March 13, 2024
Chodesh Tov Adar II !
That’s right, we have another month of Adar, It just started this past Sunday and Monday! On the Jewish calendar, during leap years we add an additional month of Adar. The Rabbis teach that when Adar enters, we increase our joy. So we continue on with another month of leaning into the lighter side of life, of playfulness and fun, of tapping into joy.
It is especially important to access our wells of joy, even when they seem inaccessible. War and destruction, horror and misery, death and captivity continue in Israel-Gaza. Other dark and seemingly insurmountable crises rise around us. And many of us face our own personal stress and challenges. Joy? Seems like a luxury we can’t afford right now.
However, our tradition teaches otherwise. We must take time for joy. During Adar it is a mitzvah to open ourselves to it. This year, we get twice as much time to make joy a priority.
So as we enter Adar II and approach the holiday of Purim (begins Saturday evening, March 23), I offer here a few different genres of Jewish humor in hopes that at least one of them will give way to a chuckle, a knowing smile, maybe even a belly laugh?! Enjoy and Chodesh tov!
Did you ever hear the joke about the kippah? Never mind, it’ll go over your head!
Jewish Dog
A man walks into shul with a dog. The shammas comes up to him and says, "Pardon me, this is a House of Worship, you can't bring your dog in here." "What do you mean," says the man, "this is a Jewish dog. Look." And the shammas looks carefully and sees that in the same way that a St. Bernard carries a brandy barrel round its neck this dog has a tallis bag round its neck. "Rover," says the man, "daven!". "Woof!" says the dog, stands on his hind legs, opens the tallis bag, takes out a kipa and puts it on his head. "Woof!" says the dog, stands on his hind legs, opens the tallis bag, takes out a tallis and puts it round his neck. "Woof!" says the dog, stands on his hind legs, opens the tallis bag, takes out a siddur and starts to daven. "That's fantastic," says the shammas, "absolutely amazing, incredible! You should take him to Hollywood, get him on television, get him in the movies, he could make a million dollars!!" "You speak to him," says the man, "he wants to be a dentist."
A Jewish Haiku
Left the door open
For the Prophet Elijah.
Now our cat is gone.
Q and A ~ Question and Answer
Q. Which servant of God was the most flagrant lawbreaker in the Bible?
A. Moses. He broke all 10 commandments at once.
Knock Knock Jewish Style
Knock Knock! Who’s there? Chaim
Chaim who?
Chaim glad to meet you!
