Transcript
Okay, good morning everybody. This שבת Shabbos we read פרשת צו Parshas Tzav. If you've looked at פרשת צו Parshas Tzav, you know that it's a difficult class, a difficult פרשה parsha to give a פרשה שיעור parsha shiur on, as it is overwhelmingly details about the קרבנות korbanos. We've spoken at length previously, and I refer you if you'd like to listen to those classes. The opening section on the תרומת הדשן trumas hadeshen, the idea of the taking out the garbage, a holy task. We've shared a number of insights into the fact that taking out the garbage for the כהן kohen, for the כהנים kohanim in the בית המקדש Beis HaMikdash, is not mundane activity, but taking out the garbage is a holy activity. And there's a lot more in the פרשה parsha, but we're going to take advantage of the fact that we find ourselves on ערב פורים erev Purim to discuss פורים Purim a little bit. So you have a handout in front of you, if you're listening online, the handout should be there as well. And what I'd like to do is go through a famously quoted reference or idea and see four different approaches to it.And the famous idea that's quoted is the relationship between two holidays. We normally think of or call the holiest day of the year, what we think of as the holiest day of the year, we call it יום כיפור Yom Kippur. יום כיפור Yom Kippur. יום כיפור Yom Kippur is the holiest day of the year. We abstain, we refrain from eating and drinking and wearing leather shoes and anointing and pleasure. We are angelic, we transcend the material physical world, and we spend 25 hours as a pure soul, as a pure spirit, unencumbered, unburdened by the shackles of the human body. It's a holy day of the year. It's a holy day of the year. But the truth is the name for this holiday is not יום כיפור Yom Kippur. The authentic name, the authentic day of the year is called יום הכיפורים Yom HaKippurim. יום הכיפורים Yom HaKippurim. By the way, in plural, someday I want to work on a, in my mind I'm working on a book on יזכור Yizkor. But part of the origins of יזכור Yizkor based on a מרדכי Mordechai who quotes, it's called in the plural יום הכיפורים Yom HaKippurim, based on חז\"ל Chazal, because it is the day of atonement both for the living and the dead. Why is it in the plural יום הכיפורים Yom HaKippurim, day of atonements? Because it's a day of atonement both for the living and the dead. How do the dead atone for themselves? They can't. The decisions they've made are binding. They're irrevocable. What can they do? They can get a return on the investments they've left. When we recite יזכור Yizkor, we elevate the נשמה neshama, the soul of those who are no longer here. We show God that they have done well by investing in us. We continue to provide a good return. יום הכיפורים Yom HaKippurim in the plural, this is the origin of the recitation of יזכור Yizkor for the living and the dead.But יום הכיפורים Yom HaKippurim, our rabbis also understood to be another reference, that the holiest day of the year, this day of transcendence, this day of abstinence, this day of holiness, really pales in comparison to another day, to a day that we view as much less holy and significant than יום כיפור Yom Kippur, and that is פורים Purim. יום הכיפורים Yom HaKippurim is a day only כ k', like, similar. It pales in comparison. So what we think of as the holiest day of the year, really is secondary. Really pales in comparison to a day which is even holier. Which begs the question, פורים Purim is holier? פורים Purim is holier? I love פורים Purim. Can't say my wife does, but I love פורים Purim. It's one of those holidays we have to figure out a way to make women fall in love with פורים Purim as much as men. But מוצאי שבת Motzei Shabbos, this Sunday, it's so exciting. We exchange gifts with one another. We drive around bringing משלוח מנות mishloach manos, bringing holiday