Purim Torah policy - Allowed, but regulated

Question

We pride ourselves on generating and maintaining clear, high-quality, serious questions and answers about Judaism. Once a year, though, for a couple of weeks, we also go in for something a little ... different.

Purim Torah Q&A

Purim Torah, silly parodies of real Torah discussion, is a way to loosen up during the Purim season, and look at Torah concepts from a new and creative vantage point:

^{"Henry & The Funhouse Mirror," by mob mob, used with permission}

We want to have this fun¹ without compromising our carefully-cultivated regular Q&A, so there are some rules:

When

Post Purim Torah questions between Rosh Chodesh Adar [Bet, if there is one] and a day or two after Purim, only².

• 5783/2023: Nightfall on February 20 until nightfall on March 9.

Please don't edit or otherwise bump old Purim Torah posts except during this period.

What

It's gotta be distinctly "Purim" (not serious), distinctly Torah, and distinctly Q&A. Purim Torah questions that don't have all three of these qualities may be closed.³

So, post sincere-looking questions (you know, the kind that invite answers) that:

• misinterpret a real Torah concept or Jewish text

or

• apply a distinctly Torah style (e.g. Talmudic analysis) to an irrelevant topic

Post answers in the same spirit⁴ as their questions, so no completely serious answers to Purim Torah questions, and no silly answers to serious (non-Purim-Torah) questions.

Please try to put as much attention into question quality, answer quality, and above all, Being Nice!, as you would for regular Mi Yodeya content.

And (Don't skip!)

We don't want to confuse anyone, so please mark your Purim Torah questions in these three ways:

• Apply the tag purim-torah-in-jest and no other tag.⁵

• Begin your title with PTIJ:

• Include the following disclaimer text at the bottom:

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  # This question is [Purim Torah](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Purim_Torah) and is not intended to be taken completely seriously. See the [Purim Torah policy](https://judaism.meta.stackexchange.com/questions/797/). #

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Moderation Stuff

• Close⁶ Purim Torah questions that aren't "Purim", Torah, and questions.

• At the end of Purim Torah season, delete all Purim Torah questions that were closed as not ""Purim", Torah, and questions."

• At the end of the Purim Torah season, close all open Purim Torah questions as "Off-Topic" with the close comment:

Purim Torah questions are on-topic only once a year, and will be closed after Purim. For details, see: Purim Torah policy

• Remember to close open PTIJ questions on meta, too.

• If you want an old Purim Torah question re-opened during this year's season, ask the moderators.

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<sup>1. For what it's worth, Joel Spolsky endorsed this policy Stack Exchange Podcast #32 (~33:50 - 36:40) and again on #55 (~44:00 - 47:30).
2. Of course, serious questions are also allowed and encouraged during this period!
3. On Meta, Purim Torah has to be about Mi Yodeya, not necessarily about Judaism itself.
4. No pun intended.
5. On Meta, apply the tags discussion and meta-purim-torah-in-jest.
6. Use "Off-topic/Other" as the reason.</sup>