Rabbi's Blog

This Dvar Torah should serve as a Zechus for a Refuah Sheleima for Yakov Eliezer Ben Yocheved

The Jewish calendar is filled with sad days and holidays  which are commemorated through symbols and mitzvos, each representing a particular holiday and remembrance. I have clear childhood memories of holiday celebrations with certain family members , eating certain foods, doing something unique which was specific to each holiday, and simply recalling how our family’s holiday celebrations grew within me over the years.

I can’t imagine there is a child out there today (or an adult recalling his/her Purim of yore) who doesn’t have a fond memory of Purim and who doesn’t look forward to celebrating Purim again the next year. What are our memories from Purim? We obviously remember getting dressed up in home-made costumes that were more authentic than today’s store-bought or rented ones. The preparation and delivering of Shaloch Manos was equaled by looking at what we received for Shaloch Manos. Listening to the Megilla in Shul was tolerable due to the excitement of how we drowned out Haman’s name every timt it was being mentioned. The entire day was summed up by enjoying a wonderful feast complete with music, fun, and games.

As I look back over the years from my early childhood all the way up to the present,  I wonder if those Mitzvos that are performed on Purim are the primary or secondary reasons of the celebration? There is no question that there are four explicit Mitzvos to be fulfilled on Purim. The underlying question is why do we have all these Mitzvos?  What are they for? Perhaps an insight can be found in the following explanation:

In Shmos 15:16 the Torah states: “Tipol Aleihem Eimasa VaFachad Bigdol Zro’acha Yidmu KaAven, Ad YaAvor Amcha Hashem, Ad YaAvor Am Zu Kanisa “. “Fear and dread fell upon them. At the greatness of Your Arm They are still as stone. Until Your people crossed, O God, until the people You gained crossed over”. This passage, taken from Moshe’s song ‘Az Yashir’, interprets ‘Kanisa’ -  that Hashem has cherished the Jews above the other nations, just as an article which is acquired at a high price  is cherished by the purchaser.

In his sefer Ben Yehoyada *Yosef Chaim from Bahgdad weaves a Gemara from Brachos 4a to merge the words of Moshe Rabbeinu as an allusion to Purim. The words ‘Am Zu Kanisa refers to the second acceptance of the Torah. During the days of the story of Purim ‘this nation’ were the ones for whom God performed a miracle: that the decree of Haman the wicked would occur on the thirteenth of Adar. The gematria (numerical value of the word ZU comprised of a zayin, equal to seven, and a vav, equal to six, adds up to and corresponds to thirteen, the day of the month Haman wanted to annihilate the Jews. It was the miracle at Krias Yam Suf, the parting of the Reed Sea, that Hashem used to re-acquire the Jews anew. This was the reason Moshe called them ‘Am ZU, as if to say they were saved with THIS miracle on THIS day being the thirteenth of Adar. The thirteenth of Adar is the date of Taanis Esther, not to be confused with the three-day fast which Esther asked all the people to observe, but rather a fast day in anticipation of a war, having learned from Moshe Rabbbeinu the notion of fasting as a sign of repentance at a time of battle.

A second interpretation given by Reb Yosef Chaim explaining why the Jews were distinctively called ‘Am ZU’ is because it was at this time the receiving, or more so the acceptance of the Torah She’B’Al Peh ,the Oral Law, was completed. The generation at the time of Achashveirosh went back and reaccepted the Oral tradition as it states in the Megilla ‘KeeY’mu V’Kiblu. The Gemara darshans that we accepted that which we accepted already, referring to the Torah She’B’Al Peh. The word ZU is comprised of two letters, zayin and vav, the value of seven and six, as I mentioned earlier. The Seven represents the Torah She’Bichsav, the written law which consists of seven books because Bamidbar 10:35,36 is viewed as a separate book, dividing Bamidbar into three books, giving a total of seven. The Oral Torah, known as SHAS, stands for Shisa Sidrei.  There are six orders of the Oral law. Coming full circle to this nation, AM ZU, Your people, who now have received the complete, entire Torah. It was in this merit that they were able to turn things around against Haman on the thirteenth of Adar and have HaKadosh Baruch Hu, save the people, hence, the story and celebration of Purim.

The Rabbis teach us ‘Mitzvah Goreres Mitzvah’: the performance and doing of one mitzvah leads us to an opportunity to do another. The Jewish people resoundly re-accepted  the words of the Torah. What better way to be rewarded for accepting the Torah than to do more of that which it stands for: to do more mitzvos. The underlying simcha and joy of Purim is the fact that we wanted to get back to a place where the Jewish people were at the time of Har Sinai when receiving the Torah. Year in and year out we seem to focus on fulfilling of the mitzvos, which is incredible, but somehow forget the primary, key reason why we are doing all of this.

As we prepare to enter the week in which Purim occurs, we need to remember this holiday, will remain even in the time of Moshiach because of the association of our commitment to Torah. Let this year’s Purim celebration be full of joy and happiness in doing the mitzvos of the day. More importantly,  remember the reasons why, even after Purim, that it is a day when we re-commit ourselves to learn more Torah and to dedicate ourselves to the primary aspect of Purim. Purim is a one-day celebration that should push us in the direction of our own Keemu V’Kiblu – to confirm and to undertake - to take on once again the Oral and written Torahs and to bring Klal Yisrael back to the level we were on when standing at Har Sinai.

Ah Gut Shabbos

Rabbi Avraham Bogopulsky

*Yosef Chaim (1 September 1835 – 30 August 1909) (Iraqi Hebrew: Yoseph Ḥayyim; was a leading hakham (Sephardi Rabbi), authority on halakha (Jewish law), and Master Kabbalist. He is best known as author of the work on Halakha Ben Ish Ḥai  ("Son of Man (who) Lives"), a collection of the laws of everyday life interspersed with mystical insights and customs, addressed to the masses and arranged by the weekly Torah portion.