Last night, five of us board members, plus our past president, experienced, what for me, was one of my best Jewish experiences since being here at JMU. We hopped into 2 cars to head to Rabbi Etan’s house in Charlottesville, with one car arriving a little safer and less carsick. At their house, we made Hamantaschen and homemade challahs! It probably would have been a wise idea to warn Rabbi Etan and his wife Tammy that Hurricane Hillel was coming with our huge baking messes.
This was such a great time for the board members to bond with not only each other, but with Rabbi Etan and Tammy. We learned how to properly pinch the corners of Hamantaschen, and that when a recipe calls for 9-12 cups of flour, it really means pour the whole 5 pound bag, plus half of another. We also learned the prayer for when you rip off a small chunk of challah.
Besides the fun and learning, this night also gave us all such a warm feeling. After baking, we all just sat down in their living room and discussed everything from our majors, Israel, Jewish geography (of course) (turns out Tammy went to the same Jewish private school as I did, and we had some of the same teachers), how Rabbi Etan and Tammy met, life in general, and also how there was something nice about being in an actual home during our time in college. Even though we just got back from spring break, this week proved to be stressful and LONG, and this was the perfect opportunity to get away and relax.
Although our Hamantaschen, as Sam said from a nurse’s point of view, " didn’t look so good,” they still tasted DELICIOUS! We made our cookies filled with butterscotch, chocolate, peanut butter, and strawberry jam. Yes, I know your mouth just started watering… mine did too! You can get a chance to try these homemade Hamantaschen and challahs at our Purim Shabbat Dinner tonight! Rabbi Etan and Tammy will be there, and they would love to meet all of you!
SOOO… Moral of this extremely long blog post is that last night was one of the best nights I’ve had here at JMU! (clearly shown by my rambling!)
HAPPY PURIM TO ALL!
P.S Pictures are to come!
-Leah Ross-
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