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Happy Purim and welcome to ‘Behind the Mask’ – Aish UK’s guide to the festival!

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Published by arikayser, 2021-02-22 06:37:39

Aish UK Megillah Companion 2021

Happy Purim and welcome to ‘Behind the Mask’ – Aish UK’s guide to the festival!

Rabbi Lord Jonathan Sacks zt"l

It seems to me therefore that the – and in that refusal you are doing
simcha we celebrate throughout the something very serious indeed. You
month of Adar is different from the are denying your enemies a victory.
normal joy we feel when something You are declaring that you will not
good and positive has happened to be intimidated. As the date of the
us or our people. That is expressive scheduled destruction approaches,
joy. The simcha of Adar, by contrast, is you surround yourself with the single
therapeutic joy. most effective antidote to fear: joy
Imagine what it is to be part of a in life itself. As the three-sentence
people that had once heard the summary of Jewish history puts it:
command issued against them: “to “They tried to destroy us. We survived.
destroy, kill and annihilate all the Let’s eat.” Humour is the Jewish way of
Jews—young and old, women and defeating hate. What you can laugh at,
children—on a single day” (Esther you cannot be held captive by.
3:13). We who live after the Holocaust,
who have met survivors, heard their (continued overleaf)
testimony, seen the photographs and
documentaries and memorials, know
the answer to that question. On Purim
the Final Solution was averted. But it
had been pronounced. Ever afterward,
Jews knew their vulnerability. The very
existence of Purim in our historical
memory is traumatic.
The Jewish response to trauma is
counterintuitive and extraordinary. You
defeat fear by joy. You conquer terror
by collective celebration. You prepare
a festive meal, invite guests, give gifts
to friends. While the story is being told,
you make a rumbustious noise as if not
only to blot out the memory of Amalek,
but to make a joke out of the whole
episode. You wear masks. You drink a
little too much. You make a Purim spiel.
Precisely because the threat was
so serious, you refuse to be serious

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I learned this from a Holocaust survivor. At the end of each day they would
Some years ago, I wrote a book, tell one another their story and they
Celebrating Life, to write my way out of would laugh together. “That sense of
the depression I fell into after the death humour saved my life,” he said. I stood
of my father, zikhro livracha. It was a corrected. He was right.
cheer-you-up book, and it became a That is what we do on Purim. The joy,
favourite of the Holocaust survivors. the merrymaking, the food, the drink,
One of them, however, told me that the whole carnival atmosphere, are
a particular passage in the book was there to allow us to live with the risks of
incorrect. Commenting on Roberto being a Jew – in the past, and tragically
Begnini’s comedy about the Holocaust, in the present also – without being
terrified, traumatised or intimidated. It
"Thepeoplethatcan know the is the most counter-intuitive response
fulldarknessofhistory and yet to terror, and the most effective.
rejoiceisapeoplewhose spirit no Terrorists aim to terrify. To be a Jew is
poweronearthcanever break." to refuse to be terrified.
Terror, hatred, violence – the dark
Life is Beautiful, I had said that though forces that are currently ravaging
I agreed with his thesis – a sense of country after country in the Middle East,
humour keeps you sane – that was not sub-Saharan Africa and parts of Asia –
enough in Auschwitz to keep you alive. are always ultimately self-destructive.
“On that, you are wrong,” the survivor Those who practise them are always,
said, and then told me his story. He as was Haman, hoisted on their own
had been in Auschwitz, and he soon petard, destroyed by their very will to
realised that if he failed to keep his destruction. And yes, we as Jews must
spirits up, he would die. So he made fight antisemitism, the demonisation
a pact with another young man, that of Israel, and the intimidation of Jewish
they would both look out, each day, for students on campus.
some occurrence they found amusing. But we must never let ourselves be
intimidated – and the Jewish way to
avoid this is marbim be-simcha, to
increase our joy. The people that can
know the full darkness of history and
yet rejoice is a people whose spirit no
power on earth can ever break.

