Midway into my first batch, as the rolling pin clumsily turned my dough into something resembling a map of Africa after a multi-year drought, I wondered what I could have possibly been thinking when I agreed to this assignment. This was my first attempt at baking hamantaschen, the triangular-shaped cookies we eat especially at Purim,…
Not since Hillary Clinton’s infamous cookie-making comment on “60 Minutes” in 1992 (“I suppose I could have stayed home and baked cookies…”) has the act of baking been so politicized — until now. This weekend, Ivanka Trump posted an image of herself on Instagram in which she’s seen making hamantaschen with two of her children….
An ultra-Orthodox Purim reveller has what might be our favorite costume this year for its sheer snackability. It’s a popcorn streimel. The streimel is a wheel-shaped hat typically worn by married ultra-Orthodox men. The hat is usually covered in marten or fox fur, but this guy filled his with popcorn. Israel Broadcasting Authority journalist Sam…
Right-wing preacher Lance Wallnau is calling on his followers to engage in a Purim fast for President Trump this Purim — against the, media, progressives and the “sabotaging, sniping and snarling” forces that Wallnau sees as aligned against the president. Like Esther, the heroine of the Purim tale, Wallnau hopes that Trump can turn the…
You can drown out more than just Haman this Purim. “The Donald Noisemaker,” a free app available in the iTunes store, allows users to shake away their distaste for President Trump during the holiday. Wave your phone up and down and you’ll get sound bytes of Trump saying the words “wrong,” “oy-ya-ye,” and “boo” over…
At Jewcy, Gabriela Geselowitz offers advice to Jews thinking of wearing blackface for Purim. Don’t. I second that advice wholeheartedly. Still unsure why blackface — on Purim or in general — is a bad idea? Geselowitz spells out the essential: “If a minority community overwhelmingly communicates that an aspect of emulating them for a costume…
In Tel Aviv, Purim is not just a holiday for humans. Plenty of dogs are decked out in fashionable costumes. One dog I saw was dressed like a lion. The dog-lion attracted claps and whistles from passersby. Another more feminine dog wore a headband with a pink sequined bow, and still another had an elaborate…
We do not tend to think of Mordecai as a displaced person, but perhaps we should. His family, we are told, had been exiled from Jerusalem (Esther 2:6) by King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon. Mordecai himself embraces this placelessness. Out of home in the world, the man refuses to come indoors. King Achashverosh cavorts in lavish…
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