普瑞姆马上就要来了——今年3月20日晚上开始——我一直在忙着计划在我的米什洛克马诺，the small gifts of food Jews exchange on Purim.
我并不总是喜欢这种习惯，不过，让我们假设我真的来了。
当我第一次改为犹太教，我从没听说过米什洛克马诺.在我丈夫成长的慕尼黑犹太社区，他们不是一回事，也没有人在我们在美国研究生院就读的小山丘上交换过它们。后来，当我的孩子们带回家的时候，他们带了一小包哈曼塔申和普林垃圾食品。犹太日学校in Chicago,I took it to be a kid thing.
但是，我开始在我孩子的学校工作，and discovered that,关于普里姆，the principal gave styrofoam boxes filled with snacks to staff.她向我解释犹太人如何在普林节互相进餐，我觉得很奇怪。为什么给不需要的人吃？I associated giving food with donating to soup kitchens.当一位老师告诉我她为她烤了一片片千层面时，我完全困惑了。米什洛克马诺-她甚至加了一小瓶犹太酒来送给朋友。
I asked the school's rabbi about this custom.他解释说，in the aftermath of surviving the threat of annihilation in ancient Persia — which is what we celebrate on Purim — the rabbis instituted the mitzvah (good deed) of米什洛克马诺.The idea,he told me,就是要促进犹太人的团结。
Megillat Esther,普里姆的故事，重述Haman，他们想摧毁犹太人，称他们为“分散的国家”——不仅指他们的分散，而且指他们之间的不和谐。哈曼下令消灭他们之后，末底改聚集犹太人禁食祷告三天，当他的表弟，埃丝特女王，代表他们与国王交涉。拉比教导说，这种团结的表现促使上帝扭转事件。Therefore,米什洛克马诺向对方赠送食物礼物不仅仅是友谊；it's about unity,which is crucial to Jewish survival.
即使有了这个合理的解释，然而，我仍然无法摆脱给不需要食物的人提供食物的问题。So,我忽略了这个习惯。I never gave米什洛克马诺 and felt slightly peeved when my kids gleefully brought them home from school.我做到了，然而，在感恩节和逾越节之前，总是为学校提供罐头食品。.
My feelings began to change once my daughter started attending a Jewish high school.她觉得她必须付出米什洛克马诺给她的同学们。Everybody was doing it!What could she use for boxes?What kosher food could go in there that wouldn't spoil and that her friends would like?仍然，I resisted what I considered a ridiculous custom,只是建议她在普通的礼品袋里装满她在当地杂货店能找到的犹太糖果。Undeterred,she went shopping.Next thing I knew,she set up an assembly line in our kitchen,with me as the principal worker.
The following year,in the run-up to普林，I was shopping at the kosher supermarket when I spotted cute boxes with "Happy Purim" printed on them.Odd as it may sound,那些礼品盒使我认识到米什洛奇庄园。我realized I had been too harsh,我女儿对朋友ios下载beplay和蔼可亲，也不支持犹太人的习俗。送礼物篮给朋友有什么问题？
即使我仍然质疑食物的供给，I could get into the gift part of it.但是，我意识到如果你要送礼物，giving food could be better than giving some random tchotcke that just adds clutter to a home and waste in the world,right?Isn't the giving of gifts more about the gesture and less about the utility of the gift itself?Plus,可以说，食物就是东西每一个人的需要，即使他们不需要。Besides,Purim isn't about giving to the needy — it's about gifting friends and those in your community.这是关于加强债券。
这些天,来普林，I love scheming what to put into the米什洛克马诺 我放弃了，还有我送给我大学里的孩子们的。除了哈马塔森，我想知道盒子里装多少女童子军饼干，什么时候装运，以便他们及时到达我孩子的宿舍。
Last year,就在我烤了咸檀香汁之后，我遇到一个喝咖啡的朋友。Even though I knew she didn't keep any Jewish customs anymore,I popped one into a gift bag and gave it to her.看到她脸上露出了识别的微笑，我意识到：那就是上帝！This is why we do this!Engaging in this odd little custom is not only a lovely gesture of friendship,it also transmits a spark of Jewish joy.事实上，正是分发食物的不必要性使这成为一种仁慈的行为。And thus,米什洛克马诺给我们一个机会来传播一点不重要但非常欣赏的快乐。