(www.rabbisacks.org)

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PERSIAN BANQUET

Rebbetzin Ilana Epstein

Founding Director, Ta'am

Photography by Blake Ezra Photography53

RECIPES JJ'S BAKLAVA TRIANGLES

( )Ashkenazi/Sefardi fusion!!!

Delicious Hamatashen Twist! Saffron
My sister, who grew up in
an Ashkenazi home and
married a Sephardi man,
spends time adapting
recipes that take on a
special fusion. We call
them ashkafardi recipes!
Here she has adapted the
classic baklava pastry of

the middle east but shaped
them into triangles to mimic
the Ashkenazi Hamantashen,
where the filling is hidden.

You will need: • Two long strips of orange

• 500 g (about 24 sheets) rind, removed from the
orange with a vegetable
filo pastry peeler, roughly chopped

• About 240 ml (1 cup) olive • 2 cups granulated sugar
• 1 cup water
oil or melted butter • 3 tablespoons fresh lemon

• 4 cups mixed nuts, any juice

combination of almonds, • Pinch of saffron threads
pistachios and walnuts
(optional)
• ¼ cup granulated sugar
• ½ teaspoon cardamom
• 1 tablespoon orange

blossom water

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Method:

1. [For Triangles] Preheat oven to 180˚C

(350˚F). Line a baking sheet with baking
paper and set aside.

2. Lay the stack of filo sheets on a flat surface

working with one sheets at a time. Cover any
filo you are not working with first plastic wrap
and then a damp towel. Cut filo pastry sheet
into 4 long strips. Place 1 tablespoon of filling
in one corner of pastry, leaving a 1cm border.
Don’t overfill triangles or they will split.

3. Gently lift pastry corner with filling and

fold tightly diagonally to create a triangle.
Continue folding, retaining triangle shape.

4. Place triangles on a tray lined with baking

paper. If making a large quantity, cover
already-prepared triangles with a damp tea
towel to prevent them drying out.

5. Bake until crisp and golden, about 15 minutes,

while still warm dip in cool syrup let sit in
syrup for 15 minutes before removing to a
serving or storage dish.

6. [For Filling] Place all ingredients in a food

processor, pulse until everything is well
blended but don’t let it go so far that it
becomes buttery.

7. [For Syrup] Stir the sugar, water, lemon

juice together in a small sauce pan. Over
a minimum heat dissolve sugar about 5
minutes, increase heat and bring to a gentle
boil, cook until the mixture is slightly syrupy
about 5 more minutes, take off the heat and
stir in saffron. Let cool. The syrup keeps in the
refrigerator for several weeks.

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RECIPESpersian pistachio chicken

( spring on a plate!!)

I’m a massive fan of Purim. It’s a
Jewish holiday like no other. It'
about celebrations and giving,
about feasting and fasting. As
we open up the Book of Esther
we find King Achashveirosh at a
lavish banquet. As a kid I would
spend time designing this feast
as one would design a movie

set. In my mind, the aromas
and tastes of Persia permeated

the atmosphere. Barberries
and Saffron, pistachios, and
turmeric all battling it out for a
prime spot at the king’s table.

I imagine my chicken dish
inspired by the flavors of Persia
would be a welcome addition
at Achashvershes feast. But just
to test out the theory, I tend to
serve this dish, pretty much every
year at my own Purim Seudah
(feast), and it goes down a treat!
And if you feel like it do wear a

crown while dishing this up!

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You will need: Method:

• 1 ½ kilos skinless, boneless 1. Cut the thighs in half. Heat the
oil in a large sauté pan and fry
chicken thighs the chicken until golden but
not cooked through, turning
• 2 tablespoons olive oil once. You may have to do this in
• 3 medium onions, peeled batches depending on the size
of your pan. When chicken is
cut in half and thinly sliced golden, remove to a dish and set
aside.
• 1 teaspoon turmeric
• Freshly ground black pepper 2. Add the onions to the now
• 1 ½ cups dry white wine empty pan, and fry until they
• 1 ½ cups chicken stock become soft and golden. Add
• Salt the turmeric, mixing well so that
• A very good pinch of saffron all the onions are coated. Season
with pepper, add the wine and
threads stock, and bring to a boil.