cheer and fun and food. We drink לחיים l'chaim, we enjoy a פורים סעודה Purim seudah, we give gifts מתנות לאביונים matanos l'evyonim that lift the spirits of those who are less privileged, indigent and poor. We hear the מגילה megillah, and no matter how many times we know and have heard that story, nevertheless, it grips us as it unfolds, it's incredible every time we listen. We dress up in costumes, we have a carnival, we have music and we dance. The festive mood, the joyful mood that's in the air on פורים Purim, it's one of the most incredible things in the world. I think a great קידוש השם kiddush Hashem if done properly when you see the streets are filled with children and adults dressed and happy and music playing and bringing things to one another. It's a fantastic day. But ultimately what are we doing? We're eating a lot of food, a lot of candy, a lot of משלוח מנות mishloach manos, and the סעודה seudah, and we have a few לחיים l'chaims, hopefully responsible few לחיים l'chaims. It's a day which we feed our קישקעס kishkes, take care of our בויך boych. It's a day in which we are enjoying the material, the physical world. It's holier than יום כיפור Yom Kippur? If I ask which was a holier day, יום כיפור Yom Kippur or פורים Purim, you would suggest פורים Purim is a... פורים Purim is a fun day, it's like a concession. We've got to give the Jews a fun day too. You know, all their holidays are serious... פורים Purim, have fun, go out there. It's holier than פורים Purim? So I want to study with you four different approaches to this question. How is יום כיפורים Yom Kippurim only like פורים Purim? How are יום כיפור Yom Kippur and פורים Purim two sides of the same coin? What is the relationship between these two holidays? Seemingly disconnected, seemingly disjointed. If I had to ask you holidays that have something in common, it's unlikely you would conclude פורים Purim and יום כיפור Yom Kippur. What in the world do these two holidays have in common? And yet we'll see through these four approaches, they have everything in common.Source number one, the פחד יצחק Pachad Yitzchak, רבי יצחק הוטנר זצ\"ל Rav Yitzchak Hutner zatzal. רב הוטנר Rav Hutner was the founder, the ראש ישיבה Rosh Yeshiva of רב חיים ברלין Rav Chaim Berlin, of the yeshiva of רב חיים ברלין Rav Chaim Berlin in Brooklyn. He opened up a כולל Kollel, גור אריה Gur Aryeh. רב הוטנר Rav Hutner we discussed in the people of the book a few weeks ago when we studied the life of the מהר\"ל Maharal and the works and teachings of the מהר\"ל Maharal. רב Rav, רב הוטנר Rav Hutner rather, was a tremendous proponent, a tremendous student of the teachings of the מהר\"ל Maharal. Named his כולל Kollel, the כולל גור אריה Kollel Gur Aryeh. Opened a yeshiva in ירושלים Yerushalayim, as well. רב הוטנר Rav Hutner was, his writings are incredible, they're a little bit difficult to understand, because he, he like the מהר\"ל Maharal, takes very deep and often mystical ideas and tries to communicate them in a palpable way for the עם הארץ am ha'aretz, for the average person. רב הוטנר Rav Hutner was a very broad thinker. He was a contemporary of רב סולובייצ'יק Rav Soloveitchik and of the ליובאוויטשער רבי Lubavitcher Rebbe. They studied at university together, the three were there together. And if you want to understand רב הוטנר's Rav Hutner's sharpness, רב הוטנר Rav Hutner was at first a very, a student of רב קוק Rav Kook. Later disassociated somewhat with רב קוק Rav Kook. But רב הוטנר Rav Hutner was a very broad thinker, a deep thinker. And if you want to understand an insight into the sharpness of רב הוטנר Rav Hutner, I'll tell you one of my favorite stories. Students of the ליובאוויטשער רבי זצ\"ל Lubavitcher Rebbe zatzal, once came to רב הוטנר Rav Hutner and said, 'is it true that our Rebbe when he sat in university, he really was, he was in the university but he was really thinking in Torah the entire time. When he sat in class, he was חזר'ן ש\"ס chazering Shas. He was thinking, he was learning in his head the entire time. He wouldn't listen to this other stuff. Is that true?' So רב הוטנר Rav Hutner says, 'it's impossible.' 