There was light, happiness, gladness, and joy.

Maybe I'll get pictures up here. Today was the Shushan Purim shpiel. We made a video (we, the teachers) about our students going back and experiencing our school in different eras. Rabbi David Goldfischer is an extremely talented cinematographer / director / editor and he and the brilliant Rabbi Jonathan Feldman wrote a clever, funny movie. The rest of us acted our little hearts out. There was a competition for costumes. I was asked to pick the winner, though I told the dear colleague who asked me that there should be a beis din of three. Given that the discussion took place after I was called up on stage and it was announced suddenly that I was the judge, the odds weren't good that there would be any changes. Included in the finalists were Sarah Palin, a clever 2 sided cereal box, and Mr. Gottlieb. The audience applause on both polls were loudest for the same person and that's who I went with - Barack Obama. The grand prize was dinner for 4 at Mike's Bistro. The band for the day was Schlock Rock. They opened with Achashveirosh and did hits like Minyan Man and YoYo Yo Yarmulke. A lot of kids who know that I rhyme all the time said that I should go up during the rap song. So, due to popular demand (really - my major rule about getting up on stage is simply that someone ask) I got up and did some improvised free style about Purim, etc. The response was positive.