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Yeshiva University • a To-Go Series• Adar 5772 1 Yeshiva University • A To-Go Series• Adar 5772 Dear Friends, It is my sincere hope that the Torah found in this virtual sefer may serve to enhance your Purim and your limud (study). We have designed this project not only for the individual, studying alone, but perhaps even more for a chavruta (a pair studying together) that wish to work through the study matter together, or a group engaged in facilitated study. With this material, we invite you to join our beit midrash, wherever you may be, l'hagdil Torah ul'ha'adirah (to enjoy the splendor of Torah) and to engage in discussing issues that touch on contemporary matters, and are rooted in the timeless arguments of our great sages from throughout the generations. Happy Purim, Rabbi Kenneth Brander The David Mitzner Dean, Yeshiva University Center for the Jewish Future Richard M. Joel, President, Yeshiva University Rabbi Kenneth Brander, The David Mitzner Dean, Center for the Jewish Future Rabbi Joshua Flug, General Editor Rabbi Michael Dubitsky, Editor Copyright © 2012 All rights reserved by Yeshiva University Yeshiva University Center for the Jewish Future 500 West 185th Street, Suite 419, New York, NY 10033 [email protected] • 212.960.5263 This publication contains words of Torah. Please treat it with appropriate respect. For sponsorship opportunities, please contact Genene Kaye at 212.960.5852 or [email protected]. 2 Yeshiva University • A To-Go Series• Adar 5772 Table of Contents Purim 2012/5772 Remembering Purim During the Messianic Age Rabbi Yosef Blau . Page 4 The Relationship between Mishlo'ach Manot and Matanot La'Evyonim Rabbi Joshua Flug . Page 6 Purim and the "Randomness" of Life Rabbi Ozer Glickman . Page 12 Whose Battle? Whose Victory? Dr. Shalom E. Holtz . Page 22 Purim – Fulfilling Jewish Destiny Mrs. Shoshana Schechter . Page 25 The Joy of Giving Rabbi Mordechai Torczyner . Page 30 Collected Insights from members of the Masters of Arts in Biblical and Talmudic Interpretation program at Stern College for Women Meira Rubin, Miryam Spiegel, Sarah Steinberg, Derora Tropp, Ora Ziring . Page 34 3 Yeshiva University • A To-Go Series• Adar 5772 Remembering Purim During the Messianic Age Rabbi Yosef Blau Senior Mashgiach Ruchani, Yeshiva University The Rambam in the last halakha in Hilkhot Megilla 2.18 writes: כל ספרי הנביאים וכל הכתובים עתידין All the books of the prophets and all the writings will no ליבטל לימות המשיח חוץ ממגילת אסתר longer be valid in the days of the Messiah except for Megillat והרי היא קיימת כחמשה חומשי תורה Esther which will remain together with the five books of the וכהלכות של תורה שבעל פה שאינן בטלין Torah and the laws of the Oral Torah that will never lose לעולם, ואע"פ שכל זכרון הצרות יבטל their validity. Even though all memory of troubles will be שנאמר (ישעיהו ס"ה) כי נשכחו הצרות dropped as Yeshayahu (65) writes “All the earlier troubles הראשונות וכי נסתרו מעיני, ימי הפורים לא יבטלו שנאמר (אסתר ט') וימי הפורים will be forgotten, they will be hidden from my eyes,” the days האלה לא יעברו מתוך היהודים וזכרם לא of Purim will remain, as it is written in Esther (9) “These יסוף מזרעם. השגת "הראבד כל ספרי days of Purim will not pass from the Jews and their memory הנביאים והכתובים עתידין ליבטל. "אא דבר will never disappear from their descendants.” The Ravad הדיוטות הוא זה, כי לא יבטל ספר מכל objects: “These are the words of a non-scholar: no biblical הספרים שאין ספר שאין בו למוד, אבל כך text will be removed from the cannon; every work has אמרו אפילו יבטלו שאר ספרים מלקרות something to teach. What was said was that even if other בהם מגילה לא תבטל מלקרות אותה writings would no longer be read publicly, Megillat Esther בצבור ”.will continue to be read in public The source of the Rambam is the TalmudYerushalmi in Megilla: ר' יוחנן ורשב"ל ר' יוחנן אמר Rav Yohanan and Reish Lakish: Rav Yohanan said the books of הנביאים והכתובים עתידין ליבטל the prophets and the writings will become invalid in the future וחמשת סיפרי תורה אינן עתידין but the five biblical books will remain forever as it is written ליבטל מה טעמא [דברים ה יט] קול Devarim 5.19) “A large sound that does not end.” Reish) גדול ולא יסף רשב"ל אמר אף מגילת .Lakish added that Megillat Esther and the laws will also remain אסתר והלכות אינן עתידין ליבטל It is written here “A large sound that does not end” and there (in נאמר כאן קול גדול ולא יסף ונאמר Esther 9.28) it is written “their memory (the days of Purim) will להלן [אסתר ט כח] וזכרם לא יסוף מזרעם .never end (be forgotten) by their descendants תלמוד ירושלמי (וילנא) מסכת Yerushalmi Megilla Chap. 1 מגילה פרק א What differs between the Rambam and the earlier source is Rambam's second