be happy; it's Adar

[cellio]

The month of Adar began a few days ago, which means that silliest of holidays, Purim, is coming up soon. And that means that Purim Torah -- discourse of a, shall we say, not entirely serious nature -- is in season on Mi Yodeya. Here are some of my favorites from this season so far -- recommended, and most of the ones I've selected should be broadly accessible. (Feel free to leave comments here if you need help interpreting anything.)

Why don't Jews accept Our Lord and Savior? The question (which skirts the "can Purim Torah be too heretical?" line really closely) lays out some textual "proofs". I had fun answering this.

What does Judaism think of math? Quite a variety of answers here.

What is the text of kiddush for Purim night? I've heard a couple really silly and (within my limits of comprehension) hilarious texts for Purim kiddush, the prayer of sanctifying a special day. The one (so far) posted here looks like it's pretty funny, but I can only comprehend part of it. (If anybody reading this is inclined to provide a translation, please consider adding it there. If you're not comfortable with that, though, please feel free to post here...)

Why didn't Esther follow Mordechai's instructions? This answer is fun, and check out the link in the answerer's first comment.

Is the torah in the public domain? Wikipedia says that only works published before 1923 are automatically public domain. The torah was written in 2448, so that's safe...

Comments

[eub.livejournal.com]

These are fun; I had never heard of Purim Torah. Do you know the history of the tradition?

[cellio]

The sparse Wikipedia article isn't much help, so I asked how old it is. (Answer, so far, is 13th/14th century, but I haven't seen the primary sources myself.) I don't know the path yet from that to the modern form of it, which I gather is particular strong in yeshivas (not surprising).

Purim itself is something of a silly holiday (I say that with all due respect). The book of Esther reads like an exaggerated farce, and there's a tradition of dressing in costumes and doing silly things. There is a commandment, on the day of Purim, to drink until you can no longer distinguish between "blessed be Mordechai" and "cursed be Haman", and all holidays involve festive meals, so among those who celebrate, it tends to be a grand old party. As part of this, people are wont to share silly bits of "not quite torah".

My friend osewalrus does this up big, and I've been to his Purim festivities twice so far. I don't yet know anybody local to me who does it up to the extent he does. I believe he acquired his traditions when studying in Israel.

[osewalrus.livejournal.com]

Yes. Purim is generally treated as a children's holiday in the U.S. When I was in Israel I saw how it was done and decided "why in the U.S. do we make a big deal out of the days of woe but not the days of celebration? Should we not serve God equally in joy?" So I decided to make Purim my special holiday (it helps that my hebrew birthday is Shushan Purim katan).

As for Purim Torah, not sure of the history. It all boils down to the concept of "v'nahaphochu" -- and it was overturned. Haman's plans were overturned, and so the whole day is supposed to be topsy-turvy and backward. Hence the "Purim torah," which reverses reason.