Post Purim Costume Question

I read a question posed to Avi Shulman.  It was posed by a 6th grade rebbi who said that on Purim three of his students, ages 11-12, brought mishloach manos.  They were dressed as rebellious kids/hippies/bums complete with T shirts with inappropriate messages, gold chains, and earrings and they had a boom box which blared disgusting music.

 

The rebbi was taken aback by their appearance. His questions were: 1) what should he have said to them when they came to his house 2) what if anything should be said to the boys now, after Purim, either privately or to the class, 3) what could be said next year before Purim as guidelines for appropriate costumes, 4) is there any line that should not be crossed when it comes to Purim and if yes, what is it

Avi Shulman did not write his answer, he invited responses.

I saw a picture of two people who dressed up together as the Twin Towers with a plane crashed into them and fire.  It was cleverly made but I thought it lacked sensitivity.  I don't think most Jews would find dressing up as a concentration inmate with a fake number on their arm in good taste. Dressing up as Hitler wouldn't go over well either.

 

Yet lots of frum kids dress up as Arabs, even though they kill us.  Kids dress up as pirates even though they rob and kill.

 

It's interesting to think about what crosses the line of good taste.

Focus on Over-Consumption

I give Benzion Klatzko credit for his unpopular remarks in a recent talk entitled "The Grinch that Stole Purim."  For those not up on their Dr. Seuss, it's a take-off on a story about a grumpy creature that makes plans to deprive the Whos of their holiday presents, dinners, and decorations.

Klatzko laments the wet-rag attitude towards Purim by those who seek to minimize (or eliminate) noise-making at the mention of Haman's name, minimize shalach-manos giving, minimize (or eliminate) drinking, and say you're too old to dress up.  He thinks they're a bunch of spoil-sports and are taking Purim away from us, and he's got a good point!

Does drinking get out of hand? Sometimes.  Does shalach manos giving get out of hand? Sometimes.  But when we hear too much about things getting out of hand, then the mussar-giving is out of hand!

Actually, I think year round eating and enticements to eat with increasingly lurid advertisements and cookbooks has gotten out of hand in the frum world.  This affects us every day of the year, not just one, and it affects the health of men, women and children, not just men.  So rather than harping on  excessive Purim mitzva and minhag observance, I'd like to hear more from our leaders about excessive non-mitzva and minhag eating indulging.