• 400 g fresh baby spinach, 3. Reduce heat and return the
chicken and any juices from
stems removed, torn if large the bottom of the dish to the
pan. Simmer covered for 15
• 20 g fresh mint leaves, torn minutes. Remove the lid and
• 20 g fresh dill, roughly continue simmering for another
10 minutes. Season with salt
chopped and add the saffron, stirring to
dissolve the strands.
• 75 g raw pistachios, roughly
4. Gradually add the spinach,
chopped which will wilt quickly and allow
you to add much more then
you think will fit into the pan.
Stir in mint and dill, and check
additional salt and pepper.
Just before serving, top with
pistachios.

57

RECIPES Sara Livian's persian rice

( A taste of Tehran )

Many years ago, we had
moved to Ra’anana, the
first person to befriend me
was Sara Livian who was
raised Chabad Lubavitch

in the Crown Heights
neighbourhood of Brooklyn.
Sara is married to a Persian

man who though born in
Tehran was raised in Milan.
This may be the height of

Persian blasphemy but
Sarah makes the best Persian
rice I have ever tasted and it

is with thanks to her that
I’m sharing this recipe.

You will need: • 2 liters (8 cups) water
• 60 ml (1/4 cup) canola oil
• 4 onions, peeled, cut in half • Juice of one lemon
and thinly sliced • 1 ½ tablespoons salt
• 1/4-inch canola oil poured
• Pinch of salt
• 60 ml (¼ cup) vegetable oil into the bottom of the
• 4 carrots, peeled and cut saucepan
• 2 tablespoons water
into matchsticks • 1/4 teaspoon powdered
• 60 ml (¼ cup) vegetable oil saffron
• 60 ml (¼ cup) water
• 555 g (3 cups) basmati rice,

checked and rinsed

58

tadig

Method:

1. [For the Onions] Heat the oil in a large non-stick sauté pan once oil is hot add

the onions and a pinch of salt and fry until very brown and soft about 7 minutes.
Remonve from pan and set aside, if cooking the carrots in the same pan, use a
paper towel to wipe down pan

2. [For the Carrots] In a large non-stick sauté pan with a lid, heat the oil in the pan,

once hot add the carrots and sauté for a few minutes until the carrots start to
change colour. Add the water and cove the pan. Cook until the carrots are just
tender. Drain the water if any is left at the bottom of the pan season lightly with
salt and set aside.

3. [For the Rice] Fill a large non-stick saucepan 8 cups water; add oil and salt.

Cover and bring to a boil over high heat. Add the rice and continue cooking
over medium to high heat, stirring occasionally. After 5 minutes, use a slotted
spoon to scoop some grains from the water.

4. Break one grain in half to make sure it is “al dente”. Turn off the heat and pour

rice into the colander to drain; set aside.

5. [To Steam and Make Tadig] Place the empty saucepan back onto the stovetop

over medium heat. Add 1/4-inch canola oil and 2 tablespoons water. Add
saffron powder. Stir together. Add the drained rice and shape it into a pyramid.
If adding the carrots and the onions, only add half the rice to the pot, then add
the onions distributing them evenly in a thin layer, and add the carrots over the
onions, and then top with the remaining rice. Cover the pot and cook for 5-7
minutes until rice begins to steam.

6. Uncover and place 2 paper towels (one on top of the other) over the rice. The

ends will extend outside the pot. Replace the lid tightly. Reduce heat to low
and simmer, covered, for 45 minutes.

7. [To Serve] With a wide spatula, scoop the rice from the pot, making sure not

to disturb the crust (tadig) that formed on the bottom of the pot. Serve the
rice on a flat serving platter, mounding it into the shape of a pyramid. Turn the
tadig out onto a flat serving platter by inverting the pot, as you would invert a
cake pan, or cut it into pieces and serve around the rice.

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