'How is it impossible?' He says, 'because your Rebbe would never be learning without a יאמעקע yamaka on.' That was, that was the sharpness of רב הוטנר Rav Hutner, which came out in Torah and it came out in his students talk about his sharp comments.So here in פחד יצחק Pachad Yitzchak, his volume on פורים Purim, which is fantastic, all of his volumes are fantastic. He writes as follows, כתב הגר\"א kasa ha'Gra, he quotes this teaching from the גרא Gra. הנה המהלך בכל יום טוב הוא חצי לשם וחצי לכם Hine hamahalach b'chol yom tov hu chetzi la'Shem v'chetzi lachem. We know the famous גמרא Gemara that actually records a debate between תנאים Tannaim, but the approach to the Jewish holidays is that we divide, we split the day. Half the day is designated, is allocated to God. We דאווען daven in שול shul, we sit, we learn, we go to the class. And half the day is לכם lachem. I think we may be out of source sheets, if anyone has an extra to share. And half of the day is לכם lachem, half of the day is for you. We sit and we fress and we eat and we enjoy and we shluf and we play board games. That's the Jewish approach to holidays. There are exceptions, the גמרא Gemara gives the exceptions. They're actually very surprising to a certain extent. But חצי לכם וחצי לשם chetzi lachem v'chetzi la'Shem. יום כיפור הוא כולו לשם ופורים הוא כולו לכם Yom Kippur hu kulo la'Shem, u'Purim hu kulo lachem. Said the Vilna Gaon, the גרא Gra, that יום כיפור Yom Kippur and פורים Purim are two sides of a coin. In combination they make a complete holiday. יום כיפור Yom Kippur is an exception in that it's כולו לשם kulo la'Shem. Where's the לכם lachem of יום כיפור Yom Kippur? There's no good meal. There's no delicious cholent. There's no good shluf. There's no nap. Where is the לכם lachem of יום כיפור Yom Kippur? On יום כיפור Yom Kippur you're standing in שול shul, you're דאווענען davening all day, you're pouring your heart out to השם Hashem, you barely sleep, you're exhausted, you're tired, you're hungry. It's כולו לשם kulo la'Shem. פורים Purim, פורים's Purim's כולו לכם kulo lachem. You come to שול shul and you hear the מגילה megillah, but the מגילה megillah doesn't even have God's name in it. You're hearing a story, a wonderful narrative. And then you deliver שלח מנות shalach manos. And then you sit down for your סעודה seudah, and then you have a few לחיים l'chaims and then you... It's כולו לכם kulo lachem. שלא כקשט דמלתא אין כאן שום יוצא מן הכלל Shelo k'dush d'milsa ein kan shum yotzei min haklal. Said the גרא Gra, in truth, there's no exception. This is not an exception to the rule of Jewish holidays, in which it's divided between designated for God and for you. כי יום כיפורים הוא יום כפורים, כלומר שניהם ביחד מהוים בענין זה מועד אחד Ki yom Kippurim hu yom k'purim, klomar shneihem b'yachad mehavim b'inyan zeh moed echad. Said the גרא Gra, it's when you combine יום כיפור Yom Kippur and פורים Purim together, that's when you have a complete Jewish holiday. Half for God and half for השם Hashem. Don't look at either in isolation, don't look at either apart. When you combine them, you have a complete holiday. In other words, they're connected. They're connected. ובמועד הזה כולו פורים ויום כיפור, שפיר מסתיימא בחצי לשם וחצי לכם, עד כאן דברי הגר\"א U'b'moed hazeh kulo Purim v'Yom Kippur, shapir mistayma b'chetzi la'Shem v'chetzi lachem, ad kan divrei ha'Gra. Says רב הוטנר Rav Hutner, that's the גרא Gra. The גרא Gra is, every holiday is half for God, half for השם Hashem. What happened to יום כיפור Yom Kippur and פורים Purim? They seem like they're exceptions in opposite directions. Clearly, since