Lyrics: "Oh, Once There Was A Wicked, Wicked Man..."

Purim d'Muqafin 5766

Esser Agaroth
in Purim costume

Yeah, I know this tardy, but I was asked to put this up on my blog. Perhaps some of you who have decided to continue your Purim "festivities," whatever that means, will find it useful. Otherwise, I'll just keep it stored here, so I don't have to go tracking it down again next year.

I would, of course, NEVER suggest replacing "Haman" with the name of your favorite Israeli politician, for that might be considered hasatah (incitement), which is illegal in Israel. Sorry to ruin your Purim with the news that freedom of speech doesn't really exist in Israel....

Anyway, the words were uncovered in the WWG (World Wide Genizah) by the Kalashnikover Rebbe, who also provides the "Hallachic" commentary below.

OH ONCE THERE WAS A WICKED, WICKED MAN...

Traditional Purim Song, Composer Unknown

Oh once there was a wicked wicked man,
And Haman was his name, Sir.
He would have murdered all the Jews,
Tho they were not to blame, Sir.


CHORUS:
Oh today we'll merry merry be
Oh today we'll merry merry be
Oh today we'll merry merry be
And nosh some hamentashen.


And Esther was the lovely queen of King Ahashveyrosh
When Haman said he'd kill us all,
Oh my how he did scare us.

CHORUS

But Mordechai her cousin bold
Said: "What a dreadful chutzpah
If guns were but invented now,
This Haman I would shoot, Sir."

CHORUS

The Kalashnikover Rebbe: There is a machloichis (disagreement) whether or not this verse (*) really belongs in the girsa (version). A vast majority of posqim (Jewish legal authorities) leave it out.

*When Esther speaking to the King
Of Haman's plot made mention
"Ha, ha," said he, "Oh, no he won't!
I'll spoil his bad intention."*

CHORUS

The guest of honor he shall be,
This clever Mr. Smarty
And high above us he shall swing
At a little hanging party.

CHORUS

Of all his cruel and unkind ways
This little joke did cure him
And don't forget we owe him thanks
For this jolly feast of Purim.

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This song can be found on Zemerl, a great source for Jewish song lyrics in Hebrew, English, Yiddish, and Ladino.

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See this, and other Jewish and Israel-oriented blog posts at Haveil Havelim #62.