By Ken Ige, Star-Bulletin
Lauren Stoller and Kevin Kinzler hold boxes of
hamantaschen that will be sold to benefit their preschool.
Atop the tube is Benji Keller.

By Betty Shimabukuro
Star-Bulletin

The traditions

Partying, parades, costumes, drinking. "It's completely inconsistent with people's conception of worship," Rabbi Magid says. "And the rabbi is known to be the worst offender.'

He has appeared as Darth Vader and Miss Piggy for the traditional telling of the Purim tale, during which it is customary to hoot, jeer and rattle noisemakers whenever the evil Haman's name is mentioned.

By Ken Ige, Star-Bulletin
The ingredients of a hamantashen baking session.

The cookie

Hamantaschen are the traditional treat of the holiday. The three-cornered tarts represent Haman's hat, ears or nose -- depending on who's telling the story.

The traditional filling is poppyseed -- Rabbi Magid says hamantaschen translates from Yiddish and German into "the poppyseed pockets." Prune is also a staple, but there are no rules, so fruit fillings, nuts, chocolate and caramel are popular, too. Magid's wife makes a guava-macadamia nut filling.

"We haven't gotten to li hing mui yet, but we're threatening," Magid says. He's serious. Next year, maybe. "I think it's going to be a big seller."

The good deed

Melonie Grosser, director of Gan Yerushalayim, the temple's preschool, says it is traditional among Jewish families to make an excess of hamantaschen, so they can be shared with the needy.

In that spirit, children baked cookies Sunday and delivered them to a nursing home.

But the big annual hamantaschen project is the annual sale to raise money for the preschool. Parents baked for four days this year, making 200 dozen "Heavenly Hamantaschen," currently stacked in two full-sized freezers.

They sell for $8 a dozen in four flavors; Grosser hopes to raise about $1,500 through the sale.

"On the mainland the bakeries make these; here they don't," she says. "So this is a way for our Jewish families to get them."

The clincher

Volleyball fans from the temple take their Purim noisemakers, called groghers, to a University of Hawaii game to cheer on the two Israeli players. College volleyball has been big in the Jewish community since Yuval Katz and Sivan Leoni rolled into town. Flag-waving is the usual way of showing support, but tonight they've got the groghers.

"Doggone it if security doesn't come and collect them all, because you aren't permitted to have noisemakers at Stan Sheriff Center," Rabbi Magid recalls.

"It seemed so classically Purim."

Celebrating Purim

Carnival: 10 a.m.-noon Sunday, at the temple, 2550 Pali Highway.
Service: 7 p.m. March 1. Features reading of the Purim story. Come in costume, prepared to make noise.

The recipe

Hamantaschen

Temple Emanu-El

4 eggs
1 cup oil
1-1/4 cups sugar
2 teaspoons vanilla
3 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
5-1/2 cups flour

Beat eggs. Beat in oil, sugar, vanilla, baking powder and salt. Mix until well-blended and frothy. Add flour gradually, until dough is a good consistency for rolling. Keep in mind that more flour will be added as you roll.

Roll dough to about 1/8 inch and cut into 3-inch circles. Place on greased baking sheet. Drop in approximately 1/2 teaspoon of filling (recipes follow) in center of each circle. Fold over the edges of the circle toward the center to form a triangle about 2 inches across. Filling should be visible in the center. Pinch corners. Brush with beaten egg.

Bake at 350 degrees for about 15 minutes, until lightly brown. Makes about 5 dozen.

Notes: Dough will dry out if not used right away. Jams and pie fillings may be used instead of homemade fillings. Cooled cookies may be sealed in plastic bags and frozen.

Fillings

Apricot

1 pound dried apricots
Water
Sugar to taste

Place apricots in a pan and cover with water. Simmer until apricots are plump and water has evaporated. Process to desired consistency in food processor. Add sugar. Fills 5 dozen cookies.

Prune
1-1/4 cups prunes
1/2 cup raisins
3 cups sweet wine
1 apple, peeled and cored
Zest of 1 orange
Zest and juice of 1 lemon
Sugar to taste

Soak prunes and raisins in wine overnight. Pour off additional liquid.

Chop apple and zests in food processor. Add lemon juice and prune/raisin mixture. Process to desired consistency. Add sugar. Fills about 2 dozen cookies.

Poppyseed
4 ounces poppy seeds
1/2 cup milk
1/4 cup raisins, plumped
1 tablespoon butter
1 tablespoon honey
1/2 teaspoon vanilla

Combine all ingredients except vanilla in a saucepan and bring to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer until liquid evaporates. Cool. Add vanilla and run through a food processor until raisins are no longer visible. Fills about 1 dozen cookies.

Nutritional information unavailable.

Have a hamantaschen

Flavors: Poppyseed, prune, apricot, cherry
Cost: $8 per dozen, to benefit Temple Emanu-El's preschool
To order: Call 595-7451

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