In the latest Rabbanut newsletter, one of the warnings is regarding hamantashen, or oznei haman as they are known in Israel.
Along with the general warning about only buying hamantashen from bakeries or producers with a kashrut certification, the Rabbanut made an additional warning. The Rabbanut said that according to halacha hamantashen should not be baked using dairy dough, so as to prevent causing people to stumble - by eating dairy hamantashen after, or along with, eating a meat meal. Coffee shops, and the like, that might want to make and serve dairy hamantashen can do so if they make them larger, change their shape a bit, and clearly display on the packaging (or even by embedding a sticker into the dough) that they are dairy.
It sounds completely reasonable to me, as on Purim many people eat a meat meal. Having hamantashen that might be dairy around could create a problematic situation.
It did strike me though as being a matter of funny timing - the Rabbanut just recently put forth an effort to ensure that all dairy pastries would be standardized to the shape of a triangle, and now just a few days later, a warning is issued that, despite the triangle shape that is traditionally used for hamantashen, hamantashen can, rightfully, not be made dairy. Perhaps the Rabbanut should insist either that all hamantashen be dairy, or that the shape be changed to fit the new standardized rules of the triangle shape representing a dairy pastry...
Religion Magazine
