by Tammy Weisberger

More than any other Jewish holiday, Purim is dedicated to celebrating and fortifying the unity of the Jewish community. This year on March 25th, Jewish people will come together during Purim to share in the telling of the Purim Story. The Purim Story is about how Haman, an evil man with a deep-seated hatred for Jewish people, devised a plan to murder all the Jews in Persia. At a critical moment, Haman’s plan was foiled by quick-thinking Queen Esther and her cousin Mordechai, as they convinced King Ahasuerus to not allow Haman to follow through with his plan. In honor of the fantastic feast during which King Ahasuerus made his critical decision, Purim celebrators also enjoy a great feast, wear festive costumes and throw a Purim Carnival full of games and delicious treats!

Giving Away Treats = A Good Deed
The fact that no one leaves a Purim celebration empty-handed is not just a happy coincidence. It’s actually considered a mitzvah (good deed) to make sure that everyone has a plate full of cookies, cakes, candy, and sweetbreads to keep their sweet tooth satisfied for the coming week. This particular mitzvah is called mishloach manot and involves something we all love to do anyhow... giving gifts of home-baked treats! Jews are urged to give packages of treats (at least two different kinds of food or cookie in each package) to friends and family, but especially to those friends that that they have been out of touch with. The goal of this mitzvah is to strengthen the bonds of friendship and community with people that we might not see daily, weekly, or even monthly!

Get into the Purim spirit and take the time to reconnect with your friends and neighbors by delivering a basket full of home-baked friendship!

Recipes

Purim Carnival
• Raspberry and Apricot Rugelach
• Rugelach I
• MandelBread
• Date Haroset
• Apple Spice Cake
• Honey Cake III

Giving Away Treats
• Hamantashan
• Jewish Apple Cake
• Challah In a Hurry
• Munn Cookies
• Mohn Candy
• Hamantashen II