there's no exceptions, they must be in combination a complete holiday. So don't look at יום כיפור Yom Kippur independent from פורים Purim, don't look at פורים Purim independent from יום כיפור Yom Kippur, recognize that they are connected. Recognize that in combination they make the holiday. ונשא בנא לטעום טעימא קלא ממתיקות דובשא דדברי השז\"ה V'nassa b'na l'tam ti'ima kala mimtikus duvsha d'divrei ha'shezeh. Says רב הוטנר Rav Hutner, 'let's attempt to taste a small taste of this sweetness of this honey.' You get a taste of רב הוטנר's Rav Hutner's writings, right? This teaching is delicious. This, this Torah of the גרא Gra, while certainly somewhat enigmatic, is delicious, it's sweet like honey. Let's taste a little bit of this honey together says רב הוטנר Rav Hutner. מצינו בחז\"ל Matzinu b'Chazal we find our rabbis say, כי בשעת חשבון עם אבות על אודות חטא בניך, טעינתיה דיצחק אבינו פלגא עלי ופלגא עלך ki b'shaas cheshbon im avos al odo'os chata banecha, teinasay d'Yitzchak Avinu palga alai u'palga alach. The גמרא Gemara in שבת Shabbos tells the story that when God tells each of our patriarchs what he's going to do to the Jewish people because of their sins, the exile, the suffering, the punishment that they're going to incur as a consequence for their mistakes, for their misdeeds, אברהם Avraham and יעקב Yaakov fail to appeal to God. Who appeals to God? Who intercedes on behalf of the Jewish people? In this story, in another story it's רחל אמנו Rachel Imeinu, that's the קינה kinah. In this story, who's appealing to God? יצחק אבינו Yitzchak Avinu. And what's יצחק's Yitzchak's argument? פלגא עלי ופלגא עלך Palga alai u'palga alach. Half of this is on me, and half of it's on you, God. I'll take half of the response, I'll take 50% of the responsibility about the way they behaved. ויתפרש דברי זה בדבריו של הגאון רבי יצחק בלאזר V'yitpareish divrei zeh b'divrav shel ha'gaon Rav Yitzchak Blaser. He says, let me tell you how to interpret this statement that יצחק Yitzchak says, I take half the credit, through רבי יצחק בלאזר Rav Yitzchak Blaser. כי הטענה הזו מכוונת למאמר חז\"ל, רצוננו לעשות רצונך אלא ששעור שבעיסה ושיבוד מלכיות מעכב Ki ha'taina hazu mechavvenet l'maamar Chazal, retzoneinu la'asos retzonecha ela she'seor sheba'isa v'shibud malchiyus me'akev. Elsewhere חז\"ל Chazal say that the Jewish people turn to God and say, 'God, we really want, we want to follow your will. You say to live a virtuous life, never gossip, be honest in all of your dealings, have self-control, be disciplined, lead a healthy life, physically, spiritually, emotionally, be careful, be thoughtful, be mindful. And God we want to fulfill your will. We want to do everything the way you say. But you know what the problem is? שעור שבעיסה Seor sheba'isa. What's the שעור שבעיסה seor sheba'isa? What's שעור seor? The leaven, שבעיסה sheba'isa in the, in the dough, the leaven in the dough. What does that mean? The leaven in the dough is a euphemism for the יצר הרע yetzer hara. Means יצר הרע yetzer hara. Right? We know this when we prepare for פסח Pesach, the leaven in the dough, why are we searching for חמץ chametz, certain destroying mission, why do we not eat חמץ chametz all פסח Pesach? We're not skipping over פורים Purim. But to פסח Pesach, why are we searching and destroy, why are we getting rid of the חמץ chametz? חמץ Chametz is the ultimate symbol of the יצר הרע yetzer hara. Laziness, procrastination, an inflated ego, an inflated sense of self, it means apathy, indifference. When you add a leavening ingredient, catalyst to dough, it causes it to rise, it becomes rise, it becomes inflated. It becomes חמץ chametz. It becomes חמץ chametz. So the first reason, God, we really, we have the best intentions. We want to listen to you. But the שעור שבעיסה seor sheba'isa gets in the way, the יצר הרע yetzer hara. And what's the second component? שעבוד מלכיות