MARCH 12, ‘25 // “I give a quarter to Rabbi Meir Baal Hanes, It always works.” What is the big secret? Haman tash? We are not disclosing bank accounts or personal failures. So why is everyone so secretive? If a Haman tash is really so simple, then there would be no need to discover deep secrets. Sarah offers me a taste from a plate of designer haman tashen, I count them and there are fifteen. Suddenly I have an ‘Aha!’ moment. No one has the secret. The secrets are those haman tash hidden away from public view. I refrain from asking her to show me the other one hundred and eighty-five. I do not wish to be cruel and make her blush. I do my calculations quietly. When I see thirty on the plate, I am not rude enough to ask where the other three hundred and eighty-five are. (Check my mathematics. I am better with that than with haman tash) Her family is devouring the lopsided and leaky haman tashen at the steady rate of one per minute. At the time of this article, I have baked five thousand haman tashen, which translates to one large platter of beautifully formed haman tashen, for public consumption. The rest are hidden in four eighteen-gallon containers, which will be empty just before bodek chometz. I have also invested twenty-five dollars in quarters to Rabbi Meir Baal Hanes. I pretend not to notice Rivka drool over my tray of scrumptious, and state of the art- haman- tashen. “But how do you get them so even and smooth and clear?” She asks with a tone of respect and wonder. “Blend the jam.” I inform her. “That is the secret”. I keep the secret of the other four thousand and something misshapen haman tashen are only to be swallowed and shared by those who love me enough to believe that their Mummy makes the best haman tash in the world. Haman and his family were shamed and humiliated and ended up losing their lives. His claim to greatness turned out venahapoch hu. His threats caused our ancestors to do teshuva, and maybe his reward is that we replicate his hat. I celebrate this tradition of venahapochu with the three, (or four or four and half) cornered haman tash. As a side I add more zechusim to my collection by giving tzedaka and filling the pushkas asking Rabbi Meir Baal Hanes to intercede for Klal Yisroel and to help us, our families and our haman tashen turn out the best they can be. Write it, Pen it …. Or WOW IT!!! Express yourself with poems, essays, documents… with a unique twist. Chana Lebovits 514 2734047 ozer514@gmail.com WE WELCOME OUR GUESTS FROM JUNE 15 TO SEPTEMBER 1, 2025 NEW HAMPSHIRE 1267 MAIN ST., BETHLEHM, NH | TEL: 845.328.0808 | Booking@whitecherrycottages.com Exterior Interior Shul BRAND NEW COTTAGES Outdoor Heated Pool | Mikvah | Playground 10 White Cherry Cottages 162
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