Purim 5785 – Questions and Answers

Start With a Drink

Q:
What should be our attitude towards those who become shikur on Purim?

A:

When a person becomes very intoxicated so he is already b’geder beheima, he’s in the category of an animal, and that’s no praise for him at all. We have to know that the purpose of our lives is to acquire da’as, not to lose da’as.

However, sometimes in order to raise the airplane off the ground, you have to put high octane fuel into the tank to help get liftoff. And therefore, in order to make yourself more enthusiastic it’s the proper thing – there’s nothing wrong with imbibing a certain amount. But to get out of control, that’s a mistake. It’s not a kiddush Hashem; you make yourself look disgusting. No, I don’t approve of that; it’s very wrong – very wrong.

And therefore, although there’s a mitzvah on Purim of nichnas yayin yatza sod, but you have to be very careful that nichnas yayin, the wine should come in to you, and yatza sod, and the secret of the Jew comes out. That’s the only thing that should be coming out. יַיִן is gematria seventy, and סוֹד is also gematria seventy. So the seventy of wine comes in and it pushes out the secret that the Jew keeps inside him.

The Jew has in his neshama a love of Hashem, only that he’s too bashful to talk about it. He’s enthusiastic for the Torah and mitzvos but he’s embarrassed to show it. But when the wine comes in, so the truth comes out and it shows his real pnimiyus. When he’s a little bit intoxicated the Jew shows the real enthusiasm that he possesses, things that he never showed before.

So therefore, Purim is a great opportunity for people to demonstrate their loyalty to the Torah, their emunah in Hakadosh Baruch Hu that He’s protecting us at all times, and that eventually we will conquer, that we will outlive all of our enemies just like we outlived Haman. All this and much more we can demonstrate on Purim; and we are able to do it when we elicit from within us the greatness of which we are capable. We have it in ourselves! And a little bit of mashkeh helps out, no question about it.

March 1992

 

Purim Memories

Q:

Can you describe Purim in Slabodka?

A:

On Purim it was a minhag of the bnei hayeshiva to go to all the roshei yeshiva and menahalim of the yeshiva. We went to the homes of the roshei yeshiva and to the mashgiach and we went to all the important people of the yeshiva. And these two rebbes of mine were different in the way they behaved on Purim. Pay attention, because the ways of tzaddikim we have to learn; both of them are ways in avodas Hashem.

One rebbe – I won’t tell names – when he sat at the head of the table and the yeshiva people were dancing around the table, he was watching to see who was a little wild, and those were the ones he gave wine or a glass of schnapps to. He poured fuel on the fire in order it should burn more brightly!

The other rebbe was an old misnaged type; a cold misnaged. When we were dancing around his table, he looked at the boys suspiciously to see if somebody was ungeshikert, intoxicated, and anyone who was drunk and a little wild, his face turned unhappy and sour. That was the other rebbe.

Now, which rebbe I followed you can understand yourself.

And this rebbe said two separate schmoozen. One schmooze was that you shouldn’t get drunk on Purim; you should drink but don’t get drunk. Because gedolah deiah – how great it is to have daas! It means Awareness of Hashem. It’s always good to have daas. You drink עַד דְּלָא יָדַע – until you don’t know. עַד means עַד וְלֹא עַד בִּכְלָל; it means just before you lose your deiah, that’s when you stop. You should drink עַד דְּלָא יָדַע – until you don’t know. When you reach that stage, you’re yotzei already the mitzvah. More than that – stop. That was one schmooze; that whatever you do, you shouldn’t lose your deiah on Purim.

Because Purim is a time of deiah; Purim is time to gain Daas Hashem, Awareness of Hashem. נוֹדַע ה’ מִשְׁפָּט עָשָׂה; בְּפֹעַל כַּפָּיו נוֹקֵשׁ רָשָׁע – Hashem becomes known when He does justice; when the wicked is ensnared in the work of his hands (Tehillim 9:17). So when Haman was hung on the same eitz that he made for Mordechai, it was בְּפֹעַל כַּפָּיו – it was the work of his own hands, נוֹקֵשׁ רָשָׁע – that ensnared the wicked one; and that’s when נוֹדַע ה׳ – that’s when you get daas Hashem awareness of Hashem. That’s when you get real emunah. When you see that בּוֹר כָּרָה וַיַּחְפְּרֵהוּ, וַיִּפֹּל בְּשַׁחַת יִפְעָל – the wicked falls into the same pit that he himself made for somebody else (ibid. 7:16), that’s an opportunity for people to get daas of Hashem.

So Purim is a time to recognize Hakadosh Baruch Hu from what happened on Purim and to be mefarseim the neis, to publicize what Hashem did for us. And therefore Purim is not a time to lose your deiah, no. On Purim you have to have deiah, you have to acquire deiah. Only you drink up till then, as we said before, in order to get more hislahavus in deiah; more enthusiasm in this knowledge of Hashem.

