We'll probably never know who was the first to make the association between mohntashen (Yiddish for "poppy pockets"--a three-pointed poppy-seed-filled pastry) and hamantashen (Yiddish for "Haman pockets"--a three-pointed poppy-seed-filled pastry eaten on Purim and named after the villain of the Purim story). Had Jews been enjoying mohntashen on Purim for many years when a certain Purim-nosher made the mohn/haman association? or was it the other way around?

One thing we know: like the poppy seeds in the hamantach, the richness of Purim comes to us hidden in an envelope of flaky dough. But when we penetrate the cookie of external events, dots of wisdom, concise and potent, excite the taste-buds of the spiritual mind.

So let us sample and savor a few seeds:

A Throw of Dice
Why is Purim named after the seemingly minor detail that Haman picked the date for his decree by casting lots?

Masquerade!
Why do we dress up on Purim? Because on Purim, nothing is as it seems...

A Momentous Year
Come to think of it, the idea of a "moment of truth" is almost an oxymoron. If it's true, shouldn't it always be true?

The Extreme Jew
Purim is the most physical day of the Jewish year; Yom Kippur, is its most spiritual. Yet yom kippur translates as "a day like Purim"!

The Underhand Spin
On Chanukah we spin the dreidel, on Purim we spin the gragger. There's a difference, however: the dreidel is spun from above, while the gragger is turned from below

Oil and Wine
When a thing is what it is, it's the same from the inside looking out and from the outside looking in

Unknown Joy
Can you be happy if you don't know you're happy?

Think Now
The problem with history is that it happened already

Why Men Drink on Purim
I tried talking to my inner woman about Purim. She said I didn't get it