מעכב Shibud malchiyus me'akev. You know what God? If we were living under your dominion, if we were living under your providence, if we were living peacefully and in harmony, if we didn't have to intercept ships with rockets and missiles, if we didn't have to worry about a country going nuclear who wants to wipe us off the face of the earth, if we didn't have to catch terrorists infiltrating for stabbings and shootings and malt of cocktails, then God we could follow you. We could follow your will, we could sit and learn, we could become really righteous. But you know what? We live in a harsh world and a harsh reality and it's a big distraction and a lot of stress and tension and God, it leads us off the path. כלומר, מה שאין אנו מקיימים רצונך, אין זה מפני שאין בנו הרצון לעשות רצונך Klomar, ma she'einenu mekaymim retzonecha, ein zeh mipnei she'ein banu haratzon la'asos retzonecha. God, the fact that we sometimes disobey you, it's not because we don't love you. אלא אדרבה, עודף חפצנו הוא דוקא לעשות רצונך Ela adaraba, odef cheftzeinu hu davka la'asos retzonecha. Really, God, our will is exactly to fulfill what you want, your will. אלא שאין לכח רצון זה להגיע לידי שליטה מפני שני המעכבים הללו המחלישים את כחו Ela she'ein l'koach ratzon zeh l'hagia l'yedei shlita mipnei shnei ha'meakvim halalu hamachlishim es kocho. But that desire, that will, that goal, to be obedient to what you want, it has trouble finding expression. It has trouble being realized. Why? Because of these two obstacles, they weaken us. They weaken us, they stand in the way. שעור שבעיסה ושיעבוד מלכיות Seor sheba'isa v'shibud malchiyus. שני העיכובים הללו הם יסוד לחלוקת פלגא עלי ופלגא עלך Shnei ha'ikuvim halalu heim yesod l'chalukas palga alai u'palga alach. And so רבי יצחק בלאזר Rav Yitzchak Blaser suggests, these two obstacles to fulfilling God's will, the יצר הרע yetzer hara, temptation, desire. We all struggle. We see things that we want, the animal impulse and instinct inside us rages, we forget our godly spirit that could control us, and we give into the יצר הרע yetzer hara. And the second half which is שעבוד מלכיות shibud malchiyus. עשה שעור שבעיסה הוא העונש שאתה גרמת לו A'si seor sheba'isa hu ha'onesh she'ata garamta lo. The fact that we have a יצר הרע yetzer hara, God, that you got to take responsibility for that. After all, you're the one who planted it within us. יצר אדם רע מנעוריו Yetzer adam ra mine'urav. ועל המעכב הזה אמר פלגא עלך V'al ha'meakev hazeh amar palga alach. ואילו המפריע השני שהוא שעבוד מלכיות, אני גרמתי לו. שכן אין שעבוד מלכיות אלא מכחו של עשו V'ilo hamefri'a hasheini shehu shibud malchiyus, ani garamti lo. Sheken ein shibud malchiyus ela mikocho shel Eisav. But the fact that there's שעבוד מלכיות shibud malchiyus, that comes from עשו Eisav, the fact that we are subservient, we're living under foreign, foreign rule. ועל מונע זה אני אומר פלגא עלי V'al mone'a zeh ani omer palga alai. עד כאן דבריו של הגאון רבי יצחק בלאזר Ad kan divrav shel ha'gaon Rav Yitzchak Blaser. So says רב הוטנר Rav Hutner, so far we have the teaching of the גרא Gra, פורים Purim and יום כיפור Yom Kippur are two sides of a coin, in combination they make a holiday. Now we have the teaching of the great בעל מוסר baal musar, רבי יצחק בלאזר Rav Yitzchak Blaser, that that God we want to fulfill your will but there are two obstacles. What are those two obstacles? What the גמרא Gemara says elsewhere, the יצר הרע yetzer hara and the שעבוד מלכיות shibud malchiyus. Fine. והן הן הדברים שכתב הגר\"א V'hein hein ha'dvarim shekasav ha'Gra. Now says רב הוטנר Rav Hutner, put the two teachings together. Put the two teachings together. כי שני זמנים של יום כיפור ופורים, הם בסוד מחצה לשם ומחצה לכם Ki shnei zmanim shel Yom Kippur u'Purim, heim b'sod machtza la'Shem u'machtza lachem. היחס הזה בין יום כיפור לפורים אומר הוא בסוד של פלגא עלי ופלגא עלך Hayachas hazeh bein Yom