However, the other time we went to him he said as follows: Since Purim is a time for deiah, therefore we have to know that there’s a rule that the Mesillas Yesharim teaches us. הַחִיצוֹנִיּוֹת מְעוֹרֶרֶת אֶת הַפְּנִימִיּוֹת – The outward acts of a person awaken up the inner thoughts. By doing certain outward actions, you stimulate your inner machshovos, your emotions.

“Therefore,” he said, “on Purim when we dance” – we were dancing around his table – “every stamp you make on the floor” – the floor was shaking from that – “every stamp you make, you have to know that you’re stamping emunah into your neshama.”

Don’t think it’s not so! You may be thinking also of a good time; why not? You like the exhilaration of dancing; you can let go on Purim. But if you’re doing it with a little bit of ‘isheim Shamayim, you have to know that you’re imprinting emunah onto your neshama. That’s what you’re doing. “Every klop that you knock with your foot,” he told us, “you’re knocking the emunah into your neshama more clearly.”

From the Rav’s Purim Mesiba, תשמ״ה, March 7th 1985

 

Sleeping Instead of Drinking

Q:
The Rama says if you can’t drink wine you should go to sleep; what’s the p’shat?

A:
If you can’t drink wine, you should demonstrate some other form of simcha. Sleeping is a simcha too, yes. It doesn’t mean you should sleep all day long. If you can’t drink wine, you can also open Gemara, why not? That’s also a simcha. And if they don’t let you learn in the house, go to the public library with your Gemara. Sit in the public library and learn Gemara. Nobody will bother you there, I can guarantee you that.

March 2001

 

Transformed by Haman

Q:

The Gemara (Shabbos 88a) says that when the Am Yisroel experienced the neis of Purim, so קִיְּימוּ מַה שֶּׁקִּבְּלוּ כְּבָר – they accepted the whole Torah again only this time it was accepted willingly (Shabbos 88a). Does that mean that the generation in the time of Mordechai actually became better than our forefathers were at Matan Torah?

A:

The answer is no.

But you have to understand that the difference is as follows: There is no question that the generation of Matan Torah was far superior to any generation that ever existed – don’t make any mistake about that. The generation that went out of Mitzrayim was the best generation that ever lived. Moshe Rabbeinu had a tremendous influence on them and so did Aharon. And Miriam was the teacher of the women and בִּזְכוּת נָשִׁים צִדְקָנִיּוֹת נִגְאֲלוּ אֲבוֹתֵינוּ מִמִּצְרַיִם – the women were very great in Mitzrayim.

And so when we went out of Mitzrayim, it was a generation that knew Hashem! They were the Dor Deiah – what they learned when they saw the makkos transformed their minds; they became so elevated. וַיִּירְאוּ הָעָם אֶת ה׳ – They feared Hashem. וַיַּאֲמִינוּ בַּה׳ – They had full belief in Hashem, וּבְמֹשֶׁה עַבְדּוֹ – and in His servant Moshe (Shemos 14:31).

And at Har Sinai they were so elevated that רוּבׇּם מַגִּיעִים אֶל הַנְּבוּאָה – most of them became Neviim at that moment when they heard Word of Hashem (Kuzari 1:109). We have no concept of the greatness of that generation! It may seem like an exaggeration to you because you’ve been taught in cheder to despise that generation. “וְהֵם לֹא יָדְעוּ דְרָכָי”, you say, “They didn’t know the ways of Hashem.” No. Don’t make any mistake about it; they were ones who knew darkei Hashem more than anyone. Only they were criticized because they should have known more according to their opportunities. But they were extremely great.

However, as great as they were, no experience in history equaled that of the Jews in the time of Haman because they were sentenced to certain death. That’s a big difference. In Mitzrayim they weren’t sentenced to death. “זָכַרְנוּ אֶת הַדָּגָה”, they said. It means they lived, they survived. It wasn’t the very best form of existence, but they lived. But here, by Haman, they knew that imminent death was waiting for them. And there was no way out! אֵין לְהָשִׁיב! You cannot turn back the king’s decree. They were finished!

And therefore the change that took place in them was more fundamental – not because afterwards they became more pure and more noble than the generation that listened to Moshe Rabbeinu’s words. No; the people who saw Moshe Rabbeinu were unequaled. But the transformation in the days of Haman was so immediate that nothing compared to it.

I’ll give you a mashal. Let’s say somebody lives a normal life and he lives with the rules of health; he eats properly, he exercises properly, he takes care of his body. So this man is a model of perfect health. Now suppose somebody else neglects his health and now he becomes deadly ill. And in order to save his life the physician gives him an injection of a very extreme medicine and he saves his life. Now he’s back to life again! So the experience is unequaled; he was on the verge of death and now he was brought back to life. But in the end he is not healthier than the other party. The first one who lived a normal existence is much more sound in body than the second one.

