Driving home last night, I came to the realization that Purim is really only a week away – with creative timekeeping at least: 10 days minus 2 full days for shabbat and another 2 halfish days of shabbat prep… And then I realized that yet again this year, I’m behind on planning and it will be a race to the finish if I’m going to actually fulfill the mitzvah of sending mishloach manot.
I knew this day would come. I saw the order form from the synagogue and thought to myself “Wednesday, March 9th is a few weeks away, I can send it in later” and of course the deadline came and passed. So now I’m left on my own, trying to figure out:
- Who should I send my gifts to? Traditional voices say that women should send gifts to women, men to men, etc. and I’m not one to mess with tradition. Plus, eliminating men cuts down about half my list…
- Whether or not it’s fair to count two deliveries (to the same person, of course) of an edible bouquet and Tank Goodness cookies as fulfilling the requirement of sending two different types of ready-to-eat yumminess? Or if it would be more cost-effective to assemble my own package and have it sent via courier (since third-party deliveries are another requirement and I don’t yet have kids)?
- And if I do make my own packages, how bad would it be on a scale of 1 to the-Jewish-people-are-going-to-disappear-if-you-do-things-like-you’re-doing if I went to Target and found a super cute Easter basket to fill up? How else am I going to find a pink, glittery basket anyways?
- What the heck am I putting in this basket/box/bag? Sure, hamentashen are an easy choice but what else? Where am I supposed to find out what the trends in mishloach manot giving are this year?
Where’s my Jewish Martha Stewart when I need her? Or Rachel Ray for that matter? Maybe it’s you, Dear Reader.
What’s going in your baskets/boxes/bags this year? Does everybody on your list get the same or do you customize to taste? Do you keep it simple or flair it up?
I’d be willing to bet that we could crowdsource the best. mishloach. manot. package. design. ever. down below in the comments. So what’s going in your packages?
(Photo: dremiel)
