Hamantaschen

March 21, 2024 | Third Thursday Thoughts
Dawn LaRochelle, Executive Director

A Mack truck, a freight train, a herd of deranged elephants – based on the speed and severity with which it hit, it could have been any or all of these things, but it was just a prosaic case of the flu that flattened me one week ago today (and yes, before you ask, I did get my flu vaccine). Two days in a state of feverish semi-delirium, unable to get out of bed, look at a computer or phone screen, read a book, or do much of anything other than stare at my exceedingly boring bedroom ceiling. One day of violent, uncontrollable chills, even under piles of quilts with a heated blanket thrown on top for good measure. And then the slow claw-back. A shower that turned into a half-day ordeal because I had no reserves left to wash and blow-dry my notoriously thick head of hair. Checking my work email, spending ten minutes on my laptop, then upping it to an hour. Getting a load of laundry washed, folded, and put away without it feeling like summiting Everest.

I would say I’m maybe 75% of the way home at this point, though I still have coughing fits, I still rely on that that heated blanket, and I still fatigue ridiculously easily. The worst part is my taste buds are out of whack and I have the appetite of a picky toddler. Here’s what sounds good right now: Mangoes – or, more accurately, a “char-fruit-erie” sunflower with concentric circles of raspberry and blueberry seeds and mango petals (what can I say, I’m a recovering caterer as much as I am a recovering flu patient). An everything bagel from Rover Bagel with Temp Tee whipped cream cheese, smoked salmon, quick pickled red onion, and capers. Vegetarian matzo ball soup with an avalanche of noodles and fresh dill downpour. But more than anything else, with Purim around the corner, I am craving Hamantaschen.

It’s not often that a People’s abiding, millennia-long hatred for one man is so strong that it leads to the creation of a cookie. But such is the case with Hamantaschen, the quintessential Purim treat, and the bizarre Jewish obsession with these filled, triangular cookies has been as enduring as our loathing for Haman, the villain after whom the cookies were named. My grandmother added lemon zest to her Hamantaschen dough and made lekvar (prune butter) from scratch. Every Purim, she’d be sure to send over prune hamantaschen layered on wax paper in those repurposed blue tins – you know, the ones covered in pictures of decidedly un-Jewish butter cookies – with a strict reminder to return the tins or face her eternal wrath. I’ve played around with Grandma’s recipe from time to time, but shameful as it may be for a self-proclaimed food snob to admit this, I prefer my Hamantaschen store-bought. The cheap ones in boxes at the supermarket have the best crumb, in my opinion, and there’s something to the uniformity of the triangulation (we eat with our eyes first, after all).

Purim weighs heavily on me this year. That statement seems oxymoronic, since Purim is a raucous holiday of feasting and drinking and costuming and dancing and merrymaking. But at bottom, Purim is a celebration of the Jewish community’s resistance and victory over depraved antisemitism. And we are in the thick of an unprecedented tidal wave of antisemitism, with no victory in sight. I recently returned from a D.C. summit for museum professionals on antisemitism and hate – which, as yet another distressing sign of the times, was invitation only, in a top-secret, high-security location, with presenters whose identities I am not permitted to publicly reveal – during which everyone was abuzz about “THE Atlantic article,” The Golden Age of American Jews Is Ending . There is grave concern this hatred is metastasizing throughout the art world, with Israelis and Jews shut out of biennales, hounded out of faculty, and barred from exhibitions solely on the basis of their religious, cultural, and ethnic identity. None of which negates the pain so many of us feel about the acute and ongoing suffering in Gaza – empathy is not a zero-sum game. How, then, to enjoy that Hamantaschen I crave without the crumbs turning to sawdust in my mouth, given our current reality?

