Book of Days

Here comes a fun holiday in the Jewish calendar: the setting sun on this 23rd of March brings Purim, a springtime holiday celebrated with costumes and lots of noise and special pastries made in the shape of a hat. The pastries are called hamantaschen, named for the triangular hat of a rather evil chap named Haman. The abundance of noise comes in the form of boos and hisses and the twirling of special noisemakers called graggers whenever Haman’s name is spoken on Purim, and it all goes back to an event that took place in ancient Persia as recorded in the Book of Esther. Haman, the royal vizier to the king, plotted to kill all the Jews in the empire, but his plot was discovered and foiled by Queen Esther and her father, Mordecai. On each Purim, the story of these events is told in the reading of the Megillah, and each time the name Haman is spoken, the congregation boos and hisses and twirls graggers to drown it out.

It’s also a day of fanciful costumes. Just like at Halloween, there are traditional Purim costumes––the main characters of the story are the most traditional of Purim costumes. But it’s also not uncommon to see all sorts of costumes on Purim, and the image above is taken from a book about Purim by David Wander. It’s a one-of-a-kind painted artists’ book in the Jaffe Collection at Florida Atlantic University, and in it, the costumes range from Esther and Haman to Teletubbies and Power Rangers. It all looks like great fun, if you ask me.

As for the hamantaschen, they are meant to evoke the hat of Haman, but certainly they are tastier than any hat. They are triangles of sweet dough filled with poppyseed or prune fillings, traditionally, but you might find other fillings, too. Another Purim tradition is to bestow gifts of food… and you can bet your bottom dollar that hamantaschen will be part of those gifts. That was how I first learnt of Purim… thanks to a gift of hamantaschen bestowed upon me one Purim by my friends Georges and Judith. Georges is gone now, but I’ll remember him probably every Purim because of that gift. And Judith is someone I often see on Wednesdays. How lucky for me that Purim begins this year on a Wednesday evening: I’ll get to wish her a happy Purim… and if I’m lucky, she may even bring me a hamantaschen. I hope it’s poppyseed.

Locals! Come see Seth and me tonight at Social House in Downtown Lake Worth! We won’t exactly be celebrating Purim, but we will be celebrating local community and art. It’s the Fine Art edition of Social House’s ongoing Maker Meet events, and we’re excited to be there featured with other fine local artists. 6 to 9 PM at Social House, 512 Lucerne Avenue in beautiful Downtown Lake Worth. If you do come by, be sure to say hello and let me know you’re a Convivio Book of Days reader.