Light One Candle: A Holiday Giveaway -- CLOSED

[Divash]

Bumping. I urge contest participants to learn something about the holiday of Purim and then post what you find out. We can all take the opportunity to learn something new. Think of it as a cross-cultural experience. smile  

[Divash]

So far, I've got about 20k in gold set aside for buying a Purim gift for some lucky person. I'd love some suggestions about what to give. If I get more donations, I'll get a better gift, obviously, but let's start out assuming I'll be able to afford to give a gift worth about 20,000 gold. Suggest away!  

[Divash]

Suggestions? Wishes? Hopes? Dreams?  

[Daeraelle]

HADASSA'S POPPY SEED CAKE

Dough:

150 grams margarine (1/3 pound)
3 1/2 cups flour
1 cup yogurt or sour cream
1/4 cup milk
50 grams yeast
2 egg yolks
1/2 cup sugar

Filling:

200 grams poppy-seed (about 1/2 pound)
1 cup milk
1 cup sugar
2 tablespoons honey
rind of 1 lemon
raisins and/or nuts, optional

Mix flour, yeast and warm milk. Melt the margarine and add to make the dough. You can use a food processor. Add egg yolks and sugar. Keep the dough for 12-24 hours in the fridge.

Filling, heat the milk and add sugar, honey, poppy-seed and the lemon rind. Let cook for 5 minutes on a low flame. Add raisins and/or nuts.

Divide the dough in 3, roll as thinly as you can and fill. Roll over. You get 3 cakes about 25 cm (10- inches) long. Brush with milk or egg yolk and bake till golden brown.  

[Daeraelle]

My favorite part of ANY holiday is the food. 4laugh  

[Daeraelle]

Those sounded especially delicious, but anything with poppy seeds is bound to be good. Too scared to cook them myself though. I'm a crappy cook.  

[Daeraelle]

"It is characterized by public recitation of the Book of Esther, giving mutual gifts of food and drink, giving charity to the poor, and a celebratory meal (Esther 9:22); other customs include drinking alcohol, wearing of masks and costumes, and public celebration." -Wiki

I can drink, eat a lot of food, give and receive gifts, AND dress up. I'm becoming Jewish. That's so much better than Christmas.  

[Divash]

Daeraelle

"It is characterized by public recitation of the Book of Esther, giving mutual gifts of food and drink, giving charity to the poor, and a celebratory meal (Esther 9:22); other customs include drinking alcohol, wearing of masks and costumes, and public celebration." -Wiki

I can drink, eat a lot of food, give and receive gifts, AND dress up. I'm becoming Jewish. That's so much better than Christmas.

*excited* I know, right? Purim totally pwns. It's like Christmas plus Hallowe'en combined, minus the Jesus. This year I think I'll be going as Yentl. It's the one time of the year that cross-dressing is permitted among the Orthodox. I used to think that was a bit of a pain, restricting cross-dressing to one day a year, but then I got to think about it and realized that if you do it all the time, it ceases to be special and fun.  

[Divash]

Not that holidays are a great reason for conversion, of course, but what a fun side benefit!  

[Daeraelle]

Yeah, I'm not religious enough to join any religion. But I firmly believe in celebrating even if I'm not really a part of it. I mean, I do Christmas and Easter.  

[Ambrai]

Oh my futtuples! Story time! I love stories. X3 So of course when I look for something about Purim, I gravitate to the stories. Oh la. And...yea. I have little random comments in there. Because I am a chatterbox that just can't stop. Once you read them you'll understand why my parents stopped reading stories to me when I was very little...
(http://www.holidays.net/purim/)
In the third year of his reign, the King of Persia, Ahashverosh (also known as Ahasuerus and Ahashuerus) decided to have a feast. It was on the seventh day of these festivities that the King summoned his queen, Vashti, to appear before him and demonstrate her beauty for the King's officials. Vashti refused to appear. (According to the Talmud, G-d afflicted her with leprosy to cause her downfall and Esther's rise.)*Futtuples? oO* Incensed, the King asked his officers for a suitable punishment. One advisor, Memuchan (some think he was was actually Haman), argued that Vashti should be killed for her disobedience.* gonk * The King took his advice and Vashti was killed
As time passed the King desired a new queen. To find a suitable wife, a contest was initiated among all the eligible girls in the kingdom. One of those was Esther, a Jewish girl. Esther had been raised by her relative Mordechai after her parents' death. Mordechai instructed Esther not to divulge her Jewishness *The ish-ness-ly-ness!!* when she went to meet the king. Each day Mordechai walked by the court and inquired as to her well being. Esther impressed all who met her, including the King, and she was elevated to queen.
Years later the King elevated Haman, a descendant of Amelak, the traditional enemy of the Jews, to the position of chief advisor. Haman was a wicked and vain man who expected everyone to bow down to him. Mordechai refused to bow because Jews are to bow only before G-D. Not content to just punish Mordechai, Haman wanted to destroy the entire Jewish people in Persia.*Nuuuuu! How could he?? Oh. Traditional enemy...Nuuuuu!* He cast lots or PURIM to determine the day of annihilation. *Um. That sounds...sick? Weird? Strangely careless?*
Haman went to the King, slandered the Jews, and convinced the King to go along with his plans. *That's one gulible(sp?) King...* Upon learning of the plot, *How?* Mordechai tore his clothes, wore sackcloth and ashes, and walked through the city crying loudly. When Esther heard of Mordechai's display she dispatched a messenger to discover what was troubling her relative. Mordechai recounted the details of the evil decree and instructed Esther to intercede on the Jews behalf. Esther agreed to appear before the King and instructed Mordechai to organize a three-day fast for all the Jews on her behalf. *Why didn't Mord...ya know...go to her and tell her? Emotional impact maybe?*

