(Originally published as “Ode to Purim”)<\/p>\n
“yeshno am echod m’Foozar umi’forud”<\/p>\n
To all of “us”, from one of “them”.
\n—————————————<\/p>\n
T’was the night of the geulah,
\nand in every single shteibel,
\nsounds of Torah could be heard,
\ncoming from every kind of Yeidel.<\/p>\n
This one in English,
\nsome in Hebrew, some in Yiddish,
\nsome saying pshat,
\nand some saying chiddush.<\/p>\n
And up in shomayim,
\nthe Aibishter decreed,
\n“The time has come
\nfor My children to be freed.<\/p>\n
Rouse the Mashiach
\nfrom his heavenly berth,
\nhave him get in his chariot
\nand head down to Earth.”<\/p>\n
The Moshiach got dressed,
\nand with a heart full of glee,
\nwent down to the Earth, and entered
\nthe first shteibel he did see.<\/p>\n
“I’m the Moshiach,
\nHashem has heard your plea,
\nyour geulah has come,
\nit is time to go free!”<\/p>\n
They all stopped their learning,
\nthis was quite a surprise,
\nAnd they looked at him carefully
\nwith piercing sharp eyes.<\/p>\n
“He’s not the Mashiach!”
\nsaid one with a grin,
\n“Just look at his hat,
\nat the pinches and brim!”<\/p>\n
“That’s right!”, cried another
\nwith a grimace and a frown,
\n“Whoever heard of Mashiach
\nwith a brim that is down?!”<\/p>\n
“Well”, thought Mashiach,
\n“If that is the rule,
\nI’ll turn my brim up
\nbefore I go to the next shule!”<\/p>\n
So he walked on right over
\nto the next shule in town,
\nconfident to be accepted
\nsince his brim was no longer down.<\/p>\n
“I’m the Mashiach!”, he cried
\nas he began to enter.
\nBut the Jews there wanted to know first,
\nif he was left, right, or center.<\/p>\n
“Your clothes are so black!”
\nthey cried out in a fright.
\n“You can’t be Mashiach —
\nyou’re much too far right!<\/p>\n
If you want to be Mashiach,
\nyou must be properly outfitted.”
\nSo they replaced his black hat
\nwith a kipa that was knitted.<\/p>\n
Wearing his new kipa,
\nMashiach went out and he said,
\n“No difference to me
\nwhat I wear on my head.”<\/p>\n
So he went to the next shule,
\nfor his mission was dear,
\nBut he was getting a bit frustrated
\nwith the Yidden down here.<\/p>\n
“I’m the Mashiach!” he cried,
\nand they all stopped to stare.
\nAnd a complete eerie stillness
\nfilled up the air.<\/p>\n
“You’re the Mashiach?!
\nJust imagine that.
\nWhoever heard of Mashiach
\nwithout a black hat?!”<\/p>\n
“But I do have a hat!”
\nthe Mashiach then said.
\nSo he pulled it right out
\nand plunked it down on his head.<\/p>\n
Then the Shule started laughing,
\nand one said, “Where’s your kop?
\nYou can’t have Mashiach
\nwith a brim that is up!<\/p>\n
If you want to be Mashiach,
\nand be accepted in this town,
\nput some pinches in your hat,
\nand turn that brim down!”<\/p>\n
Mashiach walked out and said,
\n“I guess my time hasn’t really come,
\nI’ll just have to return
\nto where I came from.<\/p>\n
So he went to his chariot,
\nbut as he began to enter,
\nall sorts of Jews appeared,
\nfrom left, right, and center.<\/p>\n
“Please wait, do not leave,
\nit’s all THEIR fault!” they said
\nAnd they pointed to each other,
\nand to what was on each other’s head.<\/p>\n
Mashiach just looked sad,
\nand said, “You don’t understand.”
\nAnd then started up his chariot
\nto get out of this land.<\/p>\n
“Yes, it’s very wonderful,
\nthat all of you learn Torah,
\nBut you seem to have forgotten,
\na crucial part of our mesorah.”<\/p>\n
“What does he mean?
\nWhat’s he talking about?”
\nAnd they all looked bewildered,
\nand all began to shout.<\/p>\n
Mashiach looked back and answered,
\n“The first place to start,
\nis to shut up your mouths,
\nand open up your heart.<\/p>\n
To each of you, certain Yidden
\nseem too frum or too frei
\nbut ALL Yidden are beloved,
\nin the Aibeshter’s eye.”<\/p>\n
And on his way up he shouted,
\n“If you want me to come,
\ntry working a little harder
\non some ahavas chinam.”<\/p>\n
(c) YZF Toronto 1992. This may be freely reproduced and distributed under the following conditions: 1) That it is reproduced EXACTLY as it appears here, including the heading on side one, ALL 30 stanzas, and this note; 2) it is distributed free of charge; 3) it is not used by ANY organization for promotional purposes. Any breach of these conditions shall constitute gezel and a breach of the copyright.<\/p>\n
LI’N Yikuse’el Zussman B”R Yitzchok Z”L and Pesha B”R Avrohom Halevi Z”L<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
(Originally published as “Ode to Purim”) “yeshno am echod m’Foozar umi’forud” To all of “us”, from one of “them”. ————————————— T’was the night of the geulah, and in every single shteibel, sounds of Torah could be heard, coming from every kind of Yeidel. This one in English, some in Hebrew, some in Yiddish, some saying<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":133660,"featured_media":60212,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_cloudinary_featured_overwrite":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[119],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-60211","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-holidays"],"yoast_head":"\n