“Who is wise?”

“He who learns from every (‘Adam’ in Hebrew) man!”

We are not meant to only learn from the socially bright.

We are not meant to simply learn from a Rabbi.

Rather, Judaism believes that we can and should learn a lesson from every person we meet. Indeed, if there’s anything that I learned from Theodor Seuss Geisel, the author of the famed Dr. Seuss series, it was the power and ability to captivate and impart a critical message  upon a diverse and broad audience using dizzying rhymes and colorful pictures for many years. By conveying his message and morals subtly, in the form of a book for children, his points were heard by millions!

In light of the above, I was rather impressed with a particular Mishloach Manot package we received this year. In fact, this particular family performed the mitzvah by ensuring that their costumes, the packaging, food and poem where all in the spirit of Dr. Seuss. And so, I present to you the following poem written by Rabbi Abbish Rand:

THE CAT IN THE HAT
PURIM 5769

The sun did so shine
It was a great day to play
So we ran out of the house
On that fun Purim day

A lesson we had learned
From that Cat in the Hat
Was get up and do
עשה טוב ‘s where it’s at

If all you could do here is
Sit!
Sit!
Sit!
Sit!
הקב”ה doesn’t not like that
Not one little bit

Life is a ladder
You’ve got to keep climbing
Else THINGS come along
And send you tumbling and sliding

Better keep yourself busy
Doing what Hashem wants from you
Clean up your act
Before trouble finds you

משיח is on his way home!
Do you hear?
Oh, How will he react?
What will he say?
Oh he would not like it
To find you this way

“So go fast!” Says the
FISH IN THE POT
“Do you hear?
We see him. משיח!
משיח is near!
So, as fast you can,
Think of something to do!
עשה טוב , סור מרע
Do what you’ve gotta do!”

When משיח comes in
And says to us all
Did you fix up yourselves?
Tell me. Did you help the כלל?

Do we have what to tell him?
Now, what SHOULD we say?
Well…
What would you answer,
If משיח asked YOU today?

Finally, just in time for Passover, here is a great article entitled: Green Eggs and Matzo Brei that also pays tribute to Dr. Seuss. You never know, with all of the messages and morals that Dr. Seuss seemed to espouse, maybe the reason why he always covered his head with his trademark hat, was an allusion to his Jewish roots!

I hope that you’ll click on over here and enjoy the laugh as much as I did!

Likewise, in case you thought flying from Israel to North America could get any more uncomfortable, you’ve got to check out this design, that even after giving it a couple looks up and down, still seems to resemble fashionable handcuffs more then anything else!