Tag Archives: Purim

Hamantaschen Mitzvahs

Posted on by
1

Hamantaschen cookies609) If you haven’t ever heard of the Jewish holiday of Purim we celebrate it each March. One of the symbols of the holiday is triangular shaped cookies called Hamantashen. For more than 30 years, men and women in my synagogue have gathered to make, bake and sell these cookies as a fundraiser. It is incredibly labor intensive but also an amazing community event. Many, many people volunteer large amounts of time and ingredients to produce the cookies. I hadn’t volunteered for this event in several years, mostly because I had small children so it wasn’t easy to get there, but this year I decided to go and join. It was hard work but I felt so great being part of the community and helping make “some” of the dozens of cookies we made that day. My kids were so excited that afternoon when I picked them up after school with cookies in tow, my daughter wanted to know if these were the ones that I made. Actually they weren’t but she still thought they were delicious. I hope to take my daughter back again before the three week event is over. By the way, if you have never had a Hamantaschen I highly recommend them.

610) Held the door for someone carrying a large load today.

611) Donated some several used puzzles today that my kids have outgrown to the pre-kindergarten class at our school. The teacher was happy to get them.

612) Sent a thank you note to a local dentist who did some work a week ago on my very apprehensive daughter. The dentist was INCREDIBLY patient and kind and it was a very good experience for my daughter. I wanted to let her know.

613) Sent a small Starbucks gift card to a acquaintance to acknowledge her birthday. I called it a “liquid hug”. (I had received one myself from a client earlier in the year.)

614) Referred an acquaintance looking for a skin specialist to one I knew.

615) A mom of my son’s friend needed to rearrange a play date for some health reasons. I was thrilled to help out and still be able to keep the play date as scheduled.

Saw someone do a mitzvah today at the gym, one of the fitness instructors was checking in with a member and she was saying she was so hot. The instructor carried over a fan and plugged it in to help the member cool off. I thought that was very kind.

Received a wonderful compliment today that kept me smiling all morning long.

Three women, three mitzvot

Posted on by
Reply

On some mornings when I wake up, I am not sure what mitzvot I will participate in during the day, but it never fails that opportunities occur and today was certainly lots of fun.

56& 57) Today, I spoke with two friends in job transition, in the past month or so I had given each a suggestion of someone I knew that I thought could be of help to them. Our follow up conversations today convinced them to just make the contact. Both women commented that I was doing a mitzvah in helping them.

For these next few mitzvot, I need to give a little background. Tomorrow night is the Jewish holiday of Purim. A holiday that most non Jews and even many Jews may not be familiar with. It’s one of the merriest of holidays, celebrating a time in Jewish history without persecution, it occurs in the springtime, announcing that spring is almost here. Purim is a wonderful time for families, everyone is encouraged to wear costumes, play-act and eat hamentaschen, a delicious cookie.

There are also specific customs around this holiday. One is to give money to the poor 58) (sent that in with my son this morning) and another one is called Shaloch Mones or giving gifts of food to friends. I have always enjoyed this mitzvah especially since my children were born. Each year they help as we decorate bags of food and my son always wants to eat the food even before we make the bags. I have often enjoyed giving the gifts to friends who may not celebrate this mitzvah.

59) Now onto the deliveries of the gifts. I had a doctors appointment today for a follow up on a situation that seems to have subsided, I debated whether I should actually keep the appointment. As late as last night I was going to call and cancel. (The doctor was a friend first and then became my doctor). In the end I kept the appointment. I brought her one of the Shaloch Mones (gifts). She was so grateful since she hadn’t had time to have lunch that day. She thought my keeping the appointment was the mitzvah, I thought giving her some food at just the right time was an even better one.

In the end we gave out 20 bags. Last night when we were bagging the gifts, I kept thinking maybe I should just donate the money it costs to make the bags to charity. However, after giving the gifts out today I think it’s a wonderful custom. The smiles and excitement they created was priceless.