Jewish humor during the celebration of Purim
A Purim spiel by the
Jewish Theatre, Warsaw
, 2009
Purim humor
,
Purim jokes
, and
Purim pranks
are elements of joyful celebration of the holiday of
Purim
.
[1]
Notable expressions of Purim humor of long tradition are
Purim Torah
read by
Purim Rabbi
and
Purim spiel
.
Purim Torah and Purim spiel
[
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]
Purim Torah are humorous and satirical comments in the learned style of
talmudic
or
halakhic
comments in relation to Purim and read during Purim by a
Purim rabbi
. A notable historical example is the 14th century
Masekhet Purim
(
A Tractate on Purim
) by
Kalonymus ben Kalonymus
, condemned by many scholars.
[2]
A Purim spiel ("Purim play") is a dramatization of classical stories, most often of the
Book of Esther
, in which the story of Purim is recounted. This tradition dates at least to mid-16th century. Over time it acquired the comic character.
[3]
Today, Purim spiels can be comedies about anything related to Jews and Judaism.
[4]
Before the Purim of 1993, a parody on parody appeared on soc.culture.jewish in a thread titled "Talmud
Fortran
" with commentary on
computer programming
in the style of Purim Torah. Some comments: "As I recall you are not (in certain days) permitted to separate the good from the bad. How does this apply to
debugging
programs during these days?" - "So long as there is
less than one part in 60
of bugs in the code, it is
kosher
...<>"
[5]
Purim jokes and pranks
[
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]
Purim pranks may be insulting and even harmful. There is a scholarship on what
Halakha
says on whether harm, insult (
lashon hara
), or injury – whether physical (towards property or a person) or verbal – are admissible in the course of Purim pranks or jokes.
[6]
[7]
There are various interpretations, however Rav
Yosef Zvi Rimon
comes to a conclusion that insults and minor physical harm are admissible as long they are sincere expressions of joy of
mitzva
and the harmful acts were not of evil intention; this kind of humor must be used with caution. Purim jokes are for the joy of
mitzva
, not for just jesting.
[6]
Purim spiels may include a good deal of insults and foul language directed both at biblical characters and modern real persons.
[1]
[6]
Notable public Purim pranks
[
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]
In early December of 2023 posts were circulating in the media that
Mick Jagger
announced planning a concert of
Rolling Stones
in Israel.
Reuters
suggested that the rumors appear to be based on a February 24, 2013 spoof article at
The Jewish Press
website,
[8]
which at the bottom said: "This has been a Purim prank...".
[9]
On February 24, 2021 (a day before Purim that year),
The Jerusalem Post
tweeted
[10]
that
Benjamin Netanyahu
could not get hold of
Joe Biden
for a month because the latter gave him a wrong number which replied "Hello, this is not the person you were trying to call. You’ve reached the
rejection hotline
. Unfortunately the person who gave you this rejection hotline number did not want you to have their real number."
[11]
In March 2019
Esther Voet
, a columnist of a respected Dutch Jewish weekly
NIW
announced that she was moving to Israel, where "getting called a dirty Jew simply means I have to take a bath", complaining about the rise of anti-Semitism in the country. Later she announced that it was a Purim prank, but not earlier than her announcement made waves and she received notes of condolence and wishes of good luck from one camp and "good riddance" from the other.
[12]
In March 2017, one of the annual Purim pranks pulled by the officials of the town of
Psagot
went too far: the social media got ahold of a letter on local official stationery that
Jared Kushner
and
Ivanka Trump
would be visiting the town for
Shabbos
and Kushner would be delivering a
dvar Torah
in the local synagogue. Hundreds of people from the nearby places phoned the residents of Psagot to ask for a stay during the event, while leftist groups started arranging buses with protesters.
[13]
March 2014:
- The Dutch media was hoaxed by news of Barack Obama planning to visit the Amsterdam office of the Dutch Jewish Welfare Organization (JMW). After realizing the scale of the commotion the joke caused, the authors, Jonet.nl, and JMW, issued a public apology.
[15]
- The Forward
reported on the previously kept secret speech of
George W. Bush
to the "Messianic Jewish Bible Institute" about their mission of bringing "Jewish people into a personal relationship of faith with Yeshua the Messiah."
[16]
2010:
- The residents of
Bnei Brak
fell to the prank pulled by a construction company ZAKA, who announced that oil was about to be drilled there, with posters, equipment, and all, and hinted that the residents would be exempt from local property taxes.
[18]
- Ha'aretz
made a spoof report that a law was passed by the
Knesset
to allow for sponsorship messages to be laser-beamed onto the
Western Wall
for a fee.
[19]
See also
[
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]
References
[
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]
- ^
a
b
"Humor. Literary Traditions"
,
YIVO
- ^
"Ask the Rabbi: Are all costumes allowed on Purim?"
,
The Jerusalem Post
,March 11, 2011
- ^
Leuchter, Janet (2014).
"The Fascinating Evolution of the Purim-Spiel"
.
ReformJudaism.org
. Union of Reform Judaism.
Archived
from the original on 2017-03-17
. Retrieved
2020-05-13
.
- ^
"The Fascinating Evolution of the Purim-Spiel"
.
ReformJudaism.org
. 13 March 2014.
- ^
Barbare Kirshenblatt-Gimbelett, "The Electronic Vernacular" In:
Connected: Engagements with Media
, Volume 10,
p.34
- ^
a
b
c
Rav
Yosef Zvi Rimon
,
"Purim Pranks"
,
Yeshivat Har Etzion
- ^
Yehuda Shurpin,
"Does Jewish Law Allow Pranks?"
, chabad.org
- ^
Fact Check: Fake Mick Jagger quote about Israel concert is from ‘prank’ article
, December 8, 2023
- ^
Yori Yanover,
Defying Boycotts, Jagger, Stones, to Honor Israel’s 65th Birthday
, February 24, 2013
- ^
The Jerusalem Post
tweet #Purim #parody
- ^
"Netanyahu's repeated calls to Biden got directed to ‘rejection hotline’"
,
The Jerusalem Post
, February 26, 2021
- ^
Cnaan Liphshiz,
Jewish journalist’s Purim prank about fleeing anti-Semitism shocks Holland
, March 19, 2019,
Times of Israel
- ^
Dov Benovadia,
"A Purim Prank Too Far? Kushners Weren’t Visiting Psagot, After All"
, March 19, 2017,
Hamodia
- ^
Purim spoof: Israel overthrows Germany for World Cup title
,
The Jerusalem Post
, March 16, 2014, by "Jroast Sports Staff"
- ^
Purim hoax has Dutch media looking for Obama in all the wrong places
- ^
What George W. Bush Really Said to Jews for Jesus
,
The Forward
, March 13, 2014, "By George W. Bush"
- ^
THE BEATLES: THE JEWISH PERIOD
,
JTA
, March 12, 2014
- ^
"Israel ? Bnei Brak Residents Fall for Purim Prank"
- ^
Israel Approves Plan to Let Sponsors Beam Messages Onto Western Wall
,
Ha'aretz
, mArch 2, 2010, by "Hurim Pappy, Haaretz Correspondent"