And therefore although after the story of Purim our generation was rejuvenated – we had a shot, a real shot in the arm, and we were reborn – but in no way did we resemble the dor that received the Torah; no question about that.

March 1989

 

The Main Lesson of Purim

Q:

The Rav spoke tonight about the lesson of Purim being the internalizing of how much Hashem loves us and our responsibility to love Him and to love the Am Yisroel. But isn’t it possible to say that the Simchas Purim is because of קִיְּמוּ וְקִבְּלוּ, that the Jewish Nation accepted the Torah again after the witnessing the neis of Purim?

A:

I want to explain something to you. The Gemara (Sanhedrin 21b) says about Ezra Hasofer that רָאוּי הָיָה עֶזְרָא שֶׁתִּנָּתֵן הַתּוֹרָה לְיִשְׂרָאֵל עַל יָדוֹ – he was big enough that the Torah could have been given to us through him.

I’ll explain that. Ezra came along and he made a tremendous change in the Klal Yisroel. Before Ezra, you didn’t have to daven Shachris, Mincha and Ma’ariv. You didn’t have to make a bracha either; a בּוֹרֵא פְּרִי הָעֵץ or הַמּוֹצִיא לֶחֶם מִן הָאָרֶץ wasn’t a requirement. Of course, people were mispallel to Hashem. And people thanked Him for the food, absolutely. But there was no chiyuv to daven three times a day or to make brachos. And muktzeh as well. Many types of muktzeh were permitted.

And Ezra came along with the Anshei Knesses Hagedolah and they made a whole list of takanos Chachomim. He changed the entire tzura of being a Jew. Ezra changed everything because he saw that with the Jews being in golus, they needed a סְיָיג לַתּוֹרָה, a fence around the Torah; otherwise who knows what’s going to happen to us. And so he made fences around the Torah. So Ezra actually came with a new Torah for Klal Yisroel. Now, it wasn’t actually new. It’s ossur to be mosif, to add on, but he made issurei d’rabanan. He said that it’s all mid’rabanan, but it’s a סְיָיג, a fence, to protect the Torah – to protect the Am Yisroel.

Now, how could he get the Klal Yisroel to accept that? You think it’s easy?! We’re a stubborn nation. And we’re talking now about a tremendous change! How did Ezra succeed? And the answer is that Purim came along! The miracle of Purim came along and there was such a love for Hashem, that קִיְּמוּ וְקִבְּלוּ, they accepted the Torah again. Not only did they accept the old Torah again, but they accepted it with such a willingness that they now took upon themselves all the new takanos of Ezra, to be mekayeim them too. So on Purim the takanos of Ezra were finally given the chizuk needed to remain with the Klal Yisroel forever.

So you’re asking if we celebrate that? Absolutely we celebrate that. No question about it. But you have to know, that that’s only agav urcha. That’s not the main idea of Purim. That’s not an open possuk. That idea of קִיְּמוּ וְקִבְּלוּ is not the plain pshat. The pshat in that possuk doesn’t mean that they accepted to fulfill the Torah. It’s a good drash and it’s true, but it’s not the original pshat of the possuk.

And therefore the most important lesson of Purim is something else: that Hakadosh Baruch Hu is oheiv amo Yisroel. That is the lesson of Purim! That Hakadosh Baruch Hu loves the Am Yisroel more than anything else, that’s the main lesson of Purim! Other things, what you hear in other places, it’s true also. Could be. But the main lesson of Purim is that Hakadosh Baruch Hu is oheiv amo Yisroel.

Of course, as a result of that we’re more loyal to Him. We’re mekabeil to do everything now, because He saved us. Of course, that was a result of the simcha that we had when we saw how much He loves us. But the great lesson of Purim is just that. That He loves us.

And the lesson that we have to learn is that we have to love the Am Yisroel the same way Hakadosh Baruch Hu does. Hashem made a public demonstration on Purim. He demonstrated His love for us. And He wants us to follow His lesson and love His people like He does. We love the Am Yisroel because Hashem loves the Am Yisroel. It’s a way of us demonstrating our love for Hashem. And on Purim we have to start on our own, to fulfill what Hakadosh Baruch Hu showed us as an example by means of the neis of Purim.
March 2000

 

Nuclear Nissim

Q:

How are we really supposed to see the neis of Purim if it was a neis nistar that was hidden in the natural events?

A:

The answer is that sometimes a thing can be so startling that you just can’t hide it. The American government is carrying out nuclear tests, nuclear explosions, and they’re trying to hide it, but the scientists who have the proper instruments know what’s going on, and they can tell you the details where it’s going on and when. And your mind is your instrument. With a little bit of thought, you see the Hand of Hashem.

