by Barbara Diamond Goldin
Hershel’s blindness doesn’t keep him from living life. He helps his mother by doing chores, but wishes he could do even more for her. When an angel appears in Hershel’s dream and encourages him to make what he sees when he closes his eyes, the boy snaks into the kitchen, transforming his mother's cookie dough into beautiful hamantaschen (three-cornered fruit-filled cookies) that can be sold to raise money for the family at Purim.
Celebrate Purim!
Purim 2022 begins at night on Monday, March 2 and concludes in the evening on Tuesday, March 3.
Purim celebrates the salvation of the Jews of Persia from certain destruction. King Achashverosh's advisor Haman was offended when Mordechai, a Jew, would not bow to him, so he drew lots (purim in Hebrew) to determine a date upon which all of Persia's Jews would be killed: the 14th of Adar. Mordechai's relative Esther entered and won a contest to become Achashverosh's new queen after his first wife Vashti was thrown out of the palace, so she was able to use her influence to convince Achashverosh to condemn Haman and his plot.
Purim is a festive and joyous holiday. Many people dress up in costume to attend Purim carnivals, and when the megillah (scroll) is read aloud, noisemakers called groggers are shaken every time Haman's name appears. Other customs include enjoying a large meal, giving gifts to the poor, and sending ready-to-eat food (mishloach manot) to friends, often including hamantaschen ("Haman's pockets," "Haman's hat," or oznei Haman [Haman's ears] in Hebrew; triangle-shaped pastries filled with poppy seeds, jam, or even chocolate/Nutella).
PJ Library Purim Books
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Cakes and Miracles
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Esther Didn’t Dream of Being Queen
by Allison Ofanansky
The story of Purim has many elements of a fairy tale -- a beautiful queen, a dastardly villain, and of course, a satisfying ending. But Esther doesn't love dressing up and being the center of attention -- she's not interested in playing the Cinderella role. How will she muster the will to do what needs to be done?
Purim Recipes & Crafts
Edible Purim Groggers
(From cupcakeproject.com)
How to make an edible grogger:
Step 1: Use a paintbrush to paint a thick layer of melted tempered chocolate onto the insides of two silicone molds.
Step 2: Place molds in the freezer until solid (just a couple of minutes). Remove from the freezer and paint a second coat. You want the chocolate to be thick so that it will withstand something banging into it.
Step 3: Place the chocolate-filled silicone molds back in the freezer until solid. Then, carefully remove and peel off the silicone molds. They should come off easily.
Step 4: Paint chocolate along the edges of both triangles. This chocolate will serve as glue. At this point, it doesn’t matter if the chocolate is smooth and runny.
Step 5: Paint a quarter of a popsicle stick with chocolate – front, back, and sides.
Step 6: Add a few candy pearls to one of the triangles. You don’t want to put too many in because they need room to move around when you shake the grogger. Then, place the popsicle stick on one of the triangles.
Step 7: Stick the other triangle on top. The fit might not be perfect. If necessary, turn the triangle to find the best fit. Paint chocolate liberally around all of the edges to seal any gaps.
Step 8: Freeze until the grogger hardens. Remove from the freezer. Pipe a Jewish star or other decoration onto the grogger using melted white chocolate.
Step 9: Freeze until ready to shake, boo, and eat!
Easy No Fuss Hamantaschen Recipe
(From kosherinthekitch.com)
Servings: about 20 Hamantaschen
Ingredients:
- 2 eggs
- 1/2 cup oil
- 2/3 cup sugar
- 1 t vanilla
- 2 t baking powder
- 2 1/2 cups flour
- Jam, chocolate spread or desired filling
- Cream together sugar, oil, eggs and vanilla.
- Slowly add flour and baking powder.
- Mix together. The dough might be crumbly, use your hands to smooth it out and combine it. (if the dough is sticky add an additional 1/4 cup flour)
- Roll out dough on floured surface (about 1/4 to 1/8 thick. Not too thick since then the circles are hard to shape and will open up. Not too thin since then it will rip when shaping or filling)
- Cut out circles using a donut cutter, cookie cutter or the rim of a large glass cup or mason jar.
- Fill center of circle with desired filling (about 1/2 tsp) and bake on 350′ for 8 to 12 minutes depending on how soft or crispy you want them. I like them super soft so I take them out at about 8 minutes.
Make a Purim Puppet/Noisemaker
(With Morah Lana from Ezra Academy and PJ Library)