Humor |
Shul
Chronicles 61 By
Rabbi Moshe Taub (Originally
published in Ami Weekly Magazine) Make
‘Em Laugh Talmudic
Parodies, Litzanus, and Kosher
Laughter In the spirit of Purim… Let us a take a walk through the celebrated Royal Library of Metz, the very same library where the legendary story of the Maharal and the Golem that he had created was first discovered. Oh,
look over there, right above the Ibn Ezra’s highly recommended ‘Ben Porim’
on the life of the matriarch Leah is the first edition of Meseches Edomim,
MiTalmud Bulshevik. Some shitos are of
the opinion that its original name was ‘Bava Commie’. Lets
open it up and see what it says…. Wait.
Let me get serious for a minute. In my attempt to write Purim Torah I may have lost the reader. There
is no famous Royal Library of Metz–although, somehow, that is where some claim
the famous Golem story was first discovered (while there is tradition of the
Maharal creating a Golem, the famous story surrounding it and known to many is,
at best, overstated. See Yarchon Ha-M’ohr
62:4. Cf. Nifloes HaMaharal, by Reb
Yudel Rosenberg). Nor
is there a sefer “Ben Porim”, rather the Ibn Ezra comments (Bereishis 29:17) on a
Karaite’s book, titled Ben Ephraim,
where a claim is made that when the Torah says that Leah’s eyes were “rakos
(weak/light)” there is a missing aleph
(!!) and it should be read “arakos”
(long). To this the Ibn Ezra says that perhaps the Ben Ephraim stole the aleph
for himself…I will let the reader put two and two together. As
for Meseches Edomim (Tractate
Reds)…that is ‘real’ and we will discuss it, and other “purim
mesechtos” in a moment. Yes,
explaining my opening jokes defeats their purpose, for as Rav Sadia Gaon
explains, humor and laughter is the sudden self-realization
of a fundamental truth. So I will instead abandon my attempt at coy humor and
Purim Torah, and instead discuss humor in Torah hashkafa and history. There
is a theory that Jews’ purported wonderful sense of humor is due to their
painful history. In other words our love for laughter is born out of a coping
method. Problem is, many other nations have suffered. Somalian humor anyone?
Kurdish knock-knock jokes? I think not. According
to Mel Gordon,
a professor of theater arts at the University of California, Berkeley the birth
of Jewish humor took place around 1661 in the wake of Bohdan Chmielnicki and his
band Cossacks, which in turn brought about the job of a badchan.
In fact the Council of the Four Lands (a vaad
that we will discuss in a future column) would eventually desire to ban the
increase frivolity that was taking place; and they did, with one exception: the badchan. Of course laughter goes back much further than this. Famously, the gemera
teaches that Rabbah would begin his shiurim
with milei divdichusah (something humorous) so as to get his ‘students
to laugh’ before a shiur would begin
(Shabbos 30b). In fact, I would even suggest, that one could find humor in gemera
itself. One example: The gemera in
Taanis (23b) relates how R. Mani approached R. Yitzchak ben Elyashiv for a beracha that his wife becomes beautiful. The gemera informs us that the blessing worked and she indeed became
beautiful (see shu’t Tzitz Eliezer
11:41 for how this gemera relates to
modern cosmetic/elective surgery in Halacha). However, R. Mani returned a few
days later asking that she be reverted to her plainness for she had become
insufferable and haughty! See also Megilla 25b where pesukim are used to sharply and wittily mock avodah zara. Back
to Purim Torah: Before
we go on it should be noted that some view the entire enterprise of Purim Torah
and Talmudic parodies in a negative light. The Biur Heitiv (siman
696:13) for instance remarks that it is forbidden to read Meseschtas
Purim - a composition of Purim Torah in the form and style of gemera - as it makes litzanus
out of divrei chazal. Others agree;
namely the Davar Shmuel (siman 123;
although I could not find it inside) and, in present day, the Nitei Gavriel (Zinner,
Purim) in the name of the Bris Mateh Moshe (on the hagada). Some,
however, take a different approach to the concept of ‘Purim Torah’. In fact Mesechats
Purim was written in the 14th century by Kalonymus ben
Kalonymus, who wrote many other legitimate sefarim
(some mussar oriented, like
‘aven bchen’) and who was a scion of the one of the most prominent
families in Ashkenaz. It was first published in 1521 and has seen many printings
since. Allowing for a small amount frivolity on
Purim, even at the expense of out great teachers – e.g. the Purim
Rav, has a long history, as does its many detractors. To be sure, a
Purim Rav does not have carte blanche. Although some of the laws of busha
