Monday, April 4, 2011

Purim - A Look Back

Now that everyone is immersed in earnest in Pesach preparations - cleaning, shopping, planning and (for those with a Pesach Kitchen, perhaps) cooking, I thought it might be fun to take one last look back at Purim.

Purim fun has been around for a long time, but lately, I've gotten jaded and seen so little innovation. I don't enjoy pranks that involve destruction of property or embarrassment to others.

It's HARD to be funny without hurting something or some one.

Enter blog reader Mar Gavriel.

He had a GREAT idea.

He painted his wall with luminescent paint, which is virtually invisible with the lights on.
He invited a group of people to Purim Seudah and arranged for the lights to shut off just after it had gotten dark outside (window shades were drawn as well).
This is what appeared on his wall, much to his fake consternation and terror, in the darkened room. (Keep in mind, luminescent paint in a dark room is tough to photograph... use your imagination. It was much better in person....)
Well done, Mar Gavriel!



19 comments:

Ezzie said...

Solid...

tembow said...

Cool!

BLD said...

Very nice. Purim is such a Holy Day we should think back how much we grew not how much fun we didnt have.

Yehudah said...

I wonder how many yeshiva boys even know what those words mean or where these words appear in Tanach and in what context.

Mrs. S. said...

Awesome! :-)

!חודש טוב ומבורך

Anonymous said...

@Yehudah-
Maybe the Jeopardy lady could help them!
:)

BLD said...

Maybe Yehuda should cool it on the insults to the Bnei Torah.

Yekke Wannabe said...

Yehudah- I know where it's from its a gemoro in sanhedrin 22a.

Anonymous said...

BLD-
Yehudah is merely making a point he is not insulting any Bnei Torah, I think you are being too critical.

FBB said...

Brilliant! I love it!

Yekkishe Bekishe said...

A Wannabee is a Wannabee. I guess he never looked in Doniel. This is the infamous handwriting on the wall seen at the last supper..... of Belshatzar!

itsagift said...

OMG...freaky!

y w said...

Yekkishe Bekisha - No I did not learn Doniel but i do learn Gemorah and it is a Gemorah in sanhedrin 22a and in megilloh 11a and b. all my point is that i don't have to learn Tanach to know the where its from and as a Yeshiva guy i take it personal when people say that yeshiva guys won't know where it is because they Don't learn tanach we learn gemorah which it is mentioned twice.

Anonymous said...

If you are a Yekke Wannabee, then you must remember to show the actual source of a quote, rather than where the quote is quoted!

Y W said...

Anonymous 4:10 - Fine I'm not a yekke wannabe I'm posting as a Yeshiva guy if that helps you, my point is that just because they don't teach Doniel in yeshiva which by the way is written in aramaic doesn't mean that you won't know it, you could know it from gemorah.

Yehudah said...

Anonymous,

Thank you for judging me kindly, but I was in fact trying to insult "bnei Torah." Rather than pontificate, here are some excerpts from a very good article R. Berel Wein wrote relatively recently:

"The study of Tanach is almost an oxymoron statement regarding our schools. During my years as the head of a high school yeshivah and beit midrash program, I discovered that most students who graduated from excellent elementary and high schools could not even name the twenty-four holy books of the Jewish canon....

"Many times, the so-called People of the Book have little or no idea what book they are talking about."

(taken from: http://www.ou.org/index.php/jewish_action/article/66990/)

R' Schwab said...

Page 29, These and Those (in the REAL version):

"While we do not urge that only "Torah-Giants" come forth from our great Yeshivoth, we are certainly not anxious to put up with any "Torah-Dwarfs" either. By this we mean the overly inflated semi-scholar, whose knowledge of neviim and kesuvim is nil, whose acquittance with shisha sidrei mishnah is pitiful, whose knowledge of Halacha is just as fragmentary as his knowledge of Aggadah...."

(BTW - If you have not read this important essay, I really suggest it! -Ed. comment :)

BLD said...

Maaaaaaaaaa, Yehuda is starting up.

Yekkishe Bekishe said...

Which Yehuda? You wouldn't mean sweet, little, old me by any chance?