Alissa Timoshkina's sweet kreplach make a delicious alternative to hamantaschen (Picture: Alissa Timoshkina)[Missing Credit]
Her new recipe for sweet kreplach, filled triangular dumplings, is a nod both to tradition and symbolism. The triangular shape echoes the familiar Purim motif, while offering a fun twist (you can find the recipe here).
“I love Purim for its playfulness with food – we literally eat our enemy, Haman! So I am putting a Purim-spin on the traditional Ashkenazi Ukrainian flavour,” she explains.
"The iconic dumplings varenyki are reimagined as triangular kreplach, a nod to the shape of Haman’s hat. And I have filled them with a mix of sweet twarog (a fresh curd cheese) and poppy seed paste – the two unbeatable flavours of comfort and joy for most Ashkenazi and Ukrainan kids.”
She adds: "There is something so empowering about passing on the story of resilience and survival in these playful and delicious ways!”
That message of resilience and transformation resonates deeply with Tikva. Founded in 1994 by Rabbi Shlomo Baksht, at a time when Jewish life in Odesa was on the brink of extinction, Tikva began as a small school offering abandoned and abused Jewish children a safe home and education. Today, it provides essential care, schooling and psychological support from early childhood through to independent adulthood.
Since the outbreak of the Ukraine war in 2022, Tikva evacuated 4,760 people from Odesa and now runs Europe’s largest displaced-persons camp in Bucharest, caring for 1,047 refugees. In Romania, it rebuilt schools from scratch, with 462 children now receiving education, meals, housing and emotional support alongside alumni refugee families. In Odesa, more than 200 children remain in its care, regularly attending lessons in bomb shelters, while the charity also delivers hot meals and care packages to elderly and vulnerable community members.
Purim is the highlight of Tikvah's calendar (Picture: Tikvah UK)[Missing Credit]
Yet amid the enormity of that work, Purim remains a high point in Tikva’s calendar. The entire community comes together for music, costumes and celebration, restoring a sense of childhood and normality. Even in Odesa, where festivities may be more subdued depending on the security situation, the determination to celebrate endures.
As Tikva UK CEO Karen Bodenstein puts it: “Purim is the highlight of our year at Tikva, reflecting our own journey of holding on to joy in the darkest of times. As our community continues to face the challenges of war, celebrating Purim with music, costumes and laughter helps to restore a sense of childhood, safety and normalcy.”
For Timoshkina, partnering with Tikva on social media this Purim felt entirely natural.
“My grandfather survived the Holocaust and WWII in Ukraine as a child. It’s unfathomable to think that Ukrainian children are subjected to the unimaginable horrors of war once again,” she says.
"For me, my Jewish lineage is inseparable from my Ukrainian family history. So every Jewish holiday since 2022 has been about helping Ukrainian families alleviate the difficulties of this horrible war, in any way I can. Food is about care. When we cook for each other, we’re saying: you matter, you’re safe, you belong. Especially now, that feels incredibly important.”
This year, as Ukrainian Jewish families mark Purim across borders – in Odesa, Bucharest, Israel, the UK and beyond – that message feels more powerful than ever. Through a simple, sweet recipe and the communal spirit it represents, Timoshkina and Tikva offer a reminder at the heart of the festival and of the charity’s very name: that even in the darkest times, there is always hope.
Discover Alissa Timoshkina’s recipe for sweet poppy seed and twaróg kreplach here.