are lightened on Purim (like the takana
of the Geonim to pay restitution for embarrassing another when no other physical
damages are involved; see Mishpitei Torah volume 1 page 47 and footnote #4 at
length), to purposefully cause embarrassment is clearly forbidden. In fact, it is recorded that Rav Shimon
Sofer (the Michtav Sofer), son of the
Chasam Sofer and younger brother to the Ksav Sofer, while serving as chief rabbi
of Krakow died on Purim 5643 (1883) due to the shock and pain he felt as a
result of the sharp words of that year’s Purim
Rav! On the other hand some of the most
prominent yeshivos allowed, and still
allow for a Purim Rav. It has been
recorded in many places how Rav Kook was the most famous Purim Rav in Volozion Yeshiva’s history as he was able to imitate
the rosh yeshiva, the Netziv,
to-a-tea! A historical aside, Rav Kook gave over his ‘purim
spiel’ in ivrit –as opposed to
the usual Yiddish – to the shock of the maskilim
who could not believe a member of this Yeshiva was so proficient in Hebrew
grammar. The Netziv’s family would go on to ‘return the favor’ as Rav
Yitzchak Charif, the Netziv’s great grandson, was chosen as the Purim Rav in Rav Kook’s yeshiva and was able to sharply mimic Rav
Kook. Over
the years there have been many other imitators of Mesechtas Purim: Meseschtas
Edomim (Reds) was published in Tel Aviv in 1923. This ‘massechta’ is made up of 24 dafim, encompassing 5 perakim.
It would be humorous if it weren’t so horrifying; the parody is
dedicated to someone who was killed by the Communists in 1920. It opens with an
authentic quotation from Megillah 25b: “Litzanus is
forbidden accept when it is to deride the wicked”. The term ‘Reds’, of course, is used colloquially as a
reference to communists. The 'mishnah'
begins “All are Red, there is no difference between Red and White, apart for
the name alone. Rabbi Yarkan says the Yerokin (Greens) are included. 'Rashi'
says that the Gemara will explain who the Yerokim are. On 3a, for example, we
see that “the Whites call 'Zhid!' (Jew) loudly, while the Reds say it
quietly”, i.e., they are both anti-Semitic. In the 'Gemara' (3b) Rabbi Yarkon 'darshens' Vayikra 13:49
(“And the affliction shall be deep green or deep red…”) to prove that in
regards to plagues both Green and Red are the same. By 'Green' he means the
armed peasants who fought both the red and white armies. Another example would be Talmud Yankee, made up by several ‘Mesechtos’, published in the turn of the last century and making
fun of the am-haratzus found then in
America. In chapter 4 of Mesechta America
the ‘Mishnah’ reads: “One who teaches Bar Mitzvah boys must teach him to
read even if he sounds like a rooster…and must teach him a Dvar Torah for it
is a prescribed makkos tzibbur (communal
suffering)”. The ‘gemera’
comments: “the bar mitzvah teacher must stand next to the boy at the bima so as to whisper in his ear what to do…” During the prohibition era, when most alcoholic beverages
were banned in America, a man by the name Gershon Kish (likely a non
de plum) wrote Mesechta Prohibition. The opening ‘mishnah’ reads: “All are allowed to drink…” The ‘gemera’
asks “Pshita (this is obvious)!?” Answers the ‘gemera’ “When was this for? During prohibition in America…”
‘Rashi’ translates prohibition as ‘yavash’
(dryness). Even today we find such “purim gemeras”. Mesechta
Yechi is a parody written by a Lubavitcher chossid
living in Tzfas expressing his opposition for a movement among his fellow Chassidim, and, most recently, Mesechta
Netanyahu by an unknown author. The gemera (Berachos
31a) tells the story of a wedding where the chachomim were becoming overly joyous and celebratory. They asked
Rav Hamnuna to sing them a song and he used this as an opportunity to rebuke
them. He sang “Vivay lanu Limisnan,
Vivay Lanu Limisnan” (Whoa to us for we will die, whoa to us for we will
die). While this certainly caused the chachomim
to act in a softer manner, Rav Elya Lopian asks, would it not have sullied the
joy of the chasan and kalla
as well? He explains that certainly the Torah allows for joy and laughter, but
the only way to know if how we are accomplishing it is bderech
hatorah or not is to think about yom
misa (day of death). Only one who is joyous for the wrong reasons would
thereby get depressed, while others, who are celebrating bruach hatorah would not. When we celebrate this Purim let it
be bderech hatorah, not at anyone’s
expense, and only so as to grow bdveikus
el Hashem.
Daf
Yomi takes place nightly at the Young Israel of Greater Buffalo, 105 Maple Road,
after the evening services. For complete schedule call 634-0212 or visit their
web site at yibuffalo.org
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