Heint is Purim
Since Purim is soon let’s recall an old ditty, Heint is Purim, morgen is ois; git mir a koppichke un varf mir arois – “Today is Purim, tomorrow it’s out; give me a penny and send me about!”
Now one shouldn’t be too solemn on Purim. The day should speak for itself: is any rabbi so foolhardy to attach a heavy sermon to the Purim service? So let’s forget the exegesis and offer a few verses:
Achashverosh was a silly king
Who didn’t appreciate his wife.
He looked for a new one
To brighten his life.
Her name was Esther,
A nice Jewish maid:
Her cousin was Mordechai,
Scholar and staid.
Haman the vizier
Was mad at Mordechai;
He threatened the Jews
With death, ai-ai-ai.
Mordechai uncovered a plot
Against the life of the king:
Haman had to acclaim him,
Do him honour and sing.
Esther asked the king
To save all her people;
The king hanged Haman
Upon a tall steeple.
The new vizier was Mordechai:
He wore Haman’s ring.
To celebrate Purim
The bells go “Dong! Ding!”
