Who would have thought, in this cookie cutter world, there would be a heimishe hamantashen controversy?

Let me tell you the whole megillah.

Out in Anaheim, Calif., where Mickey and Minnie live, in the community where I grew up, there is a changing group of women and men who are a bunch of Purim pixies. Baking in the Temple Beth Emet kitchen for the past 45 years, they have turned out tens of thousands of hamantashen.

Working in two shifts, with a division of labor and specialized tools, and using a not-so-secret recipe, each year they baked hundreds of dozens of prune, mohn (poppy seed), or apricot hamantshen.

Purim is a busy holiday. It starts with an evening reading of the Megillah of Esther, followed the next morning by the second reading of a story that rivals the pace of a best-selling novel. The plot features a brave and beautiful heroine, a despotic king, a clever uncle, and a villain who is destroyed by his own evil plans.

After the morning reading, many people visit family and friends to distribute “mishloach manot,” packages filled with two baked goods and a drink. They also give “matanot l’evyonim,” donations to the needy.

Finally comes the highlight of any Jewish holiday — a delicious meal. But unlike most Jewish celebrations, where dining occurs at night, the Seudat Purim is a feast served midday, often lingering until evening.

Celebrating Tu b’Shvat this year on an alien moon called Pandora? Why not?

As seen in “Avatar,” the 3-D, billion-dollar grossing movie, it’s definitely a place where trees are revered.

In the film, bluish people called Na’vi worship ancient trees. Here on earth, a Jewish people who have a “navi” or two of our own (navi in Hebrew means prophet) will celebrate Tu b’Shvat, the New Year for Trees, on Jan. 30, expressing in song and seder a kind of tree love as well. Why?

Jewish residents of Bright Side Manor, an assisted living facility in Teaneck, enjoyed lighting the menorah, traditional Chanukah stories and songs, and refreshments and Chanukah gifts on Dec.13 thanks to volunteers from Congregation Beth Am.
For nearly six years, members of the congregation have been giving their time and their enthusiasm to celebrate the holidays or just visit with Bright Side residents, many of whom have no family or few visitors.

WASHINGTON – President Obama said the Chanukah story of the Maccabees “reminds us that faith and perseverance are powerful forces that can sustain us in difficult times and help us overcome even the greatest odds.”

In his first presidential Chanukah message, released Friday, Obama also said the holiday is “not only a time to celebrate the faith and customs of the Jewish people, but for people of all faiths to celebrate the common aspirations we share.”

“May Chanukah’s lessons inspire us all to give thanks for the blessings we enjoy, to find light in times of darkness, and to work together for a brighter, more hopeful tomorrow,” Obama said in his statement.

WASHINGTON – Rahm Emanuel had a serious message about mutual responsibility to make in a pithy, punchy speech before he helped light the “national menorah” Sunday evening on the Ellipse in front of the White House.

Still, the White House chief of staff being, well, himself, he couldn’t resist a couple of one-liners.

Rabbi Levi Shemtov, who directs American Friends of Lubavitch, rushed in a “thanks” to the performers before calling Emanuel to the stage. After taking the microphone, the Obama aide quipped that “The U.S. Air Force Band, the Three Cantors, and Dreidel Man — sounds a little like the title of a Fellini movie.”

In 165 BCE, a group of warriors led by Judah Maccabee and his band of brothers ushered in a new era in Jewish history when they routed the soldiers of the Greek-Syrian empire and rededicated the Holy Temple in Jerusalem.

That victory, and the miracle of the menorah that followed, is celebrated every year by Jews around the world at Chanukah.

But if the same thing had happened today, would contemporary Jews hail the Maccabees as heroes?

The place in Jewish history of the Maccabees — a nickname for the first members of the Hasmonean dynasty that ruled an autonomous Jewish kingdom — is much more complex than their popular image might suggest.