Happy Purim Memories of Sparkly Princesses, Carnivals and Giving

By Jennifer Bjork

One of the things I love most about Purim is that we get the chance to really let loose. I love the noise, the food, the drinks, and especially the costumes. It’s the one time of year when Jewish people get to have a really good party that feels like a mix of Halloween and New Year’s Eve with all the sparkle, noisemakers, and candy.

Artwork by Peter Church from The Purim Surprise

Playing dress-up was a frequent childhood pastime and I was exuberant at the chance to legitimately dress up in my fanciest costumes. I snatched at the opportunity to be a sparkly princess for three straight but glorious years. I have very strong memories of myself sashaying down the hallways of my synagogue during the Purim carnival, waving as elegantly as I could at my royal subjects.

Throw in my family’s fantastic hamentashen, getting to scream in the sanctuary during the Megillah reading, and carnival prizes; my parents ended up with a very happy kid.

And as any decent member of royalty knows, doing mitzvot during Purim is very important to show that the Jewish community remains strong despite Haman’s bad deeds. My Hebrew school class would always devote a class period putting together mishloach manot full of hamentashen to give to our family members and gather donated non-perishable goods from them to give to the local food shelf.

While I have graduated from the dress-up days, I am very much looking forward to this year’s carnival and watching all the new, young sparkly princesses (and princes!) enjoy themselves. I’ll be the one serving nachos.

What are your favorite Purim costumes? How does your community give mishloach manot?

To help your kids learn about Purim, dress up in your best Purim costumes, grab a copy of  The Queen Who Saved Her People and put on a play. If you need some inspiration, read about how the characters of  Barnyard Purim stage their own play!

Haman's Shrinking Hat: A Purim Game!

This is a fun movement game that could be played at school or at home or at a Purim carnival!

You will need:
A very big paper or fabric triangle for each player (newspaper works best)
Purim music

Let's Play!
1. Leader plays Purim music and players march in a circle, holding their triangles. When the music stops, each player folds his/her triangle in half and stands on it. The last player to do so is out.

2. As the music starts and stops, the paper triangles get smaller and smaller and the number of players fewer and fewer. Keep playing until only one player is left.

Hamantaschen--which are triangle shaped--are reminders of Haman's three-cornered hat.

From Jewish Holiday Games for Little Hands by Ruth Esrig Brinn.

A Celebration of Women at Purim

My family is populated with strong Jewish women who are incredible cooks. Family gatherings are always centered on a feast whipped up according to the occasion.

This strong tradition our family holds for good food has created many wonderful recipes; one of my personal favorites is our Hamentashen recipe (I have yet to find a competitor). My family has passed this recipe down through several generations and along with it the traditional gathering of the women in our family to make Hamentaschen.

Our annual Hamentaschen get-togethers has always been something I look forward to. My grandmother, aunts, and cousins all come together armed with massive amounts of cooking utensils, ingredients, and accessories. There’s always a quibble between the cousins over the best looking apron.

As a young child it was also the time where the youngest of the family (my sister and I) got to mingle with the adults and show off our baking skills; creating lumpy, misshapen triangles oozing with filling that were praised as glorious masterpieces.

We spend the day chatting about family history. My mother and her sister teasingly fill in the gaps on their childhood. The conversation always turns to their hopes for their children, my generation. It’s an oddly deep conversation to have while covered in flour and sticky dough, but it’s tradition.

Our tradition also signifies the coming of spring; a transition of sorts to mark the coming of warm sunshine, and change. It is a warm occasion that continues to this day despite alterations as cousins have moved away and the grand matriarch of the family, my grandmother, is now 97 and has passed the hamentashen mantle to her daughters.

Purim commemorates the bravery of Esther, a female defender of the Jewish people. It’s fitting that my memories of Purim are marked by my own strong Jewish women.

--Jennifer Bjork

What family traditions for Purim do you have and wish to pass on to your children?   

Check out Kar-Ben Publishing’s Heirloom Cookbook
and Purim titles at www.karben.com

Contemplating Your Purim Costume?

photo by Tod Cohen from It's Purim Time!

Might we suggest some costumes inspired by books?

Everybody's Favorite Spider: Sammy Spider!

Tie dye a hoodie and sweatpants, along with enough white socks to become Sammy's legs.
Stitch the legs to the hoodie arms.
Attach fiber-filled fabric (colored socks would work) to the hood to make eyes.
Get Sammy Spider's First Purim.

The Ziz!

Kar-Ben's version of the mythical creature is more sweet and bumbling than terrifying, but it would be a unique costume. Orange leggings, a yellow hoodie with feathered maribou stitched to the arms and top of the hoodie, plus a construction paper beak would make a terrific Ziz costume. Yellow face paint with green eye make up would make the costume even more special. Of course, carry a copy of your favorite Ziz book!

Hamentaschen

This is one of many very clever ideas from the photo essay book It's Purim Time! all about the goings on in preparation for Purim in a preschool. This costume is a paper grocery bag cut in the shape of a hamentaschen and decorated with markers. Genius! Now in paperback, buy a copy of this book.