Traditions

The Arab Christians have a tradition of making what is called maamoul every Easter. It is a cookie of sorts- one is filled with dates and is in the shape of a circle; one is filled with pistachios and is rounder (the first picture below is pistachio). The round cookie represents the crown of thorns on Jesus' head at the time of His crucifixion. The more ball-shaped ones represent the sponge which was used to give Jesus a drink during the crucifixion.
Last week my wonderful neighbor Nuha called me downstairs to her apartment to help her and a couple of friends make maamoul. We had a great time, the ladies loved teaching me this age-old tradition and I loved learning! It's harder to do than it seems!!