Is It Permissible to Lie In Honor of Purim?

Question:

Hello Rabbi,
In honor of Purim, we have a newsletter every year in Ulpanah with many jokes about the school, etc. They asked us to send confessions, in order words things that they do not know I did or have been done, etc. anonymously.
Is it permissible to make up confessions, i.e. to write silly things there that have never happened? Is it permissible to deviate slightly from the truth or is this violating the prohibition to lie? Of course, everything will be done with a positive, Purim atmosphere. Thank you

Hello,

Yashar koach on the heavy question.

The matter is very dependent on context.

If it is clear to everyone that we are dealing with a Purim newsletter, where everyone says stories that never happened – it is like writing a fiction story, and there is no prohibition involved.

However, if we are dealing with a case where some of you write seriously and the reader does not know which is a true or false story – we cannot do this, due to two reasons:

First is the fact that the only place the Torah commands us to distance ourselves from something is falsehood – “distance yourself from falsehood” – and therefore one cannot do this at all.

The second reason is that the Sages were careful not to say incorrect things – even if they were for a good reason, because it trains you to say improper things. It is best to learn the story that appears in Mesechet Yevamot 63a and see one of the explanations.