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5736 119 Interior.Pdf Table of Contents Acknowledgments ......................................................................XIII On Halves and Havdalahs by Rav Eytan Feiner ............................. 1 Hidden Beneath the Surface ........................................................ 13 A Lot of Lots ................................................................................. 16 Center of Focus ............................................................................ 20 Megillah: Not a History Book ...................................................... 24 We Were Dead .............................................................................. 29 35 ......................................................... עת לטעת — A Time to Plant And Also Charvonah? .................................................................. 41 Changing the Scent of Sin ........................................................... 46 Connecting to Our True Inner Ratzon ........................................ 52 No Upper Limits ........................................................................... 57 Feast of Victory ............................................................................ 62 XI XII Purim Eternal The Gift of Respect ....................................................................... 69 Prepared Portions ........................................................................ 74 And Hu Was Reversed ............................................... 80 :ונהפוך הוא Don’t Forget to Remember .......................................................... 86 Does a Talmid Chacham Need to Drink? .................................... 91 Where Is Purim in the Torah? .................................................... 95 Words of Peace and Truth ..........................................................101 How to Get Rid of a Massive Headache ....................................107 Getting Closer through Havdalah .............................................112 Do We Rejoice over the Downfall of Our Enemies? .................117 Hallelukah ..................................................................................123 Megillah Reading Is Bittul Torah? .............................................127 Selective Memory .......................................................................133 It’s All about Nitzchiyus .............................................................137 The Nest Is Yerushalayim ...........................................................147 On Halves and Havdalahs Introductory Essay by Rabbi Eytan Feiner “A short summary of every Jewish holiday: They tried to kill us. We won. Let’s eat.” So quipped a well-known Jewish personality — and it certainly seems like Purim was right at the forefront of his mind.1 Haman sought to annihilate the Jewish People, Hakadosh Baruch Hu then pulled a few Divine strings behind the scenes, and the turnabout was no less than spectacular: the wicked Amalekite was hanged, we killed many a foe, and we had one of our own placed second in com- mand over the entire kingdom. There was, of course, great reason to celebrate — and Jewish cele- brations mean far more than just the ubiquitous coffee and cake. We’re talking about festive culinary feasts, with plenty of wine and atypical Jewish intoxication this time around — coupled with some merry masquerading … and we get mitzvos for it all! Is this really the choice way to celebrate? Better yet, is this really the Jewish way to celebrate?2 1 See Rav Zalman Sorotzkin, Chut Shel Chessed, Megillas Esther, p. 79, on why the Purim seudah is often regarded as “ha’seudah,” as the seudah, with the hei ha’yediah. 2 In the midst of contrasting the true essence of a Yom Tov and the way a gentile perceives things, Reb Mendel Kaplan relates: “While I was in the wine business, an IRS agent once came to my house on Sukkos and I offered him some very good food. He told me, ‘You know, 1 2 Purim Eternal Purim at the Pinnacle Lest we think that these Purim festivities pale in comparison to the sanctity of our holy Yom Kippur, the lofty Day of Atonement, the Arizal — based on the Tikunei Zohar — reminds us that it is actually just the opposite.3 The culmination of the High Holy Days is referred to as Yom HaKippurim, the day that is merely like Purim (k’Purim), highlight- ing that it is Purim that sits atop the pedestal of Jewish festivals.4 We could divorce ourselves from physical pleasures and spend most of the day engrossed in fervent angelic prayer, and yet we are taught that all the abstention and hard work of a Yom Kippur is second-tier to the most joyous Purim.5 Are we missing something here? The Yom Kippur/Purim Contrast Yom Kippur is crucial. One day a year, at the very least, we must lift ourselves out of our mundane surroundings, above the seductive plea- sures and enticements of the physical world. Without the annual Day of Atonement, a day focused on serious introspection, sincere repentance, and striving to more closely resemble G-d’s celestial court, we would likely suffocate spiritually from our complacent air of self-gratification. Yom Kippur serves as a much needed wake-up call to stir us to heed our true spiritual calling and crucial mission in life. It’s a powerful day, a sacred day, and one we must treasure always. But acharei kichlos ha’kol, we can’t take it with us. We simply cannot live on I like your holidays. There’s a holiday for blintzes, a holiday for kreplach, and a holiday for latkes.’ That was his idea of a Yom Tov” (Reb Mendel and His Wisdom, p. 204). 3 Tikun 21, p. 57b.; Binayahu and Nitzutzei Zohar ibid.; See the approach of Rav Hoberman, Ze’ev Yitrof, Purim, vol. 2, chap. 12; Rav Karlenstein, Kuntrus B’inyanei Chodesh Adar V’yimei Hapurim, maamar 7; Rav Dovid Cohen (Brooklyn), Sefer Esther HaMalkah, p. 75. In Likutei HaGra, the Gra highlights a different perspective on the Purim/Yom KiPurim connection — see Pachad Yitzchak on Purim, maamarim 8, 11, 21, and Rav Hutner, Kuntrus Reshimos, siman 23. 4 Michtav M’Eliyahu, vol. 2, pp. 123–25; Sifsei Chaim, Moadim, vol. 2, pp. 205–6; Rav Dovid Cohen (Chevron) Yimei HaPurim, p. 63, end of maamar 8; Rav Y.M. Charlap, Mei Marom, vol. 16, maamar 51. 5 Rabbi Ari Kahn, Emanations, p. 314. On Halves and Havdalahs 3 such a lofty plateau throughout the hustle and bustle of our daily life- styles — clutched in the grips of our careers, family life, and the pervasive physical needs we all share. Yom Kippur provides us with a taste of a far greater perception of the world around us; a sweet taste, yes, but an extremely difficult one to savor long term once we come back down from our angel-like state and are forced to face our humanity once again. Purim arrives as we encounter the opposite side of the Yom Kippur/ Purim coin. Go ahead: Have a drink. And another one. Enjoy the festive feast. In other words, be human and be a real part of this material world with the mundane delicacies it has to offer. But through it all, let the real you come out. On Purim, we must learn to tap into the immense joy of the miracles of the day, the exhilaration experienced by those Jews years ago who witnessed G-d’s hidden hand securing for His people a remarkable reversal of fate. We look around in the world and find it dif- ficult, at times, to see the constant intervention of G-d on our behalf, to rid Mother Nature of her camouflage and manifest the Divine Presence that produced, and is presently directing, her wonderful performance: every act, every scene, every second of the day. On Purim, we take a very active part in worldly pleasures as we try, once again, to realize that the physical world around us — with all its apparent coincidences — is but a mere facade hiding myriad miracles.6 We become intoxicated primarily as a means of revealing the true hid- den self that lies beneath the protective veneers we’ve tried to erect. The real personality is unleashed as the alcohol sets in, all while the Purim masks and costumes shield our outer appearance, the part that can never really express our true selves. If, at the time of the Purim story, we became fully cognizant of Who is really behind the curtains of the world’s theater, then we owe it to ourselves this time of year to mir- ror the event and highlight the true essence dwelling within our outer beings. And this we can certainly take with us for the rest of the year.7 6 Reshimos Lev, Purim, p. 368 (siman 10). 7 I later saw that Rav Aharon Lopiansky also discusses this distinction between Yom Kippur and Purim in his Time Pieces, pp. 137–41. 4 Purim Eternal The story of Purim began with a sumptuous spread, a celebration of Achashveirosh we wrongfully attended.8 As time progressed and we gradually mended our ways, our salvation was wrought with the help of Esther, who organized her own little feasts for Haman and the king to attend. It was there that the evil Haman met his downfall. And yet Esther herself never really got the chance to eat anything … That’s our job come Purim time. We’ll eat, yes — but we first lay the groundwork for building the proper intentions with an abstention from all food on the preceding day’s Taanis Esther. While Yom Kippur sees us preparing for the sacred fast with a unique mitzvah to eat the day before (Berachos 8b), come Purim time — the other side of the Yom Kippur/Purim coin — we do the exact opposite: we fast to help foster the right attitude and intent before approaching the following day’s culinary festivities. A day of abundant food and drink, uniquely defined as a yom mishteh v’simchah,9 mandates that we first ready ourselves
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