I recently wished the Bam community a happy Rosh Chodesh, and Isaac responded (or at least attempted to respond - he seemed to have begun his Purim festivities early) with:
וכן למר
Also Lamar!
I get this a lot. For some reason, this Lamar fellow seems to deserve a lot of praise. When I give someone a blessing, I'm always told "also Lamar!" - he seems to need a lot of blessings.
So who is this Lamar, and why does he need so many blessings and good wishes?
We see from Numbers 5:24 that there are multiple Lamars. In fact, many are created every time a sotah drinks the sotah water.
ובאו בה המים המאררים למרים
And the curse-causing waters shall enter her, [and become] Lamars.
We know that Lamars are cursed with long life, as it says in Job 3:20.
למה יתן לעמל אור וחיים למרי נפש
Why does He give light to the one in misery, and life to a Lamar soul [poetic inversion].
Since a Lamar, who must be a sad fellow (from the circumstances of his creation), lives a long life, we must take any opportunity to wish the best to a Lamar.
You're reading it wrong. It's
וכן למר / and also for Mar.
When you wished the Bam community a good Adar, Isaac noted that Mar also deserved a good Adar. After all, he was an important part of the entire Purim story. He's the one who originally (Gitin 62 amud 2) said Haman deserved no honor:
אמר מר נוטל הימנה כדי / Mar said Haman gets nothing;
in fact, when everyone else was bowing to Haman, he (Kidushin 33 amud 1) stood erect:
אמר מר יכול יעמוד מפניו / Mar said it's possible to stand before him.
Later, when Haman was to lead Mordechai around on a horse, it was Mar who (Avoda Zara 29 amud 1) suggested that Haman first cut Mordechai 's hair:
אמר מר ישראל המסתפר מעובד כוכבים / Mar said a Jew should get a haircut from a gentile.
He was there at Esther's party to (Z'vachim 116 amud 2) expose Haman:
אמר מר ועובדי כוכבים בזמן הזה רשאין / Mar said idolators nowadays are evildoers.
When Achashverosh heard that, he left the party for a turn in the garden, but Mar was still there (Horayos 13 amud 2) when Achashverosh returned:
אמר מר יצא לצורך נכנס ויושב במקומו / Mar said, he left for a purpose and entered; let him sit in his place,
upon which (Bava Kama 13 amud 2) Mar suggested getting rid of Haman:
אמר מר כשהזיק חב המזיק / Mar said the one who damages is liable to be damaged,
and (Z'vachim 116 amud 2) announced Haman's death:
אמר מר אין לך כל שר ונגיד / Mar said you have no minister or officer.
After that, he was instrumental in setting up Purim as a holiday. He's the one who suggested (Rosh Hashana 20 amud 2) reading the m'gila twice:
אמר מר צריך שיהא לילה ויום / Mar said it must be done night and day;
he's the one who suggested (Bava M'tzia 23 amud 2) how we should celebrate on Purim:
אמר מר חביות של יין / Mar said, barrels of wine!
and he's even the one who (Chagiga 4 amud 1) instituted the practice of having a second reading of "Zachor" for women:
אמר מר זכור להוציא את הנשים/ Mar said "Zachor" to exempt the women.
Of course he deserves a happy Adar!
Really his name is spelled a bit differently since it is in Yiddish, but since his big break was in a Young Israel, they hebrewcized his name, and that version just stuck.
Apparently since classic Chazzanut is a dying art, replaced by the likes of Mordechai Ben David and 8th Day, fans of the form want to give as much encouragement to young artists in the field as possible.
Thanks for asking!
I like to say this to fulfill one of the mitzvot that we learn about on Purim, but which are applicable all year. As we are commanded in "Shoshanat Yaakov",
וְגַם חַרְבוֹנָה זְכוֹר לַטוֹב
And also Charvona, mention for the good.
Which means that we are meant to include Charvona in all of our blessings, for some reason.
Now, everyone knows that Charvona wasn't his real name, but was just a pseudonym he adopted for use on Purim. His real name was Lamar, which is obvious from the fact that לֲמָר and חַרְבוֹנָה have the same* gematria.
* ± 1, of course
** By the way, whatever you were imputing about my state of mind - vechen lamar!
We do indeed bless Hedy Lamarr at every opportunity. She invented a technology that makes wi-fi and cellphones possible, which we also use at every opportunity. Thus it is appropriate to bless her whenever we get the chance.
I guess you don't recall Hedley Lamarr from the movie "Blazing Saddles"
