Sermon Sunday! A few words from Rabbi Lewis.... In the simple, good old days, Chanukahs celebrated pastry was sufganiyot - jelly donuts. There was no creativity or variety, just strawberry filling in a deep fried, sugary dough. It was tasty. But as the entrepreneurial spirit of Israel grew in the field of high tech, sufganiyot had to keep pace, and they did. The Israeli bakeries and coffee shops, during the month of December, sell an incredible variety of sufganiyot. The old jelly donut is the Model T to the Jetsons flying car. Exotic fillings for every taste are injected into these elegant treats with plastic syringes. They are beautifully crafted, decorated and delicious. Chanukah has stepped joyfully into the 21st century. So what happened with Purim? Why does there not seem to be the same creativity when it comes to Hamantashen? Why has the spirit of ingenuity and culinary flair not transformed the Purim treat? Yes, Ill admit there has been a slight leap forward in recent years with chocolate-filled pastries, but Purim tradition stubbornly has resisted any significant change. We eat the same prune, apricot, poppy seed, strawberry Hamantashen today as did our Bubbies and Zaydas in The Bronx, as did their Bubbies and Zaydas in Bialystok. But wait. Change, perhaps, is on the horizon as Hamantashennui (I checked, its in Vebsters) has inspired a new generation of inventive, imaginative Purim pastry chefs. From the long overdue, very obvious, PB and J Hamantash to the scrumptious, elegant carmelized onion and goat cheese hammantash to the PC Gluten Free Hammantash, there is an explosion of new combinations for every Purim palette. So now that Chanukah and Purim treats have been reinvented, lets see what we can do with macaroons.
Posted on: Sun, 16 Mar 2014 11:00:00 +0000
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