Does Purim-Torah need to be otherwise on topic?

Question

Nothing in the Purim Torah guidelines mentions that they need to be otherwise on topic. This could either be because it is obvious that it needs to be on topic, or because it doesn't actually need to be on topic.

For example, this question squirmed its way in to being about Judaism using the oldest trick in the book. Had the OP left out the neder part and just asked it as a clever question about a commercial jingle, would it still be on topic for Purim Torah?

Colloquially, Purim Torah is often not directly about Torah. It sometimes applies talmudic style thought or discussion to completely mundane things, such as nursery rhymes or folk sayings. Is this allowed on Mi Yodeya?

Answer 1

I think that Purim Torah questions and answers, when in season and otherwise following the rules, should be considered on-topic if they are clearly recognizable as Judaism-related, which would include:

• Dealing with Judaism content (our standard on-topic requirement)

• Dealing with a parodic version of Jewish content

• Applying Jewish sources (or parodies thereof), even to secular concepts (e.g. your question)

• Applying distinctly Torah style (e.g. Gemara/Rashi/Tosafot-formatted analysis of some secular issue). Usually, this comes with at least some Jewish sources.

I think that, in general, we should be pretty lax about on-topicness of Purim Torah, but make sure to maintain the flavor of Purim Torah and not just open the door to general-interest humor.