We love Purim.
It’s so much fun to think of a family costume and to get everyone involved. This year, when we came up with the idea of being footie-pajama’d superheroes, we got very excited. Of course, no one realized just how much work it was going to be to find 8 different character footie-pajamas in the right sizes (hours and hours on Amazon and Ebay later), but we finally figured it out. And the pajamas arrived from Papa Rogie, Grandma and even from one of Josh’s co-workers who picked up some of them in England. Thanks guys!
Then it was time to come up with a mishloach manot idea. Purim rests on four mitzvot that you are supposed to do in the course of the 24 hour holiday (part of why I love it so much). You are supposed to hear the Megilla twice (which recounts the story of how we were almost massacred and how we were saved). You are supposed to give money to the poor. You are supposed to have a festive meal and you are supposed to give gifts to two people. So, the gift part has gotten a bit out of hand, and most people run around the yishuv giving out to all of their friends.
We always try to have a mishloach manot that goes with our theme. So we had to consider what Wonder Woman, Batman, Spiderman, Superman, Wolverines, a Ninja Turtle, the Incredible Hulk and Ironman could serve to their friends. After much consideration, we found Superman and Batman cookie cutters. AND….we found kosher green colored jello in Potomac, which we had a friend buy, mail to South Carolina and then bring to us. Whew!
The Kryptonite arrived and we were ready to get to work on our gifts. Now, I’m not sure what I was thinking when I purchased the cookie cutters, since I can’t bake my way out of a paper bag. When it came time to start the cookies, I took a deeeep breath and tried out a recipe. The batter looked right but the cookies turned into shapeless blobs. Where had Superman gone?
So, I turned to my co-worker who is always bringing in amazing baked goods. “No problem!” she said, getting excited about the challenge. She sent me a great recipe and told me to get on my way.
Little did she know with whom she was dealing. I made the first batch but when they weren’t working out I added a ton of extra oil. I baked them. They were gross…and I emailed her with an SOS!
So, in her infinitely patient way, she actually stayed up late that night and made the cookies herself. With a play-by-play set of directions for me! And she brought in the perfectly shaped sheep cookies the next day to prove to me that I, too, could achieve this success. Look how cute her directions are! I printed them out and posted them in the kitchen command center.
I decided to actually listen to the directions and to place each item in at the right time (how boring!). And low and behold…the cookies turned out! After making a few regular batches, I asked Miriam about adding colors, and we ended up with awesome red Superman cookies and black Batman ones.
We packed up our goodies in bags, using our superheroes as packers and we were ready to go.
And then, it was time for the Kryptonite.
Today, the kids woke quite early in the morning, of course, and we got everyone set up with their costumes. It was a great choice, as we were all very comfortable and the kids enjoyed getting into character (case in point).
Matan spent the evening at his school, so we waited this morning for him to get home to complete the picture, and we were ready for our great day.
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| Batman and Wolverine |
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| Wonder Woman and Ironman |
The day was a blast. Most Israelis did not know what the heck kryptonite was, and they looked at me like I was crazy when I started on my long explanation. And the jello was, um….let’s say less than tasty (it was diet green jello!). But, the day was wonderful. The children had a blast. The gifts went out and others came in from all of the kids’ friends and from ours. We had a lovely meal with friends and happiness all around.
And most of all, we enjoyed another year of creating great memories and of sharing in the joy of a wonderful holiday with our friends in the yishuv.
Life can be very stressful.
Life in Israel, perhaps even more so.
It is such a joy to be superheroes for a day, to blow away all worries and concerns and just to have a blast as a family while bringing joy to those around us, sharing with them, and donating to those in need.
And that, truly, is the magic of Purim.
And now, while I launder the footie-pajamas and try to figure out what to do with the dozens of extra cookies (cookie anyone?), it’s time to think about next year’s costume.
Hmmmmm…………
