Last spring I decorated one window for the Jewish holiday of Purim and I decorated another one for St. Patrick's Day. Of all things, I didn't do one for Easter because one of our two windows was broken at the time and the other window was set with something that Alma and I both liked, though I don't now remember what it was. (Also, that was the week that I was hosting the Passover Seder at the church, and was cooking for 260 people. So, I took the entire week off from the salon anyhow.) Alma, the beauty salon and I are all in Cleveland Heights, Ohio, an unusually ecumenical and integrated community. If I can't get away with decorating a black beauty salon for all the Jewish holidays in this city, I can't do it anywhere. And I want to.
     It doesn't go unnoticed either. Last spring while the windows had their St. Pat's theme, some drunken bar hopping patrons who were staggering by, were overheard to say "why do those ni****s have their salon decorated for St. Patrick's Day?" (The salon is on a street heavily occupied by popular restaurants and bars.) But also, earlier this summer, I received word that my windows had been nominated for the best decorated windows in Cleveland Heights. So there you go.
     Actually the salon clients love it. Alma is a devout Christian as are many of her clients. They love the fact that I embrace and then talk about my Jewishness because Jesus was Jewish. So they're fascinated by our holidays. As far as I'm concerned, anything which keeps my creativity popping is good. And doing those windows for various holidays, Jewish and otherwise, definitely pops my creativity.