You can’t hide certain things. And when Haman, who was the king’s favorite, is now not only not a favorite, but he’s wiped out – and not only that, but the one who took his place was the least likely person, so even the biggest dumbbell could guess Who is to blame for all this. יוֹשֵׁב בַּשָּׁמַיִם יִשְׁחַק – The One Who dwells in heaven is laughing (Tehillim 2:4). Hakadosh Baruch Hu was playing the joke and everybody could see it.

And therefore רָאוּ כָל אַפְסֵי אָרֶץ אֵת יְשׁוּעַת אֱלֹקֵינוּ – All the ends of the world saw that it was a salvation from Hashem (ibid. 9:3). It was very clear to everyone. Only that if you don’t put your mind to it, you don’t see anything and you’ll remain the same person you were last Purim, and the year before that, and the year before that. But the wise person will use his Purim to see how Hashem is doing everything for the Am Yisroel, and he’ll fall in love with Hashem. And therefore the person who is the same person on the day after Purim as he was the day before Purim, has wasted a tremendous opportunity.

March 1976

 

The Mitzvos of Purim

Q:

Why is there a mitzvah of mishloach manos and matanos l’evyonim on Purim?

A:

Good question.

On Purim the first thing we’re celebrating is that we’re happy that Hashem saved us in the times of Achashveirosh. And we’re happy that He always will save us! That’s simchas Purim! Purim means that we are a nation forever, that we are still celebrating 2500 years after it happened. We have to be excited about that, excited that we’re still around, that we’re the eternal people. We’re forever and ever. וִימֵי הַפּוּרִים הָאֵלֶּה לֹא יַעַבְרוּ מִתּוֹךְ הַיְּהוּדִים וְזִכְרָם לֹא יָסוּף מִזַּרְעָם – There will always be a Purim among the Yehudim; the memory of Purim will never go away from us (Esther 9:28). Forever and ever there’s going to be a Purim.

That’s a tremendous statement because it means everything to us. It means that when you walk through the street and a goy says something to you, or maybe he’ll even spit at you or throw a rock, it means nothing at all because you know in your heart that you’re forever and he’s going to go lost. He’ll go lost; there’s no question about it. That’s the underlying simcha, that no matter how much sinah there will be, we’re going to be forever. And so it’s a simcha of gratitude to Hakadosh Baruch Hu, ahavas Hashem.

But for that we could have just a day of happiness; a day of reading the Megillas Esther and eating and drinking and dancing and thanking Hakadosh Baruch Hu. But what’s this business of מִשְׁלוֹחַ מָנוֹת אִישׁ לְרֵעֵהוּ וּמַתָּנוֹת לָאֶבְיוֹנִים – The sending of portions, every person to his fellow, and gifts to the poor (Esther 9:22)? What’s that have to do with Purim?

The answer is that there’s another purpose to Purim besides ahavas Hashem and that’s ahavas Yisroel. And the mitzvos of Purim are intended to encourage that. Chazal wanted us to make a special demonstration because בְּכָל דּוֹר וָדוֹר עוֹמְדִים עָלֵינוּ לְכַלּוֹתֵנוּ – the gentiles will always rise up against us. They’ll always slander us and hate us. And therefore our Sages wanted us to counteract that attitude of the world. And that’s one of the great functions of Purim: “I’m demonstrating that I love my fellow Jew. I’m giving you this as a demonstration of what’s in my heart.”

That’s what Purim is for: אִישׁ לְרֵעֵהוּ – Each man to his friend. Who is your friend? Everybody should be your friend. On Purim when you send gifts, it’s because you’re making friendship, you’re increasing friendship. מִשְׁלוֹחַ מָנוֹת אִישׁ לְרֵעֵהוּ – We send gifts to our fellow Jews to show them it’s רֵעֵהוּ; you’re my friend.

So let’s say you’re going to bring shalach manos to a neighbor. So you go to his house and you see a little boy passing. You say, “Little boy, here’s a quarter. I want you to take this shalach manos and give it to the people in the house.”

If you want to, you can go to the door yourself too, only that some say you should do it with a messenger, that it’s more chashuv, more important that way. You know, in the Gemara’s times when a man was mekadesh a girl so he used to send sivlonos, gifts. But he didn’t go himself; he sent it by means of a shaliach. It makes the gift more important. A messenger comes with a basket of fruit or with a bag of diamonds, whatever he gave her. You’re showing that this person is so important to you that you send it by means of a shaliach.

And so you can send the shalach manos with a messenger; but if you can show yourself, even better. So pay a little boy a quarter he should hand it over to your neighbor but let the neighbor see that you love him. Let him see that he’s important to you.

