Religion & Beliefs

Must Have: Readymade Purim Baskets

By Tamar Fox / March 7, 2008

Yesterday we gave you some ideas and tips for creating your own mishloach manot. Today, we're giving a shout out to the especially busy and/or all-too-lazy readers among us, by offering leads on pre-made Purim Baskets. If you’re too darn lethargic to put something together yourself, fear not:

  • You can purchase premade mishloach manot, which can be conveniently mailed to your friends, at Oh Nuts!

 

  • Less than enamored by the basket options? Why not send cards that say “A donation has been made in your honor to X charity this Purim” to the important people in your life. Yad Sarah has some beautiful options, and the money helps bring the gift of Mishloach Manot to a homebound and/or disabled person in Israel.
  • Table to Table has some cute ones that can even be emailed, with the money going to hunger charities in Israel. Your local synagogue probably has their own version, as well.

Previously: Letters of Creation Necklace (and Natalie Portman's Shoes)

POST A COMMENT

  • Null
    By Helen Jupiter 3/21/08 at 6:25 p.m. UTC

    …I received anonymous mishloach manot on my doorstep.  At the time, I had no idea what the heck they were, and they kind of scared me.  A bottle of grape juice and a carton of eggs, left anonymously on my doorstep?  Weird!  If I had known then what I know now (or if they'd come with a card) they would have been much more appreciated. 

  • By tarfon 3/10/08 at 1:46 p.m. UTC

    Charitable donations to organizations like Yad Sarah, and gifts to Israeli soldiers, are commendable.  However, the mitzva of mishloah manot requires that one give food to somebody one knows.  The purpose of this mitzva is not simply to compel us to do something nice; it's to strengthen the bonds of Jewish community — that's why the recipient must be a person that you know.  There's a separate mitzva of matanot la'evyonim, gifts to poor people.  That may have a similar purpose; the model of a poor person in the Jewish community may be someone who does not have the social bonds that would normally make him/her a recipient of mishloah manot, and we have an obligation to reinforce his/her tie to the Jewish community.  But it remains important to give real mishloah manot.

    It's true that, in some communities, the number of mishloah manot that one receives can be quite large (and the lavishness of some of them is also quite impressive), and some people may reasonably decide that they don't want to add to the conspicuousness of the consumption and the sheer mass of junk food that circulates.  So I understand why people send contribution cards ("A contribution has been made to X Organization in your honor in place of mishloah manot.") to friends rather than give food.  However, I'm concerned that the proliferation of these kinds of cards could create the impression that _this_ is the requirement for Purim, and could lead less knowledgeable people to miss one of the points of the holiday.  So I would hope that people who use this device (a) would still give real mishloah manot (apples and carrots, if you really want to be health-conscious) to at least one person, and (b) would indicate somehow, when they send these cards, that they are also giving real mishloah manot to some people. 

    BTW, an organization that supports poor Jews in the Boston area, and that has an ingenious program for conveying contributions to its beneficiaries on Purim day (so that donors can fulfill the halachic requirement to give matanot la'evyonim on the day of Purim) is Yad Chessed.  See <http://www.yadchessed.org/html/annual_report.htm>, and look at the "Purim Program" section of the report.  You can inform the organization either before Purim or on Purim morning how much you're contributing; they distribute to their beneficiaries gift certificates that will be honored by local kosher food purveyors, and, late in the morning when they know the total amount of contributions, they inform the beneficiaries and the purveyors of exactly how much each certificate is worth.  They also have arrangements to give matanot la'evyonim in Israel on Purim day.

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