Tag Archive: Purim
Purim, Pesach and Dr. Seuss
Our Sages reveal the following principle:
“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!
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A Yellow and Yiddish Speaking Submarine!
In the spirit of Purim, I’d like to thank Chaim Rubin for linking to this hilarious rendition of the song below sung by the famous Badchen, Yoely Lebovits! Who would’ve thought that they would live to hear a Yiddish Beatles song?
Spring, Baseball, and Judaism…
Living in Israel, I don’t really have the opportunity (or the same drive) to follow the sports teams of my youth. That said, as a kid who learned additional and subtraction by following the Dodger scores, I have this sixth sense that as we begin to prepare for the joyous holiday of Purim, we are also edging closer to spring training and the start of a new baseball season!
And so, while the sport continues to receive a black eye from the use of performance enhancing drugs such as steroids and HGH, I’d be remiss to not point out this great book from Rabbi Dov Moshe Lipman entitled, Time-out: Sports Stories as a Game Plan. In addition to teaching yeshivot and seminaries and also writing a weekly column in the OU’s Torah Tidbits, he is arguably best known for his almost decade of service at Sportstar Academy. All in all, if you are looking for a great bar mitzvah gift for a Jewish sports fan, I’d highly recommend this book.
The Holy Niggun of “Lead Belly”
Some children grow up memorizing tunes from Barney, SpongeBob, and so on and so forth. Others memorize the tunes of Professor Green and The Simcha Machine (a personal favorite because we share last names!) and The Amazing Torah Bike (which frankly I still think brings to life the story of the Exodus).
That said, in my formative years, I never heard of the great Blues musician (and oft-pardoned convict) Huddie Ledbetter, popularly known as “Lead Belly,” nor did I think I knew any of his tunes.
I was wrong.
Ever since I can remember, my favorite holiday growing up was Purim. The festive atmosphere, the exchange of treats and gifts, topped off by the final mitzvah of the day, the Purim Seudah, is what makes this a day that every child continues to mark off on his or her mental calendar and looks forward to each year.
While I have spent Purim in many locations throughout the world, and while the people and the atmosphere may differ from year to year, the songs never seem to change. To that end, year after year I must sing countless times the catchy tune of: M’She, M’She M’Shenechnas Adar, Marbim, Marbim, Marbim B’Simchah. That said, only several years ago was it brought to my attention that the person who brought this niggun down to us was not The Amshinover or another such Chassidic Master?
Who was the bal m’nagen, the composer of this song, that is sang in all the yeshivas, from Merkaz HaRav to The Mirrer…?
The answer may surprise you!
It is none other then a musician known to the world as, “Lead Belly.” Enjoy watching him in action below!
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