part about earlier troubles. Rabbi Yitzchak Zev Soloveitchik suggests that the addition teaches us that not only 4 Yeshiva University • A To-Go Series• Adar 5772 will the celebration of Purim continue, but the fast of Esther will as well.1 The Rav (Rabbi Joseph B. Soloveitchik) similarly understands that the fast of Esther differs from the other fasts, which commemorate tragedy and will no longer be observed in the Messianic era, because it is an integral part of Purim.2 The joy of Purim can only be appreciated if one contrasts it with the threat that the Jews faced and the recognition of how vulnerable they were in the kingdom of Achashveirosh. The question about the source of the expansion of the Yerushalmi by the Rambam remains. If we examine the description of the Messianic era by the Rambam the extension becomes clear. אל יעלה על הלב שבימות המשיח One should not think that during the Days of Mashiach, the יבטל דבר ממנהגו של עולם, או natural order will be change, or that there will be any innovation in יהיה שם חידוש במעשה בראשית, the original creation of the world. Rather, the world will continue אלא עולם כמנהגו נוהג, וזה ,to follow its ways. Although Yeshayahu [Yeshayahu 11:6] states שנאמר בישעיה וגר זאב עם כבש The wolf will with the sheep, and the leopard will lie down with" ונמר עם גדי ירבץ משל וחידה, the young goat," these [words] are an allegory and a riddle. They ענין הדבר שיהיו ישראל יושבין לבטח עם רשעי עכו"ם המשולים mean that the Jewish people will live securely among the evildoers כזאב ונמר, שנאמר זאב ערבות of the world who are likened to wolves and leopards, as in the verse ישדדם ונמר שוקד על עריהם, Yirmeyahu 5:6], "A wolf of the deserts despoils them, a leopard] ויחזרו כולם לדת האמת, ולא יגזלו watches over their cities." [In this era, all nations] will return to the ולא ישחיתו, אלא יאכלו דבר true faith and no longer plunder or destroy. Instead, at peace with המותר בנחת עם ישראל, שנאמר Israel, they will eat that which is permitted, as it is written ואריה כבקר יאכל תבן, וכן כל ,Yeshayahu 11:7], "The lion shall eat straw like the ox." Similarly] כיוצא באלו הדברים בענין המשיח .other prophecies of this nature concerning Mashiach are analogies הם משלים, ובימות המלך המשיח In the Era of the King Mashiach, everyone will realize what was יודע לכל לאי זה דבר היה משל, .implied by these metaphors and allusions ומה ענין רמזו בהן . Rambam, Hilkhot Melakhim 12.1 רמב"ם הלכות מלכים יב:א According to the Rambam, the natural world will not change after the coming of the Mashiach. The laws of nature will continue with the only change being in the condition of the Jews. The Jewish king will rule the world and it will be an era of world peace and knowledge of Hashem. Free of worries and threats, study will flourish and wisdom will increase. What is missing in such a glorious time is that which can be gained from overcoming adversity. Purim’s survival is precisely because it is the holiday that was created in exile when Jewish existence was threatened and Hashem’s overt presence not felt. The actions of Esther and Mordechai and the remarkable reversal could not have happened during Messianic times. That memory adds a dimension to Jewish religious life. The Rambam understood that the source was not merely derived from the language used but reflects a part of Torah that can only be fully appreciated through the story of Purim. 1 Cited in Harerei Kedem, Vol. I no. 188. 2 Ibid. 5 Yeshiva University • A To-Go Series• Adar 5772 The Relationship between Mishlo'ach Manot and Matanot 3 La'Evyonim Rabbi Joshua Flug Director of Torah Research, Yeshiva University’s Center for the Jewish Future There are four mitzvot relating to the celebration of Purim. The first is the reading of Megillat Esther. Additionally, the verse lists three more mitzvot: ַלֲעשׂוֹ ת אוָֹתם, יְמֵי מִשְׁתֶּה וְשִׂמְחָה, וּמִשְׁלֹ ַח מָנוֹת אִישׁ To make these days of feasts and joy, of sending ְלֵרֵעהוּ, וּמַתָּנוֹ ת ָלֶאְביֹנִים. .tributes one to another and gifts to the poor אסתר ט:כב Esther 9:22 In this article, we will explore the relationship between mishlo'ach manot (sending tributes) and matanot la'evyonim (gifts to the poor). There are a number of questions to ask regarding these two mitzvot. Are they basically the same mitzvah with different recipients? Do these two mitzvot relate to the third mitzvah mentioned in the verse, namely, the mitzvah of eating a festive meal? What role do they play in the broader celebration of Purim? Before exploring the characteristics of each mitzvah, it is important to note an important difference between the requirements of mishlo'ach manot and matanot la'evyonim: תני רב יוסף ומשלוח מנות איש לרעהו שתי מנות ",R.
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