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A few years ago I participated in a Purim Se'udah (feast) at which rounds of humorous poetry were written and then recited in a sing-song chant. I believe they're called Grammen.

It was fun, and the tune rang familiar to me, but it was something I had never done before.

My question(s):
1. What is a Grammen?
2. What are its cultural and etymological origins?
3. When/how did it become a part of (some people's) Purim tradition?

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    Good questions! But note: If you combine three or four questions into one post, as you've done here, you might not get such good answers.
    – unforgettableidSupportsMonica
    Commented Mar 6, 2017 at 22:18
  • It's a little rhyming poem people put in shaloch manos. It may be lightly teasing of the recipient
    – SAH
    Commented Mar 8, 2017 at 6:10
  • Is there any reason to assume that this is a Judaism based question, as opposed to e.g. judaism.stackexchange.com/q/55277/8775?
    – mevaqesh
    Commented Mar 10, 2017 at 1:50

2 Answers 2

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  • A Grammen is a kind of song
  • Da Na Da Na Da Na Na!
  • The tune is simple so you can sing a long
  • Da Na Da Na Da Na Na!
  • It doesn't really matter if you put too many syllables into a line
  • Da Na Da Na Da Na Na!
  • You can put in a billion and it will still be fine!
  • Da Na Da Na Da Na Na!
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    This is a very funny answer, but it only touches on one part of my question.
    – Seth J
    Commented Mar 17, 2014 at 16:37
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    arent you missing one more Nah at each end?
    – sam
    Commented Mar 7, 2017 at 0:58
  • @SethJ: Like I wrote above, the problem is that you've combined three questions into one post. This is fine on more-conversational websites such as Reddit, but it's discouraged here. If any of your three original questions has not yet been answered at all, you can remove that question from your original post and move the question into a brand-new thread.
    – unforgettableidSupportsMonica
    Commented Dec 3, 2018 at 0:04
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From Yiddish Dictionary Online:

גראַם - m. gram - rhyme.

Thus, גראַמען would mean to rhyme.

This is, of course, just a partial answer.

[To the tune of "Yankee Doodle":]

Nasty Haman in Shushan, Haman HaAgagi

Tried to bake some hamentashen but they turned out soggy.

Mordechai, keep it up, don't go to the party

Ride on horseback through the streets with Haman HaAgagi!

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