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Hebrew word of the week: Ozne Haman

Hebrew word of the week
[additional-authors]
March 16, 2016

Originally this pastry, now associated with Purim and mishloah manot, had nothing to do with Haman, Purim or ears.

The original German spelling was Mohntaschen, or “pockets (filled with) poppyseed,” * which in Yiddish became Homen-tashen, or “pockets of Haman,” and thus it became associated with Purim among the Ashkenazi Jews. ** The triangular shape (resembling Napoleon’s hat), plus a midrash (on Esther 6:12) on Haman’s ears led to the Hebrew ozne-Haman, or “Haman’s ears.”

*Poppyseeds used to be the main filling, but now other fillings are used as well, such as walnuts, sesames, dates, halva, apricot jelly and chocolate.

**Mizrahi Jews, such as the Jews of Iraq and Iran, ate at Purim (and Chanukah) zalabiya (zoolbiya) a kind of doughnut or pancake.

Yona Sabar is a professor of Hebrew and Aramaic in the department of Near Eastern Languages & Cultures at UCLA

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