That was my first thought as well!
Looks yummy! I love Purim at your house! 
Thanks for sharing again, zev! I just realized Purim was coming up and started looking forward to your thread. For those with questions, here’s a pretty good explanation of the holiday, including a recipe for Hamantaschen.
GT
Your kids look like a delightful bunch!
I hope everyone at your house enjoys a joyful and lighthearted Purim.
What fun! My sister and I used to make hamantaschen when we were kids. 
Now I am lazy (read: don’t have the time 
) and buy them at Freed’s Bakery here in Las Vegas. They have them available all year- yay!
Apricot, apple and cherry hamentashen abound in my household this year. I’ll also be making Nana’s famous honey cake this year, after she had not made it for the last 10 years of her life.
Zev, love the progression thorugh the years. Chag Purim!
Mundane and Pointless Purim Trivia from the Holyland…: Got into work this morning to find that overnight two of the staff had decorated the whole office (and left out funny hats for all) – nice way to get into the holiday spirit 
(if a bit early – but we don’t work Fridays, and many will be absent on Sunday (the holiday) because of school vacation)
Zev – this year Purim is on Sunday, so you have no excuse not to get drunk! (ad d’lo yada…)
And then we want some more pictures – here! 
I’ve been noticing the signs around my area that say Purim is approaching and guessing this regular thread was coming. Children cute as ever.
Every year, I look at this thread and think what a lovely family Zev has, and how much fun they’re having. Purim rocks!
Question seconded… I’ve never seen Tzivya, always Tzvi’ya – is this an Anglicized variant, or a different name?
Oh, and the sentiment seconded, too… she’s so cute
How’d you guess!? :eek:
You’re dressing up as a fish-wife this year? 
Ouch!!
Actually, it is Throatwarbler-Mangrove. 
Seriously, it’s pronounced Tziv-yah.
Zev Steinhardt
I’m not terribly certain about the origin of the name. She’s named after my grandmother, who had the same name. It may well be a corrupted version of Tzviya. In any event, it’s a fairly common Hebrew name here in the United States.
Zev Steinhardt
Would you believe I’ve never been drunk in my life?
Seriously… I’m not a big drinker. I drink more by the Seder (four cups of low alcohol wine) than at any other time… including Purim.
Zev Steinhardt
Seriously? Good on you!
Not so seriously? How dare you not be drunk on Purim? Avaryan! It’s a Mitzva!!
Cal’s probably referring to a sign advertising the book based on the Chicago debates–unless MIT decided to do one in light of the publicity the book got?
The debates are very charming. Scholars discuss the L/H dichotomy in light of their specialized academic insights–the post-modern deconstruction is that the Esther story should be experienced as a post-feminist construct with a clearly unreliable narrator of the hegemonic white male class; therefore, latke rulz!
I was at a talk last Saturday on this point. The rabbi who instituted the mitzvah of getting drunk on Purim is noted elsewhere in the Talmud for two relevant points:
- He was a vintner.
- He liked to drink wine.
The current analysis by Rabbi David Golinkon is that the mitzvah was hyperbole for Purim comic effect.
Oh, stop confusing me with facts!
Oh, OK! I didn’t realize there was a book out. I never went to the debates, just saw the cartoons of them in the alumni mag, but they did seem quirky and fun
“Latke rulz!” Hee hee.
I am eating a Cherry Hamentaschen right now, which I purchased at the local deli. It is delicious!
Nope – it’s advertising an upcoming debate at MIT, with three professors on each side. Possibly (probably) it was inspired by the Chicago tradition. I’d never heard of it before. The MIT debate’s coming up this weekend, I think.
I never heard of “Latkes” until recently. We called them “Potato Pancakes” growing up, when my grandmother made them. Like a lot of apparently Jewish traditions, this is really a regional one – Potato Pancakes/Latkes are East European fare (My Grandmother was Polish Catholic). I never heard of the fruit-filled things, though, until this week.