Story for the Ages

Photos: CK Studio

Okay, so here’s a pop halachah quiz:

If a fly falls into a cup of wine, what would you pasken? That’s right! You take out the fly and drink the wine. Now, if a Persian monarch touches the cup… Did you just say “spill it all out”? Amazing!

If your eyes are glazing over, that’s okay, you can turn the page, but if you’re already laughing and nodding along, you’re probably among the approximately 250,000 kids and parents who’ve listened to The Purim Story since its 1989 release. The enthusiasm for that iconic children’s story album hasn’t dwindled in 33 years, and for so many of us, those larger- than-life characters and adorable voices continue to lend so much color and graphic detail to our Purim experience.

Today, Rabbi Yisroel Greenwald and Rabbi Yossi Kirsch, masterminds behind the enduring tape, live at opposite ends of the world: Rabbi Greenwald is a dayan on the Melbourne, Australia beis din, and Rabbi Kirsch is chaplain at Menorah Park, a kosher senior center campus in Cleveland, Ohio. But on a recent trip to the US, Rabbi Greenwald got together with his old production buddy and I was invited along to reminisce.