What’s the Point?

Why Remind Ourselves of the Wicked Haman?

Hamantashen are the staple of Purim, yet as Purim itself has been relegated, incorrectly, to the status of a minor holiday, so too are Hamantashen misunderstood and frequently maligned.

On the surface, a Hamantash is simply a piece of pastry—about 300 calories worth for the average size and recipe, give or take a few hundred calories—that is supposed to remind us of Haman, the wicked Prime Minister of Persia, who unsuccessfully tried to annihilate all the Jews.

However, the question begs itself: What does this innocuous piece of pastry have to do with Haman? And second, how does the hapless Hamantash relate to our own lives, in the modern day and age?

The “traditional” explanation that the Hamantash represents the pockets, hat or ears of Haman is hardly satisfying. Where did the notion that Haman had triangular ears, hat or pockets come from? And besides, who cares about Haman? Don’t we want to blot out his name instead of naming a delicacy after him?

A Plausible Theory

A more plausible theory about Hamantashen is that they are actually “poppy seed pockets,” and have nothing to do with Haman (unless it is a plot of our enemies to get us to ingest tons of more calories, carbs and cholesterol). In Yiddish, the word for poppy seeds is mon and pockets are tashen.

However, the question persists, why do we eat poppy seed pockets on Purim?

According to the Midrash, Esther maintained her kosher diet in the palace of the King Achashveirosh, by eating seeds. Hence, it is customary to eat seeds on Purim. Since seeds are not the most appetizing and holiday food, someone took those tasteless poppy seeds and converted it into a delectable pastry. Hence, eating Hamantashen is our way of remembering Esther’s devotion to her religion even as she served as Queen of the Persian Empire.

Shape and Filling

However, since everything happens by Divine Providence, even the little, insignificant details of a custom conveys meaning and has symbolic significance. Two of the minor details of the Hamantash involve its shape.

First, a Hamantash is supposed to have a filling (whether it is poppy seed or fruit jam etc.).

Second, the Hamantash must be triangular, containing three points. What is the significance of these two seemingly insignificant details?

The entire miracle of Purim, many have pointed out (pun intended) was one that was hidden within the natural order of events. A King marries Esther, a Jewish woman, who is related to Mordechai, the leader of the Jewish community at that time. She is in the right place at the right time and the Jews are saved.

We know, of course, that the confluence of all these events was part of a Divine plan to save the Jews that was couched and concealed within the natural order.

To symbolize the hidden nature of G-d’s presence during that period it is customary to eat foods wherein the main ingredient is contained and concealed within another ingredient. This is represented by the Hamantash that conceals the presence of its filling. So as we eat our Hamantashen we should reflect on the mysterious way G-d works within the confines of nature.

Indeed, some have a custom of eating Kreplach as well on Purim because they too conceal their meat content.

I heard a “solid scientific” theory from my colleague Rabbi Yisroel Rubin on the relationship between Kreplach and Hamantashen.

Originally, all pastry filled foods were relegated to the sea of chicken soup and were considered to be Kreplach. But after millions of years of evolution, the sea creatures called Kreplach emerged onto dry land and morphed into Hamantashen… The Patriarchs But what about the three points?

Traditionally, commentators have explained that the three points represent the three Patriarchs: Abraham, Isaac and Jacob.

But why would we allude to our forefathers at a time like Purim?

The conventional answer is that whenever a miracle occurs we attribute it to the merit of our Patriarchs and Matriarchs.

However, there is a deeper way of looking at the role of our Patriarchs. To be sure, our Patriarchs were historical figures whom we revere and look towards as our role models. However, they are also figures of the present and are—as Kabbalah teaches us—present in the soul of each and every Jew. Legendary Jewish kindness and philanthropy we “inherited” from Abraham; Jewish reverence and devotion we inherited from Isaac, and Jewish compassion was bequeathed to us by Jacob. The three Patriarchs are truly the stuff that fills our being even if it is not visible on the surface.

And here is where the two salient features of the Hamantash (its three corners and its concealed filling) come together: The power concealed within us—the traits we inherited from our Patriarchs— is what enables us to reenact the Purim miracle in our own day and age and usher in the Age of Redemption.

The Hamantash with its concealed filling and three points teaches us that the secret of our survival is the connection we have to the traits of our ancestors that are embedded within our psyche.

A Novel Reason for the Triangular Hamantashen

There is another reason for the three pointed Hamantashen offered by a contemporary scholar Rabbi Mordechai Zaks in his work Mili D’Mordechai.

According to Jewish law one is forbidden to plant two kinds of grain together unless there is sufficient distance between them. One exception to this rule is when the grain of one species is planted in a triangular fashion into the area of the other species, there is a clear demarcation between them. This formation is called rosh tor According to Rambam this word actually refers to a triangular earing.

This, Rabbi Zaks states is the secret of Purim and our survival as a people:

No matter how much we are part of society we always remain separated from it. We never lose our connection to our forebears (the three Patriarchs, the other symbol of the three corners of the Hamantash) If we do not maintain that separation on our own by adhering to our Torah, the anti-Semites impose it on us.

Thus, the innocent Hamantash is the symbol of Jewish inner power, continuity and immortality that will lead us to the Messianic Age to be ushered in by Moshiach.

Moshiach’s distinction is that he contains the ultimate soul, the Yechidah, which is like the filling and core of the Hamantash. Moshiach is also the most connected to, and incorporates the virtues of, the Patriarchs. And Moshiach is one who stands apart from the rest of the world even though he is well versed in every aspect of society. Moshiach, like the Hamantash which intrudes but remains apart, is the ultimate outsider even as he is paradoxically the ultimate insider

From the book Light from the Future: Purim by Rabbi Heschel Greenberg, published by the Jewish Discovery Center.