Kippur l'Purim omer hu b'sod shel palga alai u'palga alach. These two holidays, פורים Purim and יום כיפור Yom Kippur, correspond with these two obstacles, with these two temptations, with these two barriers to connecting with the Almighty. כמו כן יש כאן שלימות אחת בשני חצאים. השלימות יצאה קה עמוקה, העולה מתהומס הנפש, רצוננו לעשות רצונך Ka'more yesh kan shleimus achas b'shnei chatza'im. Hashleimus yatza'aka amuka ha'ola mi'tehumas ha'nefesh, retzoneinu la'asos retzonecha. What joins the two holidays together is what the גמרא Gemara began with which is, really our authentic will, God is to follow you. Is to connect with you. Is to observe your laws. ושני חצאים שני הטענות של שעור בעיסה ושעבוד מלכיות. כאן הוא מקום הצירה של פורים ויום כיפור. חלוקת שני הזמנים הללו היא סילוק החשבון משני המעכבים U'shnei chatza'im shnei ha'tainos shel seor b'isa v'shibud malchiyus. Kan hu makom hatzira shel Purim v'Yom Kippur. Chalukas shnei ha'zmanim halalu hi siluk ha'cheshbon mi'shnei meakvim. על כן יום כיפור הוא ביטול העיכוב של שעור שבעיסה. ביום כיפור אין העיסה מחמצת Al kein Yom Kippur hu bitul ha'ikuv shel seor sheba'isa. B'Yom Kippur ein ha'isa machmetzes. יום כיפור Yom Kippur is our antidote, יום כיפור Yom Kippur is our response to the יצר הרע yetzer hara. How do you take care of the שעור שבעיסה seor sheba'isa? How do you take care of the leavening agent in dough? You don't eat the dough. Right? יום כיפור Yom Kippur where we rise, where we transcend, where we elevate above the material world, time is not a, is not a, is not a component. There's no laziness, there's no apathy, there's no procrastination. There's no יצר הרע yetzer hara. There's no יצר הרע yetzer hara. In fact יום כיפור Yom Kippur is living in a bubble for 25 hours. There's no יצר הרע yetzer hara on יום כיפור Yom Kippur. Standing in שול shul during the נעילה Neilah, somebody's mind is wandering to to non-kosher food or to looking at an image on the internet they shouldn't look at, or that they lean over in the middle of נעילה Neilah and say, 'you never can believe what I heard about her.' Nobody does that. Let's hope nobody does that. On יום כיפור Yom Kippur during the נעילה Neilah, nobody does that. Okay, right after מעריב Maariv maybe while you're breaking the fast, you know, could you believe the way he דאווענט davened, the way he look who he thinks he is. But on יום כיפור Yom Kippur, יום כיפור Yom Kippur gives us the strength and the capacity to be able to withstand and to nullify the שעור שבעיסה seor sheba'isa. אין כח להשטן להשטין Ein koach laSatan l'hastin. ואנו עומדים ומפשטים מכל ענייניו של הגוף V'anu omdim u'mufshatim mi'kol inyanav shel ha'guf. So we are removed, we transcend the physical world. יצר הרע Yetzer hara, where does the יצר הרע yetzer hara reside? Where does the יצר הרע yetzer hara live? What is the יצר הרע yetzer hara? It's not, there's no devil on one shoulder and the, you know, the guy with the halo on the other shoulder, that's not our religion. What does it mean the יצר הרע yetzer hara? The יצר הרע yetzer hara is not external from us. Maybe we teach our children like there's some external voice and יצר הרע yetzer hara. The יצר הרע yetzer hara is us. The יצר הרע yetzer hara is is the component of our physical being which says, 'this is what it's all about. There's nothing more. Your pleasure, your happiness, what you want, your desire, your physicality.' That's the יצר הרע yetzer hara. When we think about the יצר הרע yetzer hara, it all connects and and relates to that physical, that physical aspect. So if we take the physical part of our being out of the equation, on יום כיפור Yom Kippur we, we become souls. We don't, we don't have a soul, on יום כיפור Yom Kippur we are a soul. And you take that physical component of who we are out of the equation, the יצר הרע yetzer hara can't impact us. The יצר הרע yetzer hara can't have an influence because the physical part, the יצר הרע yetzer hara is out of the equation.