So the little boy rings the bell and they come out and they’ll see you. You can wave to them: “A freilechen Purim.” They’ll see that you gave the little boy the basket: “Oh you’re the man? You came personally to give shalach manos. Ohh, thank you very much.” That’s marbeh ahavah u’reus. It’s marbeh love among the Jews.

Matanos l’evyonim too. It doesn’t say צְדָקָה לָאֶבְיוֹנִים, ‘charity’ to the poor; מַתָּנוֹת לָאֶבְיוֹנִים means ‘gifts’ to the poor. We’re giving them gifts too. Only that the poor prefer tzedakah, money, rather than a little dishful of cake and beblach. They want money so we give them money. That’s a sign of loving the poor people, giving them money. And if you’ll say nice words to them too and honor them and make them feel good even better.

If you can invite poor people to your table, even better; not everybody has a home. Not only the poor; some people don’t have a place to be on Purim for the seudah, for the happy festivities of the day. There are lonely Jews. So bring them into your home. Show them that you’re with them, that we’re the Am Olam, the Forever Nation, together.

“Oh,” Hashem says “Now I see that you know how to utilize the day. That’s why I gave you Purim; because Haman wanted to utilize Purim for the opposite, for a tremendous sinah against the Am Hashem, and you’re going to utilize that same day for a tremendous ahavah to the Am Hashem. וְנַהֲפֹךְ הוּא! That’s the best way to utilize Purim.”

March 2000

 

From ‘Pur’ to Purim

Q:

If Purim got its name עַל שֵׁם הַפּוּר, because of the lot that Haman cast, why isn’t it called Pur, singular, instead of the plural Purim?

A:

Pur means a lot, the casting of lots. The Persians used to throw dice among themselves to find an auspicious date. So why Purim? The yomtiv should be Pur. That’s the question.

The answer is Purim means two kinds of lots. One is the lot that Haman threw. And one is the lot that Hakadosh Baruch Hu threw; it means what He manipulated. Haman chose a date that was auspicious for him but Hakadosh Baruch Hu said, “That date is auspicious for Me too; this happens to be a good date for Me too. That’s the date I want that the Jewish nation should sing forever and dance and drink a little bit and eat and remember what happened on that day!”

Now, what does that mean? It means this. It could have been Pur! Don’t think that the whole thing was just a frame-up, just a show or an empty demonstration.  It could’ve turned out like Haman wanted! It could’ve turned out like it turned out in Europe.

The truth is, it was also possible for it to be Purim in Europe. Only that in Europe there was no Mordechai. In Europe, the few Mordechais that were present were not able to talk. The press wasn’t theirs. The newspapers didn’t belong to them. The Jewish people didn’t listen to their leaders anymore.  The Jewish people listened to the misleaders. There were reform rabbis and socialists and extreme secular Zionists. They were the ones who led the Jewish people in Europe. Did anybody raise the banner of teshuva in Europe? Maybe somebody, a rebbe in his shtiebel somewhere, but nobody saw it. There was no call to the national conscience of the Jewish people to do teshuva and that’s why it didn’t turn out Purim; it turned out to be a pur.

But here it says וּמָרְדֳּכַי יָדַע אֶת כָּל אֲשֶׁר נַעֲשָׂה – Mordechai knew all that was taking place (Esther 4:1). And the Chachomim (see Rashi) say he knew why it was taking place. Mordechai understood that they were getting a little too close to the gentile. “You’re fraternizing with gentiles! You see that in the Persian Empire you have full equality and you’re forgetting that your destiny is to be separate. Oh, if that’s the case then you better change your ways.”

And so Mordechai gathered them all together for three days and they wept and prayed; they didn’t eat or drink for three days. Try that! Try it sometime, just for fun. They did it!

And then when they were saved they accepted the Torah all over again from the bottom of their hearts without reservations. Ah! The Pur changed into Purim – there were two faces to that Purim. Oh yes, it was a chosen date, but instead of being what Haman wanted, it turned out to be what Hakadosh Baruch Hu wanted. That’s why it’s called Purim, עַל שֵׁם הַפּוּר.

But unfortunately, in Europe there was no Mordechai and there wasn’t a Purim. It was nothing but a pur. And a very poor kind of a pur it turned out to be.

We have to learn from that. Oy, it could’ve been another Purim. Hitler you know finally was burned. I remember the day Hitler was burned. It was splashed all over the world. His picture was on the front page and the Yiddish newspapers said  א שיינע ריינע כפרה. It was a big headline: א שיינע ריינע כפרה. You know what that means? “An atonement for the Jewish people.” But it’s a big pity it was so late. If they had done what they were supposed to do, it could have been different. The Jewish people had always listened to the Torah leaders. But now – if only they hadn’t accepted Stephen Wise, yemach shemo, a rasha merusha, as the leader of American Jewry. There have been terrible stories reported about him, terrible. That’s the leader of the Jewish people in America!

