It wasn’t the mixed in-person and Zoom attendance (we did that last year).
It wasn’t the script-writers (mostly the “usual suspects”).
It wasn’t the extensive rehearsals (there were none).
It was how to respond to the on-going violence by Jews initiated in response to violence against Jews.
This year Aliza Arzt began the spiel by quoting from the Book of Esther Chapter 9 about the violence we executed on the day the King had given his irrevocable permission for his people to kill the Jewish citizens of his empire. The second section set a new tone.
Speaker 1: And so it goes throughout history. Jewish communities have been threatened many times. And sometimes they are able to save themselves. And sometimes that saving is carried out effectively with dignity. And sometimes that saving reduces them to the level of their immoral enemies.
Speaker 2: We declare an end to the Purim of revenge and destruction! We dedicate this Purim to the hope of redemption, of creative negotiation and reconciliation.
Speaker 1: And if that’s not possible?
Speaker 2: Then we dedicate this Purim to one of appropriate defense, protection of innocent civilians and the ultimate triumph of hope and mercy.
Speaker 1: Ken y’hi ratzon! So may it be!
Every year Larry Rosenwald introduces the dramatis personae in dazzling rhyme beginning “Come in, come in you’re welcome here, may (character) please appear.” This year he had something to say about our moral circumstances.
MARSHELIK:
(comes in first, and alone)
Let’s keep in mind what Aliza’s said,
and with no further ado, go ahead.
Zayt zhe yidn sha un shtil,
mir fangen on dem purimshpil!! –
which is, in Yiddish words, to say
we’ll now begin the Purim play! -
Bid us now enter, to relate
a tale of strife between courage and hate:
of how a monarch chose a bride,
of how a scheming villain tried
to kill our folk, for malice alone;
of how the bride approached the throne,
proclaimed her tribe, pleaded her case,
and moved the king to amazing grace;
how deadly plots turned cause of laughter,
and - some – lived happily ever after.
(Among the people not alive,
when the tale is done, are seventy-five
thousand Persians, young and old,
of every gender, stiff and cold
in death. And we the Jews are those
who’ve murdered all we think our foes.
It makes you wonder, who’s the true
villain in our story, and who
the victim . . . well – I’ll leave that to you.)
Enough! It’s time to meet our cast,
from regal first to rebel last.
Come in, come in, you’re wanted here;
let Shushan’s mighty king appear!
Of course, the usual political satire continued, as in this excerpt from Miriam Kadima’s skit.
Queen Vashi: As you all know, the Monarchy is causing great pain to 99% of the People. Kushites are losing their cushy positions and being forcibly relocated to Kush, one can no longer get a shoeshine in Shushan, peasants are being charged for water they gather from the river, and half the Palace staff has been sacked! King Trumpēlonōsh is issuing Royal Decrees faster than a sparrow flies!
Archivist: African, or European sparrow?
For the chapter where the King can't sleep, Aaron Brandes replaced the servants reading from the Royal Chronicles with an AI chatbot. The chatbot may be more truthful than the King, but it lacks a sense of context.
King: So my new Gold card give foreigners a path to citizenship for only 5 million. Another 5 million gives you premium access to me. What do you think?
Chatbot : Well as long as they aren’t representatives of another government, you won’t be violating the Foreign Emoluments Clause, Article I, Section 9, Clause 8 of the United States Constitution.
King: That clause didn’t bother me before. I say
Emoluments Clause, Santa Clause, I’m a rebel with just
one cause – me.
Chatbot : Did you know that Rebel Without a Cause is a 1955 American coming-of-age movie starring James Dean, Natalie Wood and Sal Mineo. Directed by …
King: Hey I’ve been thinking, my kingdom may go from the Redwood Forests of Hodu to the Gulf Stream Waters of Cush - but I’d like to add some place with a nice view of Russia. I’m thinking Alaska.
Chatbot : Alaska, purchased from Russia in 1867, is the biggest state in Shushan. It is 663,267 square miles of rich broad land that has produced billions of dollars of gold and oil as well as fish, furs, and timber.
And it wouldn’t be a Havurah Purimspiel without a musical finale, courtesy of Cindy Blank-Edelman
[Sung to the tune of “Tomorrow” from the musical Annie]
The sun’ll come out tomorrow.
Bet your last tzedakah that tomorrow
There’ll be sun.
Just thinking about tomorrow
Helps us to go on despite the sorrow.
We’ve begun.
When we’re stuck with a year of fear and hatred
That’s the time when we need to read Torah. Ohhhh….
The sun’ll come out tomorrow
And we’ve gotta work for that tomorrow
With bracha…
Tomorrow, tomorrow, we’ll be here tomorrow
Right here at the Havurah.
Tomorrow, tomorrow, come join us tomorrow
Right here at the Ha—vu—rah!