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Actress Gal Gadot who was last seen in ‘Red Notice’ with actors Dwayne Johnson and Ryan Reynolds has a string of interesting projects lined up ahead of her, but the doting mother also ensures she spends ample time with her daughters, especially during festivals and holidays.
Born in Israel, Gadot may have carved her own niche in Hollywood, but she is quite rooted in her culture too, something she wants her daughters to imbibe as well. On the Jewish holiday of Purim, she even baked some Hamantash with her daughters. “Purim is one of my favorites holidays and making Hamantash with my girls is definitely one of my favorite things about it”, Gal wrote in her latest Instagram caption. Seems like it is an annual tradition in the Gadot household. The photos feature Gal and her daughters having a gala time in their kitchen while baking the much-popular, triangular Jewish pastry commonly associated with the festival of Purim.
For the uninitiated, Purim is celebrated on the 14-day of the month of Adar. This year Purim will begin in the evening of 16th March and end on 17th March. The holiday is observed by people dressing up in costumes, it commemorates the saving of Jews from genocide in ancient Persia. As per the ‘Book of Esther’, a villain named Haman threatened to kill the people of the city of Shushan. Eventually, Jews were able to stand up to the atrocities and defeat Haman.
On this day, Jews feast on a variety of traditional delicacies, the most notable of which is Hamantash. It is a triangular-filled pocket pastry, and the sweet fillings can range from poppy seeds, prunes, apricot jam to dates.
As most of you may have guessed, ‘Haman’ in the word ‘Hamantash’ is a reference to the villain of Purim. The word ‘Tash’ means a pouch or a pocket in Yiddish, therefore, the pastry could be a reference to Haman’s pocket, or the money he offered to Ahasuerus in exchange for permission to destroy the Jews.
In Hebrew, the ‘tash’ also means ‘to weaken’, therefore baking Hamantash, may also be symbolic of the defeat of Haman, and the hope that God will eventually weaken all the enemies of the Jews.
There’s another popular legend associated with the etymology of the pastry. The Yiddish word ‘Montashn’ is a word for a traditional delicacy which literally means ‘poppy seed pouch’, it was evolved into ‘hamantashen’ with its association with the festival.
In Israel, the pastry is also called ‘oznei Haman’, which is also Hebrew for ‘Haman’s ears’, which could be a reference to defeated army’s ears, or the shape of the pastry, which is twisted, rolled and fried.
