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Friday, March 18, 2011

Purim Crazies



This coming Sunday is Purim (a Jewish holiday). For those of you have never heard of Purim, I'll give you a quick crash course: You take costumes + candy + wild crazy antics + gift baskets + noisemaking instruments + triangle cookies + a great story + the hidden miracles of G-d, and you get Purim.

One of the mitzvot, or commandments, of Purim is giving shalach manos (gift baskets) to our friends and family. You only need to have foods for two different blessings, but beyond that, the sky's the limit. These baskets range from small baggies with a few candies to giant baskets wrapped with cellophane with swans hand-carved out of chocolate (well, I've never personally received a chocolate swan, but I've seen them in stores. And would very much welcome one:) ).

So clearly, the scrapbooker/Martha Stewart wannabe/ Person who thinks she has more time than she has is ambitious.

If all goes well? There will be barnyard theme gift boxes filled with animal-themed candies and cake pops in the shape of chicks, like so:



If things don't go well--there's no telling.

Beyond the cool and fun parts of it, though, Purim has a beautiful story behind it. The story of Purim is in the book of Esther. It involves ups and downs, major heartbreaks and reversals, and fits the traditional Jewish theme of "they tried to kill us, we survived, let's eat!" I would tell you more but I couldn't do it justice here.

This fun video explains the story some:




One cool fact about the Book of Esther? G-d's name does not appear in the book at all. Not even once. Weird, huh? Why on earth would we canonize a book that doesn't even mention G-d? What kind of book is that?

The question gets to the heart of Purim--which is that G-d is hidden in this world. And that's the reason we dress in costumes on Purim. We hide ourselves to remind ourselves how G-d hides Himself, how He acts in ways that aren't obvious or clear. As I walk through my own journey with infertility, the story of Purim reminds me that sudden reversals can happen, your life can change in the blink of an eye, and that--most importantly--there is a purpose behind every event that happens to me, even if it's hidden.

30 comments:

  1. good luck with your project! and have fun on your Purim celebration... sounds like fun!

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  2. Beautiful post, Keshet. Good luck with your gift baskets!

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  3. What a wonderful explanation Keshet - and good luck with the chickies xxx

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  4. Great post! Those chicks are cuuute! GL getting it done!

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  5. Very interesting! Those chicks really are cute!

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  6. Love your post Keshet - and that last paragraph brougth a tear to my eye.
    I hope you have a great time and your preparations go as planned - please post pics of your barnyard creations!!
    (loved the video too :)

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  7. Well, you learn something new each and everyday - thanks! Those chicks ARE CUTE! Have fun and good luck with the prep :)

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  8. Your cake pops are super cute. Sounds like a fun celebration! Great explanation - I studied the book of Esther and know exactly what you mean. :)

    Tammy
    http://www.yourmemoryconnection.com

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  9. Now I know something new today! And I love the video they put together!!
    Good luck with the pops and can't wait to see how they turn out-so cute!

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  10. Cute cake pops!
    I love learning about different cultures especially their religious customs.
    Thank you so much for sharing and happy Purim...(can I say that??)

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  11. you'll totally do an awesome job! and everything will be fantastic---and if you don't get around to do everything you planned, it'll totally be okay because you'll still have a wonderful time with your loved ones!

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  12. those chickies are adorable and thanks for explaining customs.

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  13. Love the cake pops.. I always love learning about other peoples customs so it was great.. Happy Purim

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  14. I didn't know anything about Purim prior to reading this, and it was so interesting. The video is super-catchy too : )

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  15. I love the story of Esther! And thank you for the Purim explanation - I had a vague general idea, but very cool to learn more about it.

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  16. Thanks so much for sharing this Keshet. I learned something new today, I know the story of Esther but didn't know about Purim.
    Loved the video!

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  17. I love that video- too awesome! I love learning about other religious traditions and stories - esp since my own faith is rooted in yours :)

    Enjoy your Purim with or without those seriously cute chicks

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  18. What cute chicks! Happy Purim and thanks for sharing with us :)

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  19. Those chicks are adorable! Can't wait to see how your baskets turrned out! Thanks for the Purmim background!!!

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  20. sounds fun! Can't wait to hear/see more :)

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  21. Thanks for sharing! It's something I really don't know anything about so it is always fun to learn new things :) Your gift baskets sound fun! Happy Purim! I've always wanted to try cake pops so share pictures if you get a chance!

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  22. Those little chick pops are ADORABLE!! Thanks for the lesson! Always fun to learn about other cultures/religions.

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  23. I love hearing about these festivities. What kind of costumes do you dress in? I'm curious!! What did you end up making?

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  24. Love your cake pops! and the video is brill as well! I just shared it on FB ;) Hope you had an awesome Purim! x

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