That was the ‘Mordechai’, l’havdil, the American Jews chose. He was the one who had the ear of the President and all the Jews of America listened to him when he broadcast on the radio. So with such a leader, he changed the Purim into pur.

And in Europe who were the leaders? The Bundists. The Socialist were the leaders. Atheists were the leaders. The rabbanim and the roshei yeshiva didn’t have a word. Nobody listened to them and that’s why in Europe it turned into pur.

And that’s one of the great lessons of Purim! We have to remember why this Purim turned into Purim. It was because we had Mordechai! We had Esther too! Esther was very important in this. It was Esther’s idea to fast three days and to do teshuva!

And therefore our success on Purim is if we’ll dance and sing this and we’ll also give money to the poor; poor bnei Torah, poor lomdim in Yerushalayim or elsewhere, and we’ll invite them to our tables wherever we can and we’ll talk about this great lesson that Hakadosh Baruch Hu is running the world and there’s nothing of chaos in our history. It’s all purposeful and it’s all connected from the beginning till אַחֲרִית הַיָּמִים. We have to learn that and stick to the chain. And any Jew who tries to break away from that chain will go lost. Only אַתֶּם הַדְּבֵקִים בַּשֵׁם אֱלֹקֵיכֶם חַיִּים כֻּלְּכֶם הַיּוֹם.
February 1978

 

Jewish Self Defense

Q:

I want to ask a question about Purim. It says in the Megillah that Achashveirosh gave the Jews the right to defend themselves again. And I would like to know, what would have happened if he didn’t give this right? Wouldn’t they try to defend themselves anyway somehow?

A:

When Achashveirosh gave them the right to defend themselves it meant that the authorities in the cities, the garrison, the soldiers in every city, should not interfere with the Jews self defense. Because otherwise, throughout history when Jews defend themselves, they are considered criminals. That’s how it is in the eyes of the goyim. If we defend ourselves against the goyim who attack us, they say that we’re making a pogrom. And so whenever Jews try to protect themselves, then the authorities interfere and try to repress the Jews.

That’s what happened in Alexandria of Egypt when the Jews tried to defend themselves, the Roman governor sent his legions and then they massacred the entire Jewish populace.

Wherever Jews try to protect themselves, it’s considered a big crime; Jews are not supposed to defend themselves. Not long ago the New York Times was complaining that the Jews whenever they have a chance, they make pogroms against the goyim. The writer mentioned that in the times of Haman the Jews made a pogrom on the goyim, and he was upset that the Jews were doing it again, now in Williamsburg instead of Shushan.

What was the story? A homeless man, a bum with a razor blade, was in an elevator in Williamsburg and he gashed a Jew’s face and took away his wallet. So the Williamsburg Jews are not fools. They couldn’t appeal to the police; the police wouldn’t do anything. So one of the Jews who saw what happened ran after this homeless man and while he was running he called for help. “Chaptzem! Catch him!” He put out the Williamsburg call for reinforcements.

You know, Williamsburg is not West Orange; they have big families in Williamsburg, and so all of a sudden the windows and doors of the apartment buildings open up and there are chassidim pouring out from everywhere into the streets. A deluge of human beings; some are putting on their pants, putting on their coats, running out into the streets and they’re ready for business. And when they caught this shaigetz they gave him the special chaptzem treatment. He had to go to the hospital.

So how did our good friends of the Jewish people report it in the New York Times? Headline: Homeless Man Attacked By Hassidic Mob. You know what that means, right? An innocent homeless man walking in the street with no place to go, probably just looking to do a good deed, and the hassidic mob rushed out of their houses and made a riot; for no reason they attacked the poor honorable fellow. Because that’s always how it is for the anti-Semites – when Jews defend themselves it’s called a riot. The New York Times doesn’t like that Jews should make pogroms; they prefer it the other way around.

And when the Jews in Eretz Yisroel fought back against the Arabs who attacked them so when the Jews won the war they gained many enemies at that time. Now, I’m no patriot for Medinas Yisroel but if the Arabs are coming to kill, the Jews shouldn’t defend themselves? No, the gentiles don’t think so. The U.N. makes a special meeting about the problem, a special declaration against Medinas Yisroel. All over the world, all the goyim hated the Jews because they won the war.

Because that’s the way of the world. When Jews are killed, chas veshalom, so the goyim, even the good goyim, don’t mind it much. But when Jews kill goyim, all the goyim are hurt very much.

And that’s why after Purim the Jews gained more sonim than before. Even Achashveirosh, although he was friendly to Esther, when he got the report about how many goyim were killed in Shushan he said וּבִשְׁאַר מְדִינוֹת הַמֶּלֶךְ מֶה עָשׂוּ – “And in the other provinces what did they do?” It hurt him. He thought like a New York Times writer; it hurt him that they killed the goyim. וּבִשְׁאַר מְדִינוֹת הַמֶּלֶךְ מֶה עָשׂוּ means, “How many did they kill already?! So many?!”