After completing the three-day fast, Esther entered the king's inner court dressed in her most royal garb. The King inquired as to Esther's desires. Esther replied that she wished to invite the King and Haman to a banquet. *Food!* After the feast Esther asked the King and Haman to return for another banquet the next night. Haman left the banquet consumed with self importance and pride, but these feelings were turned to anger when he saw Mordechai. Haman went home, and his wife, Zeresh, advised him to construct a gallows. Haman joyously acted upon the suggestion. *Whaaaat? What chu doin' woman?? (the wife) ...A random gallows? Why?*

That night, the King discovered that Mordechai had never been rewarded for saving him from the assassination plot of two servants. *Those bastards.* When Haman appeared in the court, the King decided that his trusted servant should determine Mordechai's compensation. Haman, intending to obtain the King's permission to hang Mordechai, unwittingly answered the King's questions. The King asked Haman, "What should be done for the man the King wishes to reward?" Haman, believing that Ahashverosh intended to reward him, replied that the honoree should be dressed in royal clothing, ride upon a royal horse and be led through the city streets by an official proclaiming, "This is what is done to the man the King wishes to honor." *This sounds like that fairy tale! Only...the man was asked what should the punishment for a traitor be...Man. That proclaimation is lame.*

Ahashverosh agreed and instructed Haman to carry it out for Mordechai. Crestfallen, Haman followed the King's orders. Haman's daughter, mistakenly believing that her father was being led by Mordechai, dumped garbage on her father, the horses' leader. * xd Didn't have the guts to tell her, huh?*

At Esther's second banquet Haman's downfall continued. Esther revealed Haman's villainous plot and the fact that she was Jewish. *Were there more than just them there? I...am confused.* She asked the King to "grant me my soul and my people." Ahashverosh consumed with anger ordered that Haman be hanged on the gallows intended for Mordechai. *Oh! Irony! Bwahaha!*
The King elevated Mordechai to a position of great influence and allowed him to issue edicts permitting the Jews to fight their enemies. On the thirteenth and fourteenth of Adar the Jews won tremendous victories and were saved from the threat of total annihilation. *Victories? Against who? Wasn't the plot stopped? And if there are more enemies, why wasn't the King protecting his subjects? ninja *

Ever since, Jews have observered Purim. The day before Purim is a day of fasting, in memory of Esther's fast. The fast is then followed by two days of dancing, merrymaking, feasting and gladness. *Gotta love the word gladness. Because of the ness-ish-ly-ness.*

If I managed to insult anyone, I'm sorry. I do the same with Christian stories and fairy tales. And movies, books, and random people...Classes, teaching styles...I'll shut up now.  

[KaramelKat13]

Tell me about Purim  

[Divash]

There's LOADS of information about Purim, KK13. Ambrai's recitation does cover some of the major points, but here's some trivia.

The name Esther (Esteir) is a modification of the Hebrew word which means "Hidden." Esteir's real name was Hadassah. Interestingly, though Esteir had to hide her Jewishness, then hide her intentions and go about changing her husband's mind through subtlety, her body was certainly not hidden during the beauty contest in which she became Achashveirosh's chosen wife and queen.

The queen Vashti (Vashti means "beautiful" in Persian) was not just asked to appear before King Achashveirosh's men. She was asked to dance naked for their enjoyment, in the original Hebrew. Her moral principles were her dignity and her beauty -- and her death. Though Esteir is the obvious heroine of the story because her willingness to do what Achashveirosh asked (including dance naked) enabled her to save her people, Vashti's modesty makes her also a heroine, because she maintained her modesty and dignity even when faced with death.

Nowhere in the book of Esteir is God mentioned. Nowhere. In this story, not just Esteir is hidden, but also God. His hand/work can be seen in the story, but his name is absent.

It's a tradition among the Jews of northern and western Europe as well as Russia to eat Hamantaschen on Purim. The word means "Haman's pockets," and they are cookies shaped like the three-cornered hats that Haman was said to wear -- complete with a filled 'pocket' of almond, apricot, prune, or poppyseed filling. They're delicious.

King Achashveirosh could not countermand his own command that gave Haman's troops permission to go and kill the Jews on the chosen date. However, he saved the Jews by giving them weapons and allowing them to fight back to defend themselves.

Jews are commanded, "Remember to blot out the name of Haman!" Every time we read the Scroll of Esteir in synagogue on Purim, we stamp, clap, shout, and rattle noisemakers to drown out the name of Haman.

We're also told that on Purim, it's a mitzvah (sacred obligation) to dress up in costumes and masks in memory of Esteir's masquerade. It's the only time of year when cross-dressing is permitted, according to Talmudic law.

And yes, it's also a mitzvah to get so drunk (after the reading of the Scroll, but before going home from synagogue) that one cannot distinguish between "Blessed be Mordechai!" and "Cursed be Haman!" Merrymaking all around. The idea is that if you can't laugh at your traditions, they're too fragile to stand up to humor.  

[Divash]

BOO! domokun  

[Ambrai]

Divash

BOO! domokun

OMG! *runs away and hides* ...Oh my...Google? XDD Grungyness! Gophers! ...I have too much fun with stuff like that.

Trivianess! I love trivia! Unfortunately most of my current trivia is about Atlantis. I am so lame. ^^