Time to be funny! Turn things upside down! It’s really Adar this time. I promise.

March 3, 2014beccakinla adar, funny, how to write, humor, Jewish, Jewish writing, Judaism, purim Tags: adar, adar sheini, funny, happy, Hebrew month, humor, jew, jewish, joke, joy, judaism, let loose, month, purim, second, silly, simcha, stories Leave a comment

Okay, so for those who have no idea what the title of today’s post means, I’ll clarify:

Don’t you wanna dress up for Purim?

The Hebrew month of Adar contains the wacky holiday of Purim. The thing is, when there’s a leap year, there’s an entire extra month of Adar–because if you’re going to have a month that comes twice, it might as well as be the one that’s known as the happiest of the year. But there’s only Purim in the second Adar.

After a month of tolerating a giant “SIKE!” the second Adar of 5774 started yesterday. Jewish kids everywhere are going crazy. Continue reading →

Pesach Limericks for Maggid (because I need a break from my kitchen right now)

March 25, 2013April 3, 2013beccakinla challenge, children, funny, Jewish, Jewish writing, Judaism, kids, parenting, parents, passover, pesach, preparing, seder Tags: children, chinuch, DIY, egypt, exodus, fun, haggadah, holidays, home, jew, jewish, judaism, kid, limerick, maggid, mitzrayim, Passover, Pesach, poem, seder, silly, spirituality, wacky 2 Comments

On the way outta there!

Many of us have memories of childhood seders. Even when the memories are fond ones (like these shared recently by Jessica Soffer on the Prosen People blog), we were often confused by the Maggid section of the Haggadah. I’ve pried myself from the kitchen to share some wacky Passover poetry to read a the seder during Maggid, hoping it’ll help.

Chag kasher v’sameach, chaverim! (“Have a kosher and joyous holiday, friends!”) Continue reading →

March 10, 2013March 10, 2013beccakinla advice, children, funny, Jewish, jewish motherhood, Jewish writing, Judaism, kids, passover, pesach, songs, wacky 2 Comments

Pesach is just a couple weeks away! Here’s a post from three years ago, with wacky Pesach songs I created for our seder. I’ve long wanted to add another couple songs, perhaps for the story of the rabbis in Bnei Brak, but not sure I’ll get to it this year.

Do you have other songs or traditions that liven up your family’s seder? Please share them in the comments below!

Rebecca Klempner

The central mitzvah of the Passover seder is “L’higgadeta L’vincha”—to relate the story of our redemption to children.This means the section of the haggadah called “Maggid” is the most essential portion of it.However, most of the exciting songs and actions of the seder come before or after “Maggid”. Some children, even some adults, don’t really enjoy this part of the seder for that reason.

I know Pesach is long past, but it’s never too early to get ready for next year…

Here is a supplement to the haggadah to be used during “Maggid”.Here are the best songs that I wrote this year to help tell the story of our first Pesach. My original lyrics are sung to familiar children’s songs for ease of use, and I tried to be true to the original text.Please enjoy and tizku l’mitzvos!

To the tune of “Oh, Susanna”

Oh…

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For writers: 5 ways to be funny

March 7, 2013March 3, 2014beccakinla advice, funny, words, writer, writing, writing process Tags: asimov, author, comedy, cosby, funny, hilarious, how to be funny, humor, irony, joke, klassen, laugh, light, mac barnett, puns, purim, stand up, steven wright, theater, voice, write, writer, writing 8 Comments

If you play your cards right, you’ll have them laughing like hyenas!

It’s been a week and a half since Purim, so I’ve gotten lots of feedback about this year’s Klempner family Purim Spiel. My husband and sister (fellow contributors) agreed with me that this year’s was less funny than last year’s, but we seem to be in a minority. As I mentioned last year, since I began writing professionally, my little hobby now feels like work, and I avoided cranking out a complete rough draft until the week before Purim.

And then, I deleted several stories at almost the last minute. They just weren’t funny enough. So, I prayed–yes, that’s what this professional writer with a Master’s Degree and a generally pragmatic outlook on life did–I prayed for new ideas. And G-d sent some!

Besides relying on Heavenly Intervention, there are other ways to be funny. Without further ado:

5 Ways To Be Funny Continue reading →

My 5 Favorite Things Currently on the Web

March 3, 2013March 3, 2013beccakinla advice, art, funny, G-d, internet, Jewish, Judaism, recommended reading, review, reviews Tags: aish.com, arts, blog, chabad.org, comedy, dovid taub, education, favorite, fun, G-dcast, hanan harchol, humor, jew, jewish, judaism, music, pop chassid, shais taub, shtar, space rabbi, verplanck, wacky, website 2 Comments

I spend most of my time on the internet doing work, but every once in a while, I stumble upon something I love and have to keep coming back for more. Here are links to my current favs so you can check them out and get obsessed, too.

1) Space Rabbi – I love the brothers Taub and have enjoyed their various projects on Chabad.org for years. Episode 1 gets off to a slow start, but it’s all wackiness from then on, from the retro “futuristic” design elements, to the HAL references, to the bizarre characterizations of all the electronic gadgets that come to life and interact with Rabbi Blastoffski.

Yes, the main character is actually called Rabbi Blastoffski. How cool is that?

2) Pop Chassid – Currently, my favorite Jewish blog on the internet. Elad Nehorai reflects on Judaism, Chassidus, the arts, and modern life. Not only are his posts insightful, but he has some wonderful followers who post great comments.

3) Hanan Harchol – I first got wind of this guy through a bit he had up on Aish.com. Most of the videos are animated dialogues between Hanan and (his impersonation of) his father and contain reflections about Jewish philosophy. Utterly charming and thought-provoking.

4) Verplanck – I’m not sure how long these guys are going to be around, because they need to raise funds for their project, but part 6 of their Orthodox online comedy is simply hilarious. (Although you probably need to be religious to get the jokes.) It’s awesome if you’re home sick and are too old for Agent Emes. You will laugh yourself healthy.

5) Shtar – Because they rock. Literally. (Okay, sometimes it’s more like hip-hop. Or maybe techno. Or maybe just cool.) “Wonderland” should be used in commercials by the Ministry of Tourism to encourage travel to Israel.

(My first runner-up is G-dcast, video interpretations of Jewish texts that aren’t always Orthodox, but always creative. Check out Avoiding the Mud for a Chassidishe meise, or The Rise of Yavneh for the story of Kamsa and Bar Kamsa and destruction of the Temple.)

How to write funny: what you can learn from Isaac Asimov

January 26, 2013beccakinla advice, book, books, funny, how to write, reading, recommended reading, review Tags: advice, asimov, funny, gallows humor, how to be funny, how to tell a joke, how to write funny, humor, icebreakers, isaac asimov, joke, literature, purim, purim spiel, read, reading, recommended reading, shaggy dog stories, shaggy dog tale, shpiel, spiel, story, style, tips, treasury of humor, write, writer, writing 3 Comments

A must-read for anyone who wants to write humor

When I first married my husband, I was delighted to discover among his possessions a copy of Isaac Asimov’s Treasury of Humor. I had read the book in high school and enjoyed reading it again, this time discussing it extensively with my husband.

Not only does this book contain jokes–great, classic ones–but Asimov explains why they’re funny, how to tell them, the origin of them, and if there are different versions. He explains the differences between shaggy dog stories, puns, black/gallows humor, and so on, and what makes each type tick. Asimov does this all in a chatty way that reminds you of your great-uncle shmoozing with you–it’s just so much fun.

Flash forward a few years. Continue reading →

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