Now, chalilah had they  killed the Jews, Achashveirosh wouldn’t have said anything. Killing too many Jews, he wouldn’t say a word. But if Jews kill goyim in self-defense it’s already a tragedy.

And so when Achashveirosh gave permission, that was part of the neis. For the sake of the Purim miracle, Achashveirosh was prevailed upon to let them defend themselves. He did them a favor and gave them the right to fight back. It was a great favor that the Persian army did not interfere.

March 1972

 

Achashveirosh and Eisav

Q:
Yaakov Avinu dealt with Eisav by sending him gifts in order to appease him. Why in the time of Purim didn’t we try to do our hishtadlus by trying to bribe Achashveirosh?

A:
Achashveirosh was so wealthy that you couldn’t bribe him. Haman offered him עֲשֶׂרֶת אֲלָפִים כִּכַּר כֶּסֶף, ten thousand silver talents, and Achashveirosh said: הַכֶּסֶף נָתוּן לָךְ – You take it (Esther 3: 9,11). Now a kikar is a talent, and a talent is a big amount of silver. Ten thousand heavy talents! And Achashveirosh said, “I don’t need it.” So they couldn’t bribe Achashveirosh – he was too wealthy.

Q:
So why didn’t they follow the other lesson of Yaakov and try to escape to another country?

A:
In the ancient times you couldn’t just escape. Nobody was able to move around freely the way you imagine today. Every country had its ruler.

Today in America, it’s somewhat easier. You just get into a car and you travel. But in those days you couldn’t just make a fast escape from the country. And therefore, they were caught in a trap with no way out.
March 1995

 

Achashveirosh and Esther

Q:
How did Esther manage to conceal her identity from people for so long? What did she say every time Achashveirosh asked her?

A:
How did Esther manage to conceal her identity? That’s part of the lesson that Mordechai had taught her. Mordechai had taught her, ‘Don’t talk!’ It’s a tremendous shleimus not to talk. Another girl would have babbled and sooner or later she would have blabbed it out. But not Esther; she was trained not to talk.

Now, nobody would ask questions unless the king asked the question; there was a derech eretz that people had towards her. And the king wasn’t interested. The king was a ba’al ta’avah; he was half drunk when he was in contact with his wives. So he wasn’t thinking about his wife; he was only thinking about his own business. And the other people around wouldn’t have the boldness to question her. Nobody would do that – you can’t just ask the queen questions like that.

So nobody bothered her and she didn’t confide in anybody. She kept her mouth closed. And that was one of the great perfections of shleimus that she was taught by Mordechai. כִּי מָרְדֳּכַי צִוָּה עָלֶיהָ אֲשֶׁר לֹא תַגִּיד – Mordechai told her not to tell and she had the self-control (Esther 2:10). It’s a great perfection of character to learn to not say things that are not necessary.
March 1972

 

Purim on Friday

Q:

What is the mitzvah of seudas Purim, the meal that we eat on Purim and why do we do it?

A:

The mitzvah of seudas Purim is to show our happiness in the great kindness that Hakadosh Baruch Hu did for our nation at that time.  We have to demonstrate gratitude.

And the gratitude is for two things; for the great kindliness and also for the neis.  It was a great miracle that took place there because in the midst of the worst kind of a threat everything changed and they saw a tremendous yeshua.  And therefore, it’s our duty to demonstrate gratitude.

So the seudas Purim is a demonstration of our gratitude to Hakadosh Baruch Hu and of our recognition that He controls this world.  That’s what it’s for.

And we should go out of our way therefore to make it a great celebration. It should be a very important affair, a very important celebration in your home. As much as possible make a big fuss out of the whole Purim day! And by making Purim very prominent in our lives, it becomes one of the jewels, one of the most beautiful tachshitim on the luach of the Jewish year – it’s one of the most precious jewels on our calendar.

Now, this year, I’m going to make one remark, that Purim is on Friday and so you shouldn’t eat the seudah late otherwise you won’t have any appetite for Shabbos, Friday night.  So this year, you have to make it in the morning as early as possible.

Also, to prepare for Shabbos on erev Shabbos; that’s also important. How important? כְּבָר מֻבְטָח לָהֶם לְיִשְׂרָאֵל שֶׁאֵין אֵלִיָּהוּ בָּא בָּעֶרֶב – The Am Yisroel is guaranteed that Eliyahu Hanavi won’t come to announce the good tidings of the geulah on erev Shabbos (Eiruvin 43b). You hear that? Even Eliyahu can’t come to announce Mashiach on Friday because the Shabbos is too important for us and we need time to prepare ma’adanim and ta’anugim for Shabbos. We can’t be bothered with Eliyahu right now because the achievement of the Shabbos seudos is too important.

