Purim in Israel

How do you know that Purim is on the way in Israel ?

The first sign is that supermarkets are beginning to sell packages of Hamantaschen (Purim pastries). Yesterday in the supermarket I saw the first packages. The range of flavors of this triangle shaped pastry (Haman the bad guy wore a triangle hat??) is very wide.
Poppy seed, dates, apricot, chocolate, strawberry, etc....
Angles' bakery in Jerusalem has non-sugar, chocolate filled Oznei Haman ("Haman's Ears") - this is what they are called in Israel. I have tasted these "dietetic" ones more than once. They taste very good but I am sure you are not supposed to eat the whole package in one day :-)

The second sign in Israel that Purim is approaching are the advertisements for Purim costumes that will soon appear in all the newspapers. I wonder what this year's costume fad will be ?
I think the present day Haman in Iran will be in fashion.
May his fate be the same as Haman of Purim.

Purim falls on the 14th of the Hebrew month of Adar.
This year Purim begins Saturday night March 3, 2007.
(In Jerusalem, it is celebrated one day later.)

In order to start preparing for this fun-filled, Jewish holiday, I updated my Purim hotsites list with 95 links to websites with everything ranging from laws and customs to games and recipes. Site languages include English, Hebrew, Russian, Spanish, French, Portuguese and German.
Today I reviewed / checked all 95 links. They all work.
The address is:
http://www.jr.co.il/hotsites/j-hdaypu.htm
I also have a humor page with funny stuff related to Purim.
The address is:
http://www.jr.co.il/humor/purim.htm
Additional items are welcome!

Enjoy!

Shabbat Shalom,
Jacob