Amidst the continued downward spiral and ongoing severity of world events, I needed a break to connect to something stable and constant. Given the nature of Purim being today it would also be helpful if it was irrational. But what is a constant and irrational? π . On the occasion of March 14th, we celebrate π Day on 3.14. Here is a very informative TED talk on the topic:

While we need to claim that we had it first, I was fascinated to find out recently how long ago our people engaged with this idea of  π .

On the occasion of today, I wanted to explore  π  as it connects to Purim. I first started to think about how we make Hamantash. Hamantash are an Ashkenazi Jewish triangular filled-pocket pastry associated with Purim. The name refers to Haman, the villain in the Purim story. In Hebrew, hamantashen are also known as אוזני המן (oznei Haman), meaning “Haman’s ears”.  But how do we make the triangle shaped cookie?

After you make the dough you cut into circles. Then you put the filling in the middle. Then you folding into triangles.

The process of making Hamantash looks similar to how Archimedes approximated  π. Archimedes understood that the circumference of a circle is always a constant multiple of its diameter, and this constant multiple is π. He used polygons to approximate the circumference of a circle, realizing that as the number of sides of a polygon inscribed within or circumscribed around a circle increases, the polygon’s perimeter gets closer to the circle’s circumference. Increasing the number of sides he was able to approximate the circumference of the circle, finding that  π  lies between 3 1/7 and 3 10/71.

But the Hamantash is later in history. I was thinking that there is a older connection. As we see in the Mishnah Rosh HaShana:

They are four days in the year that serve as the New Year, each for a different purpose: On the first of Nisan is the New Year for kings; it is from this date that the years of a king’s rule are counted. And the first of Nisan is also the New Year for the order of the Festivals, as it determines which is considered the first Festival of the year and which the last. Mishna Rosh HaShana 1:1

While we tend to celebrate the New Year in Tishre with Rosh HaShana, there is another one in just over two weeks with the advent of Nissan. So on Purim we are celebrating the ending of the year cycle for kings and festivals. So in a deeper way Purim is a celebration to this circle of the year. Maybe this circle itself it connected to today being 3.14, or maybe this is all just Purim Torah. Merry π Day and Purim Sameakh.

*Older Post on Merry π Day 1.0