Penny-Pinching Purim
Kosher bargains at the dollar store to stock shalach manot gift baskets.
Edmon J. Rodman
JTA
F
ailing between the giving season
of Chanukah and the getting sea-
son of tax refunds, Purim time
finds households like mine searching
for ways to keep holiday expenses down
without losing the mirth.
What with the cost of fancy, profes-
sionally made kosher shalach manot
(from mishloach manot, sending of por-
tions) baskets going for 50 bucks and up,
I wanted to find a less expensive way to
share the joy with more people.
I wanted to make my own basket of
goodies, but what were the basic require-
ments? I mean very basic. According to
Jewish law, on Purim, which begins at
sundown March 7, you should send at
least two food items to at least one per-
son, both to ensure that they have food
for a Purim feast and to promote friend-
ship between Jews.
So what kind of friendship could I
promote for, let's say, 10 bucks or less? I
wanted variety, abundance, novelty and
kosher. I wondered, could I fill my basket
at that purple island of bargains, the
local dollar store?
I really didn't want to give a basket .
filled with clearance cookies, weird
candy and obscure snacks. Yet these
stores promote themselves as having
everything. So with perfect Purim logic,
I reasoned why not shalach manot?
Admittedly I had my doubts. That is
until I saw a kippah-wearing man also
eyeing the Valentine's Day stuff.
"Do you ever shop in here for Purim?"
I finally asked, desperately wanting a co-
conspirator.
"Yes, for shalach manot they have all
kinds of stuff, sometimes even close-out
Jewish things," replied the man, who
identified himself as a rabbi. "There's
kosher apple juice, food, and you get so
much more here."
The rabbi was right. Walking the
aisles, I easily found packages
of nuts, cookies, candies and
pretzels, all certified kosher.
But that wasn't enough;
I also wanted a theme.
The best
Purim bas-
kets have
some clever
connecting
idea. I set-
tled on the
Megillah's
four main
characters.
An accom-
panying text
would help
explain my theme,
but because a dollar
store is unlikely to carry a Megillat
Esther, I would need to be flexible.
Luckily, in the book aisle, I found a soft-
cover King James version of the Bible
that had the Book of Esther.
"Now it came to pass in the days of
Ahasuerus:' the text began. What could
I find to represent the king, ruler of
127 provinces, and by royal decree the
instigator of a search for "fair young vir-
gins"? In the drink aisle, I found a bluish
plastic bottle of G2, Gatorade Perform,
which the packaging said would "replen-
ish vital nutrients and energy" — just
the thing to represent an active ruler
with a "second house" just for his
women.
"Now in the palace in Shushan, there
was a certain Jew whose name was
Mordechai," the text continued, going on
to say, "And he brought up Hadassah, that
is, Esther, his uncle's daughter ..."
, To represent Esther, I
I found a package of Hannah
Montana Milk Chocolate
( Sticker coins. The Hannah
Montana/Miley
Stewart double-
life charac-
terization
(played by
Miley
Cyrus
on the
Disney
show)
reminded me
of Esther's dou-
ble life as a secret
Jewish maiden, who is
also Ahasuerus' queen.
For Mordechai, who saves
the king from an assassina-
tion plot, and ultimately emerges as
victor in a power struggle with Haman,
I thought some bling would show off his
new status. In the candy aisle, I found
a package of Ring Pops, the "wearable
candy." I imagined the sunlight glinting
off them as Mordechai sat by the gate.
But first he would need to escape the
shadow of Haman.
"After these things did King Ahasuerus
promote Haman the son of Hammedatha
The Purim Story
urim, observed on the 14th day of
Adar, is one of the most fun holi-
days on the Jewish calendar. It
recalls when the Jewish people living
in Persia were saved from destruction.
The Purim story is told in the biblical
Book of Esther.
The story revolves around Esther,
a beautiful young Jewish woman, and
her cousin Mordechai, who raised her
like a father.
Esther was taken to Persian King
Ahasuerus' palace to become part of
his harem. The king adored Esther
most of all and made her queen, but he
did not know she was Jewish because
p
32
March 1 . 2012
Mordechai told her to keep that secret.
Enter Haman, the king's arrogant
adviser, who despised Mordechai
because he would not bow to him.
Because of this, Haman plotted to
destroy the Jewish people. Mordechai
knew the king would listen to Esther
if she interceded on behalf of her
people. In preparation, Esther fasted
three days, then told the king she
was Jewish and of Haman's plan. She
saved the Jewish people and the king
sentenced Haman and his 10 sons to
hang on the gallows that had been
ready for Mordechai.
"Purim" means "lots," in reference
to the lottery Haman used to pick the
date for the massacre.
At Purim, Jews are commanded to
hear the reading of the Book of Esther,
known as the Megillah, or scroll. It is
tradition to make a great noise when-
ever Haman's name is read during
the service, therefore drowning out
the name of Haman, the villain. Often
children and adults come to the ser-
vice dressed in costumes representing
characters in the story.
Another tradition involves eating
hamantashen, filled cookies baked in
a triangle shape to represent Haman's
three-cornered hat. 1=)
the Agagite ... And all the king's servants
bowed and reverenced Haman ... But
Mordechai bowed not ..."
For Haman, by tradition, I needed
something like a grogger to properly blot
out his name. On the toy rack, I found
just the thing: a hand-shaped clapper
that even had a large sticker that read
"Make some Noise!"
Thinking about Haman always makes
me hungry for hamantashen. Suspecting
that the dollar store would be short
on three-cornered pastries, I searched
the cookie aisle until I found a fill-in:
Knott's Berry Farms round raspberry
shortbreads, each with a dollop of red
showing in the center. I imagined if you
trimmed them to a triangle, they would
look close. I did say flexibility would be
key.
Now to add the final touch to my
shalach manot, and to fulfill the Purim
tradition that one should drink on
Purim until they don't know the differ-
ence between Mordechai and Haman, I
found an unlikely solution: "Larry the
Cable Guy Beer Bread. Just add Beer and
Butter?'
According to Larry, who is featured
on the package wearing his trademark
sleeveless plaid shirt, "This recipe calls
for a can of beer ... just be sure to use
the beer and not drink it!"
It's Purim. Of course, you can drink
the beer. But my Purim basket will carry
this warning: When you can't tell the dif-
ference between Larry and Miley Cyrus,
it's time to stop. CI
Edmon J. Rodman is a JTA columnist who
writes on Jewish life from Los Angeles.