Haman's Ears

The Hebrew phrase oznei haman (Haman's ears) appears in a 16th-century Hebrew play from Italy that puns on the biblical word for 'the manna' - haman. The name may have been connected to a quasi-cannibalistic tradition of eating foods representing the body parts of enemies. Jews in Italy and Sephardi communities ate ear-shaped fried dough called, in Judeo-Italian, orecchi di aman, and in Ladino (Judeo-Spanish), orejas de aman, both meaning 'ears of Haman.' The Hebrew version of this phrase was eventually adopted as the Modern Hebrew name for the triangular pastries brought to Israel by Ashkenazi Jews.


haggadah Section: Commentary / Readings
Source: Jewish Language Project - jewishlanguages.org