As a little kid, I was always told that a Hamantasch is representative of Haman's three cornered hat. Is there an actual source that says Haman wore a three cornered hat or is it just Folklore?
1 Answer
I was told the following by a Rebbe of mine (My Yiddish is sorely lacking, so can't verify it to be true, but why would he make this up?):
In Europe, they made "hamantaschen" out of poppy, which in Yiddish is Mon. A pocket in Yiddish is a Tasch. Mon-Tasch, or plural Mon-taschen, (poppy pockets) were a popular purim snack. The similarity of Mon to Haman caused people to start calling it that, and afterwards the "explanation" came along.
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1The problem I have with this explanation is where does the hat come in? How do you get from poppy pockets to Haman's hat? Feb 27, 2014 at 0:12
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1@Bochur613: It sounds like the pastry was known as "montaschen" and enjoyed all year round. At some point, perhaps as a Purim joke, it got the name "hamantashcen". Later on, the original name was forgotten.– EphraimFeb 27, 2014 at 16:18
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Perhaps it's a corruption of Mohn-Törtchen? (Search for it online. Also see Mohn-Tartelettes)– EphraimFeb 27, 2014 at 16:24
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@Bochur613 Because pockets aren't 3 cornered, and hats can be. Folklore often develops this way - when you are trying to fit the explanation to the facts.– Y e zFeb 27, 2014 at 19:33
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@Ephraim As I said, I do not claim to know the Yiddish enough to comment.– Y e zFeb 27, 2014 at 19:34