In the Purim story, Mordechai says to Esther, who was understandably overwhelmed and terrified by the stark choices facing her, “Perhaps this is the moment for which you were born.” We do not get to choose the times we live through, but we can choose how we respond to the circumstances before us. Will we choose to turn inward or reach outward? Will we choose bitterness or joy? Will we retreat from the world or redouble our efforts to contribute to tikkun olam, world healing?

Here at the Maine Jewish Museum, we know it is our youth in whom our future lies. We are therefore centering our Delet Program at this pivotal moment, bringing the Museum to diverse Maine schools and diverse Maine schools to the Museum to combat antisemitism and build bridges of appreciation and understanding with young people of all backgrounds. On March 29, we will be hosting 95 students from Oak Hill Middle School in Sabattus and 50 eighth graders from Telstar Middle School in Bethel, along with members of the general public, for History, Memory, and Poetry: Jewish Women in the Holocaust. Delet Core Consultant Anna Wrobel, a celebrated local historian, teacher, and poet, will take the stage in this impactful presentation to weave poetry and family memoir together in historical context, illuminating the collective past and present with the aim of creating a compassionate, humane, and peace-filled future for humankind. Telstar students will also get a special tour of our Dahlav Ipcar exhibition, to which they have a personal connection: they were lucky enough to attend Crescent Elementary School, which contains a Dahlav Ipcar mural.

We are offering many other ways for youth to experience Maine Jewish joy over the next month, including our first-ever I’m A Jewish Mainer Youth Art Contest for K-12 students (deadline: Friday, April 12 at 3:00 PM), a  Children’s Movement Workshop on Sunday, April 7 (in conjunction with They Sat There, Feeling Happy Together: A Theatrical Modern Dance Performance that same evening), in which children 6+ are instructed to bring their favorite book to help them create movement; and Story Time with the Book Fairy on Sunday, April 14, where the Book Fairy herself, Pam Leo, will read aloud One Horse Farm by Dahlav Ipcar — each child in attendance will receive their own copy of One Horse Farm to bring home.

And while we hold firm in our belief that #MuseumsAreForKids, kids don’t get to have all the fun! Once we devour that last Hamantaschen, Passover will be staring us in the face. Leave the panic about chometz removal and Pesach cleaning behind and join us for Global Charoset: A Culinary Journey with Israeli Wine Pairings  on Wednesday, April 10, 5:30 pm – 7:30 pm. Recipes for charoset have been passed down from generation to generation, crossed oceans, survived wars, and added sweetness to the Passover holiday table in the most challenging of times. And while American Jews, many of whom are of Ashkenazi descent, think of apples, nuts, and Manischewitz wine when it comes to charoset, Jewish cultures in the diaspora have taken this unique culinary tradition in many different directions.

In this culinary journey, we will introduce you to the flavors of charoset from around the world, including Persia, Surinam, India, and post-modern Europe, and stretch the boundaries of what charoset can be. A savory soup? A salsa? A deconstructed salad? A next-level dessert? I will be putting my chef hat back on and showing you how, with a few playful twists and creative liberties, the possibilities are endless!

Guiding us through our journey with Israeli wine pairings will be the celebrated kosher sommelier “hipster” Rabbi Yisroel Bernath from Montreal, Canada. Rabbi Bernath has helped put kosher wine on the map, advising fine-dining restaurants internationally and curating cases for kosherwine.com. As a professional voice-over artist, screenwriter, and actor who has been part of dozens of productions, including the CBC Documentary “Kosher Love,” Rabbi Bernath knows how to engage a crowd with his warmth, knowledge, and dynamism.

Broaden your culinary horizons, enjoy delectable riffs on charoset with a six-course small plate menu, sample magnificent Israeli wines, and have the BEST time (because I promise you, you will)!

But back to that Hamantaschen: Chag Purim Sameach to those who celebrate. This holiday, may we find the courage of Esther to rise up and fight antisemitism as well as hatred, injustice, and bigotry of all kinds. Perhaps this is the moment for which you were born.

Warmly,

Dawn LaRochelle

Executive Director