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Trump prank, silly season test congregation’s sense of humor

Imagine the congregation’s surprise when it discovered that a national political figure had added Green Valley’s Midbar Kodesh Temple to his extremely busy speaking schedule.

We’re not talking about just any politician, mind you. According to Rabbi Bradley Tecktiel’s recent email to the conservative temple’s approximately 180 families, the celebrity speaker would be none other than Republican presidential front-runner Donald J. Trump. It was amazing, really. In addition to addressing convention halls and sports arenas loaded to the rafters with thousands of supporters, apparently Trump also worked more intimate venues. Or what some people would call a “Jeb Bush rally.”

The phones at Midbar Kodesh started ringing not long after the rabbi hit the “send” button. It turns out not everyone was calling to reserve a seat.

A friend forwarded the Trump email in full belief there was a story behind it, and he was right. It’s just not the obvious one.

When I contacted Rabbi Tecktiel, he didn’t appear that surprised to be hearing from a member of the press. As I quickly learned, he’d been hearing from plenty of other folks as well.

The Trump appearance email, he said, was sent as a joke as part of the annual marking of Purim, a joyous holiday that celebrates the biblical events recounted in the Book of Esther. In the 4th century BC, the unadorned beauty who became queen and her cousin Mordechai turned the tables on the evil anti-Semitic Prime Minister Haman and saved the Jews from extermination.

While that may not sound like grist for good times, through the years the holiday has taken on a lighthearted theme that features masks and costumes, barbecues and merriment.

“It’s sort of the holiday where we allow ourselves to be somewhat irreverent,” the rabbi said. “It’s when we, as the Jewish community, put on masks and costumes. It’s when there’s a lot of frivolity. There some drinking. … It’s a time for partying and enjoyment.”

And playful practical jokes. Did he mention the jokes?

“One of the themes of that story is that everything is sort of turned on its head,” he said. “Nothing is what it’s supposed to be. … I liken it to April Fool’s type jokes. So every year I try to come up with something that will sort of test the eye of my congregation, that they’ll look at it and say, ‘Oh, my God, I can’t believe what I’m reading.’ But if they read it they find clues that it’s really not quite true.”

One year, for instance, he sent a message explaining that slot machines would be installed in the temple lobby in order to raise funds for the synagogue.

“You write it in such a way that it’s somewhat believable,” he said.

It’s sort of like column writing in that regard. But I digress.

With presidential politics on everyone’s mind, the rabbi set to work.

“I came up with this idea that we were going to host a rally for Trump,” he said. “I put in there what I thought were three or four clues that if people actually read the emails … they would certainly question it. … I probably received more responses to this email than most other emails that I end up sending out. Most of the time I feel like nobody ever reads my emails.”

Now you know how a columnist feels, rabbi.

Some responses were positive, and plenty of people got the joke.

Then there were angry calls from congregants who didn’t like the speaker’s politics or the politicization of the temple. One member even called to say she was resigning. They all found a way to laugh when they were let in on the joke.

Of course, a few Trump supporters thought the prank wasn’t funny and showed disrespect for the candidate.

Still others wondered whether the Trump speech was going to bump the Purim barbecue and brew that was scheduled. Then. It. Dawned. On. Them.

Mission accomplished, rabbi.

“I definitely hit a nerve,” he said, adding that in this political season more than most, “There is so much anger. There is a loss of civility. People are not able to stand back and take stock in that. I definitely felt that.”

Rabbi Tecktiel’s playful Purim prank offers his congregants and the rest of this community a lesson:

Elections come and go, but there’s nothing more important in politics than keeping your sense of humor.

John L. Smith’s column appears Sunday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Friday and Saturday. Contact him at 702-383-0295 or jsmith@reviewjournal.com. On Twitter: @jlnevadasmith

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