The Grogger - Dreidel Showdown

The gemara (megillah 16a) says that Haman came to get Mordechai as he was teaching a class. After the shiur ended Haman asked the students what they had learned. They said they learned that during the time of the Bais Hamikdash a man would take a handful of fine flour to make an atonement. Haman responded that their fine flour displaced his 10,000 talents of silver (which is what he gave to Achashveirosh to destroy the Jews).
The Avnei Nezer asks: It sounds like Haman is saying that the Jews beat him. Haman was a pretty full of himself, so why would he want to give the Jews the impression that his plan failed??
Haman was also a really sneaky guy. He knew that the Jews have a tremendous power of prayer, and he was scared their prayers would ruin his evil scheme. Therefore, he wanted them to think that they won so they wouldn't pray with such devotion.
But as it turned out, it was his plan that was an epic fail!

Which brings us to the grogger - dreidel showdown.
Have you ever wondered why the handle of a dreidel is on top, while the handle of a grogger is on the bottom?? There's no such thing as coincidences in Judaism :)
Here is the amazing answer:
On Chanukah we had miracles such as the small group of Maccabeim overcoming the entire Greek army and a little jug of oil lasting for 7 days. These are what we call open miracles; it was completely clear that Hashem was involved. On Chanukah it was Hashem who took initiative and brought salvation from above, and therefore the handle of the dreidel faces upwards towards Hashem.
On Purim the miracles were very hidden. During the Purim story Hashem was working undercover, and therefore His name isn't mentioned at all in the megillah! (It isn't mentioned openly, but our rabbis say that every mention of "the king" in the megillah can be understood to refer to Hashem). On Purim our salvation came through our own initiative. When Haman tried to trick us to stop davening he didn't realize that we have a connection to prayer that is very deep and can never be taken away from us. Because we took the initiative to bring about our salvation, the handle of the grogger faces downwards towards us.

Happy happy Purim!!

HAMENTASHEN RECIPE

Here is a delicious hamentashen recipe I took from my roommate. I may have tasted one or two after she made them... :-)

3 eggs

1 cup sugar

3/4 cup oil

1/3 cup orange juice

5-5 1/2 cup flour

3 tsp vanilla

3 tsp baking powder

Preheat oven at 350 degrees.

Combine all ingredients an roll out into dough.

My family uses the top of a glass to cut the dough out into circles. 

After cutting out the circles, put some filling in the centers (jelly, chocolate chips, poppy seeds etc..)

Simply pinch the dough into triangles. Make sure they are tightly pinched together so they don't come apart in the oven!

Bake in a 350 degree oven for 20 minutes or until a light brown. Depending on your oven, they may be done in as little as 12-15 minutes, so check then and adjust the time as needed.

ENJOY AND HAVE A HAPPY PURIM!!! :]

Brought to you by....

When asked, some people might posit that Judaism is "all about Gd." 

Why, then, is there no mention of Gd in Megillat Esther? 

We have just finished reading about the story of Yetziat Mitzraim, the exodus from Egypt, in which Gd tells Moshe multiple times that he has hardened Pharaoh's heart. Gd plays an integral and obvious role in the story of Egypt. On the contrary, there is no mention of Gd in Megillat Esther. These two stories are read at similar times in the Jewish calendar -- why does it make sense to have these two huge miraculous stories with conflicting portrayals of Gd? 

Purim shows us that as humans, we too have a role in the creation and execution of miracles. The timeliness of the stories of Purim and Yetziat Mizraim show us that miracles can be instituted by Gd and can also be instituted by humans and  made possible by Gd. Gd is the reason that we are able to create miracles for ourselves.

In advertising form, we would say this: 

The Miracle of Egypt: Brought to you by Gd

The Purim Miracle: Brought to you by Esther and Mordechai, made possible by Gd

Queen Esther Fan Club

Happy Adar!!
So I actually am a huge Queen Esther fan. I mean besides for the fact that she kept strong to Jewish halacha and values while she was Queen, she also kept her nationality a secret for 5 years, put up with Achashveroshes shananagans, and saved the entire Jewish people from destruction! How cool is she??

Purim is a very fascinating holiday. On the outside it may seem like it's just a day of fun but in truth it's said to be the holiest day of the year. The Vilna Gaon explains that the full name of Yom Kippur is Yom Hakipurim, meaning "teh day like Purim." If Yom Kippur is like Purim, it means that Purim is even greater than Yom Kippur! Brings Purim to a whole new light, doesn't it?
There are so many life changing lessons we can learn from Purim and this one is about none other than Queen Esther :).

Courtesy of Aish.com