Sending Portions: A Lunch-And-Learn Lesson

By AVIVA TOLWIN

(In Office)
"Hi, Dennis."
"Hello, Dave!"
"Hey, Dennis, wanna come
shopping at lunch for some Sending
Portions?"
"Sending Portions?"
"Yeah, gifts of food for Purim,
you know. 'Oh, once there was a
wicked, wicked man and Haman
was . . "
"Yeah, Haman."
"So how 'bout shopping?"
"Shopping?"
"OK. Wait a second. Let's back
up."
"It's only 9:15 a.m. We'll back
up at 4."
"No, a Purim back-up. Tonight's
Purim. We hear the Megilla, the
Book of Esther . .. and tomorrow,
we send these gifts of food, so .
"I got an idea. Let's go shopping at
lunch."
"Right."
(At Store)
"So what do you need here,
anyWay?"
"Cellophane paper and
baskets."
"Uh-huh. And Hershey's
colored eggs."
"No, just the paper and
baskets. It's for the 'Sending
Portions'. Remember?"
"Actually, no I don't. Tell me."
"OK. Now don't take notes.
Just listen. In Persia long ago,
Haman wanted to kill the Jews,
right? So through a sequence of
events, one of which was the Jews
unifying themselves in prayer to
God, there was a turn-around, and
the Jews were saved and Haman
hanged. So far so good?"
"So far so familiar."
"Next. In order to recall the
brotherly love which Mordechai and
Esther of Purim fame awoke among
the Jews, `Mishloach Manot' — or
the sending of food portions — was
prescribed."
"Take two and call me in the
morning."
"Right! Mishloach Manot
consists of sending to another Jew

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THE JEWISH NEWS

20300 Civic Center Drive
Suite 240
Southfield, Michigan 48076
February 24, 1989
Associate Publisher Arthur M. Horwitz
News Editor Heidi Press
Jewish Experiences for Families
Adviser Harlene W. Appleman
Illustrator Neil Beckman

-2

FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 24, 1989

at least two kinds of food, or a
beverage and a food, and it is sent
on Purim morning, or during the
day! How'd you guess?"
"My mother was Jewish."
"Good. Now. The portions must
be ready to eat, no cake mix or- raw
chicken allowed. And it must be
food, no money or clothing for this
mitzvah."
"Give me some ideas."
"Cooked meat or fish, pastries,
fruits, sweets, wine .. ."
"Hey! We didn't eat lunch yet!"
"Right. Now, notice I'm buying
10 baskets. The law is to send to
one person, but it's praiseworthy to
send to many friends."
"What if a person's too poor to
send gifts?"
"He should try and send
something small. If he can't, then
he exchanges meals with
someone."
"And what if he's a she?"
"This mitzvah is for both
women and men. Oh, and it should
be sent through a messenger, if
possible."

(In Car)
"Let's summarize. On Purim
day, we send at least two different
foods to at least one person,
preferably through a messenger."
"How do you know all this stuff,
anyway?"

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"My rabbi told me."
"And you're gonna do it?"
"Yeah!"
"And if your rabbi told you to
fast on Tisha B'Av — you'd do that,
too?"
"Yeah."
"And wear gym shoes on Yom
Kippur?"
"Yeah, and how do you know
all this stuff?"
"My mother was Jewish."
(Back in Office)
"Well, Dave, time to get out of
our fantasy world of kings and
queens and gifts and back to our
programmers. There seems to be a
tension here lately. Have you
noticed? Lack of team spirit?"
"Yes. It reminds me of the
essence of Amalek. Separateness.
You see, Amalek is the force that
tries to break the bond between
man and God and between fellow
Jews. Thus Haman said, 'There is a
certain people spread out and
separated among the peoples
He wanted to point out that there
was no peace among them and
they were therefore susceptible to
attack."
"Well, I don't see Amalek here,
but we're definitely susceptible to
attack."
"True. So what did our great-
grandmother do? Esther realized it
was the separateness penetrating

into the Jews that allowed for
Amalek's strength, so that's why
one of the first things she said to do
was `. . . go and gather all the
Jews'. So I think we need a staff
meeting."
"So brilliant."
"And a three-day fast."
"We've already started.
Remember, no lunch?"
"Right. OK. Now. The days of
Purim, due to the historic events of
the time, are especially suited for
inculcating the striving for Jewish
unity. What better way than ..."
"Sending portions of food to
each other!"
"So brilliant. Just as in the
days of Haman the Jews unified in
defense and were thereby saved
from calamity, we are bidden in
every generation, at Purim time, to
strengthen our inner unity so that
our enemies will not achieve
dominion over us."
- "So hey! Maybe I'll just have all
the programmers send each other a
Mishloach Manot. Bet that'll take
care of it!"
"Well, maybe you'll send one,
anyway."
"Yeah, maybe I will. My mother
was Jewish, you know."

Aviva Tolwin is interim executive
director for Aleynu, the Partnership
for Jewish Adult Education.

Jews Were Called By City Of Origin

By BETTY PROVIZER STARKMAN

Many Jewish family names
originated from Eastern European
geographical locations.
Bakst/Baksht was the Jewish
name for the shtetl Bakshty, west of
Minsk.
Balaban was probably derived
from Balabanovka, which was the
Jewish name for Balabanowka,
southwest of Kiev.
Bender was the Yiddish name
the people of Bendery called their
small town. It was located northwest
of Odessa, Russia.
Bursztyn was a village located
southeast of Lvov (Lemberg), in
Russian Poland. From this locality
came the names Burshtin and
Burstein.
Southeast of Kiev, Russia, was
a town called Chigirin. The Jewish
residents fondly called it
Cherin/Cherrin.
Chodorov/Chodorow are names
derived from a city by the same
name, which still exists south of
Lvov (which today is Russia).

West of Pinsk, Russia, is a
small town named Chomsk. From
this geographical location came the
name Chomsky.
Dobrin is the Yiddish name of
Dobrzyn and Wisla, located
northwest of Warsaw.
The surname Keidan came from
the Yiddish for the Russian town of
Kedainiai, located north of Kovna.
The Encyclopedia Judaica has an
article about the shtetl.
Keltz is the Yiddish name for
the Polish city of Kielce, located
north of Krakow. There is a
memorial book, Sefer KiltZ ,
published in 1957. The Encyclopedia
Judaica also has an article about
Kielce.
Kornitz/Kurnitz came from the
Yiddish for Kurenets, east of Vilna
and close to the city of Vileika. In
1956, a memorial book, Megilet
Kornitz, was published.
Krakow/Krakower/Crakow are
names adopted from the Polish city
of Krakow. Since Krakow was also a
province the name may also have

been taken by people living in small
towns in. Krakow province. The
Encyclopedia Judaica has an article
entitled Cracow. Sefer Krakov,
published in 1959, is the memorial
book for this city.
The surnames Kozlow/Koslov/
Kozloff taken from the city of
Kozlow, southeast of Lvov, now in
Russia.
Lopatin is the Jewish name for
the town of Lopatyn, northeast of
Lvov which was once Russian
Poland.
Lemberg/Lemberger are names
that stem from the German name
for Lvov, which was Lemberg.
Malin is the name of a Russian
town located west of Kiev in Russia.
Radun, a city south of Vilna,
was the source of the names
Rodin/Radin.

Betty Provizer Starkman is the past
president and founder of the
genealogical branch of the Jewish
Historical Society of Michigan.