On March 20, Esther’s Kitchen opened its doors to LM members arriving with a variety of fillings and eager to learn how to make
hamentaschen
. The group had a great time bonding over batter and laughter. In fact, bonding the batter into 3 corners was a skill that developed over time! And “mistakes” were happily eaten.
Talk turned to an interesting discussion about Purim which introduced new perspectives about what many had thought of as a child’s holiday. There was Esther’s deviousness for the good of the Jewish people and how even today we occasionally have to be devious for a good purpose.
Purim’s celebration, with its masks and drinking until we can’t tell the difference between Mordecai and Haman, might be related to Mardi Gras or Carnivale festivals that occurred at the end of the winter when there was very little food left. Drinking and “letting go” was a way to relieve the population of the serious job of surviving until the first harvest.
The group who gathered in Esther’s Kitchen this year certainly let go to the joy of baking, eating and getting to know each other.