Now, that sounds queer to people who don’t know but the Shabbos seudah is intended for achievement. When you sit down on Shabbos to eat so you’re thinking “I’m eating now זֵכֶר לְמַעֲשֵׂה בְּרֵאשִׁית, to celebrate that Hashem made the universe; everything, from nothing. בִּדְבַר הַשֵּׁם שָׁמַיִם נַעֲשׂוּ – All this came by the word of Hashem; כִּי הוּא אָמַר וַיֶּהִי – He spoke and it came into existence.

And while you’re thinking that, you’re eating, so you’re appreciating not only that Hakadosh Baruch Hu is the Creator, but that it’s עוֹלָם חֶסֶד יִבָּנֶה, that He made a world of kindliness. It’s a geshmaka sugya this sugya of זֵכֶר לְמַעֲשֵׂה בְּרֵאשִׁית. A geshmaka chulent! You’re eating and enjoying it.

And it’s so important that this sugya of Shabbos should be learned with cheishek and therefore Eliyahu has no business interfering with that. It’s too important. So on erev Shabbos he won’t come. It would spoil the lesson of Shabbos if we were too busy to prepare tasty foods; and it’s such an important lesson that even Eliyahu Hanavi has to wait.

By the way, it’s a very important lesson and we should utilize that lesson. When you sit on Shabbos and you’re enjoying the ma’achalim you should be thinking, “Baruch Hashem, that He gave us the Shabbos.” What a great blessing the Shabbos is for the Am Yisroel!

And among the blessings is כִּי אוֹת הִיא בֵּינִי וּבֵינֵיכֶם. The Shabbos is a special sign of recognition for the Am Yisroel. It’s a sign of kavod. Suppose a man came over to you and gave you a gold medal to hang on your chest. You’d be very excited. You’d wear it every day. Shabbos is a gold medal for us. And we’re so happy with it. And therefore you have to enjoy the Shabbos and feel what a kavod it is for the Am Yisroel – כִּי אוֹת הִיא בֵּינִי וּבֵינֵיכֶם.

And therefore Eliyahu Hanavi cannot come on erev Shabbos and spoil the geshmakeit of that seudah; because all these lessons go in best when the food is tasty. And so even though it’s Purim, remember that it’s erev Shabbos too.

March 2001

 

Post Purim

Q:

Now that Purim is over, what are we supposed to think?

A:

Ahh, the age old question: What will be left after Purim? What packages are we taking with us after Purim? On Purim, over here, we sang “Ah gantz yahr freilich” and we added in the words “Ah gantz yahr Purim.” Because the wise man uses his Purim, he puts his mind to all the lessons of Purim, and the day of Purim makes his whole year freilich. His whole year becomes a Purim. Not only ah gantz yahr freilich, but all your life becomes Purimdik.

And one of the biggest simchos is the recognition that Hakadosh Baruch Hu is אוֹהֵב עַמּוֹ יִשְׂרָאֵל. That’s the second yesod, the second foundation, of the whole Torah. The first yesod is בְּרֵאשִׁית בָּרָא אֱלֹקִים אֵת הַשָּׁמַיִם וְאֵת הָאָרֶץ – that Hashem made the world. הוּא אָמַר וַיֶהִי, הוּא צִוָּה וְיַעֲמוֹד – The whole world is nothing but the dvar Hashem. That’s the first yesod of the Torah. And the second yesod, right on the heels of the first one, is אוֹהֵב עַמּוֹ יִשְׂרָאֵל – that Hashem loves His people. The whole Torah, the whole Tanach talks only about Amo Yisroel. And that’s a great happiness when you know that Hakadosh Baruch Hu is thinking about you. Not about the Am Yisroel in general – He’s thinking about you! You see this man sitting here? Hakadosh Baruch Hu is thinking about him. Hakadosh Baruch Hu says, “That’s My son!” Hakadosh Baruch Hu loves us more than parents love their children. The love that a mother has for her children is nothing compared to the way Hashem loves each one of us.

And since Hashem loves us so much, that’s the happiness in life. There’s no happiness like that. The greatest simcha is that Hakadosh Baruch Hu is אוֹהֵב עַמּוֹ יִשְׂרָאֵל. That’s the true simcha, and that simcha remains all year round. And that’s the lesson that you study all day on Purim and then you take it with you all year long.

So let’s think about that for a minute before we say goodbye to Purim. Hashem is looking at us right now, and He’s thinking, “Ah, I have nachas from you, My children. I love you My tyierah kinderlach.”

From the last moments of the Rav’s Purim Mesibah – March 23, 1997