Asido for Purim — the Taste of Jewish Holidays

Asido — the Sweet Queen of Purim

Among Mountain Jews, “Asido” (halva) is the main dish of the Purim holiday, named after the heroine of Purim: Adasso, also known as Adassa and Esther. In different dialects, depending on where people live, the name of this Purim sweet is pronounced differently: residents of Makhachkala, Nalchik, and Khasavyurt call it “adese”; residents of Baku call it “eside”; and residents of Derbent call it “asido” (we have distinguished ourselves here as well—we remember that Purim is a day of reversals, so we kept the heroine’s name concealed). No “Haman’s ears”—it is enough that we call Purim itself “Amunu” (after Haman, thereby fulfilling the mitzvah: “Remember what Amalek did to you”—he being Haman’s ancestor). This beautiful, delicious halva is accompanied by sweet, beautiful lekach (sweet bread, sponge cake). When we were children, Asido was cut into attractive diamonds, placed on lekachim, wrapped in transparent bags, and distributed by us children from house to house. These were handmade “mishloach manot” gifts. Where does childhood go... and Mother’s Purim.   A Persian Rhapsody Purim is, genetically, closer to the Mountain Jews than to any other Jewish diaspora: in terms of geography, language (Persian (60%), mixed with Aramaic and Hebrew (20% each)). According to tradition, the Mountain Jews belong to the tribe of Benjamin and are direct descendants of Esther and Mordechai. The proof is the incredible number of women’s names: Istir, Adasso, Purim. Vashti (the wife of Achashverosh) has survived in our language as a common noun describing a woman of loose morals. Mordechai is popular both as a given name and as a surname. And one no less important detail is the game of “shesh-besh”—as a victory over Haman. More details here: Жребий амана 7 го адара или 14 го