ואילו בפורים, נפקה כוחו של עשו מלשעבד V'ilo b'Purim, nifkad kocho shel Eisav m'leshabed. B'פורים Purim we take שעבוד מלכיות shibud malchiyus out of the equation. נפל פחד היהודים עליהם Nafal pachad hayehudim aleihem. What happens at the end of the story of פורים Purim? We feel God's presence in our lives so intensely, so strongly, not only did we, the world understood that even though it was a hidden miracle, it clearly was divinely ordained. So much so that what does the end of the מגילה megillah say? נפל פחד היהודים עליהם Nafal pachad hayehudim aleihem. Fear of the Jew fell upon the world. I think I shared this recently, in this class and another class. I wasn't alive during the six day war but my parents recently were describing to me that in the wake of the six day war, you walked on the streets of Manhattan and every Jew was nine feet tall. The non-Jew looked at the Jew like he was a 20 story building. In the wake of the six day war, people read the story, heard the story, they went from digging tens of thousands of graves thinking this could be the end of Israel to that, overnight, within the first few hours of the war wiping out the Egyptian air force, conquering our enemies that surrounded us, נפל פחד היהודים עליהם nafal pachad hayehudim aleihem. Okay, it didn't last long enough, it didn't last very long. But for a little while, I mean, is this accurate? Again, I wasn't alive. But the world looked at, not only did the world looked at Israel, but if you were a Jew anywhere in the United States and you represented Israel, you went from being 5'1\" and pale and weak and meek to being 9 feet tall with muscles bulging and you in the eyes of the world, נפל פחד היהודים עליהם nafal pachad hayehudim aleihem. That's פורים Purim. The holiday of פורים Purim is שושן Shushan, Jews are about to be exterminated. The gallows are prepared and ready. This is it. It's got the stamp of the king, the final solution. And on a dime, at a party, at a party over drinks, ונהפוך הוא v'nahafoch hu. It was turned on its head. And the one who wanted to exterminate was exterminated. And the one who was designated for genocide became powerful, became an assistant of the king. נפל פחד היהודים עליהם Nafal pachad hayehudim aleihem and the people of שושן Shushan saw that, whoo. They wanted to convert, they joined the Jewish people. That is our ability to transcend שעבוד מלכיות shibud malchiyus. That we get one day, Sunday, where we get to feel, you know what, we're not forgetting what Iran wants to do, that's המן Haman. We're not forgetting what Hezbollah and Hamas, we're not forgetting anti-semitism and the BDS movement, but for 24 hours we remember that God calls the shots. For 24 hours we remember that no matter how much we try to intervene, no matter how much man does, המלך Hamelech. Every time it says המלך Hamelech in the מגילה megillah, it's an allusion to the Almighty. That the real king, the one who is really calling the shots, is God. We can transcend שעבוד מלכיות shibud malchiyus. ביום כיפור מסתלק הטענה של פלגא עלך. מכאן הוא מחצית חלק לשם. ואילו בפורים מסתלק הטענה של פלגא עלי, ומכאן הוא מחצית של חלק לכם. ונמצא דבפורים מסתלק המעכב האחרון, המונע את רצוננו לעשות רצונך שלא יתפרץ החוצה. ומכאן מגילת אסתר נסגל ההסתר של הרצון הפנימי לעשות רצונך B'Yom Kippur mistalek ha'taina shel palga alach. Mi'kan hu machtzas chelek la'Shem. V'ilo b'Purim mistalek ha'taina shel palga alai, u'mi'kan hu machtzas shel chelek lachem. V'nimtza d'b'Purim mistalek ha'meakev ha'acharon ha'mone'a et retzoneinu la'asos retzonecha shelo yitpareitz achutza. U'mi'kan Megillas Esther nisgal ha'hester shel ha'ratzon ha'pnimi la'asos retzonecha. What is פורים Purim all about says רב הוטנר Rav Hutner? פורים Purim all about finding God's hand in the hidden. That's the experience of פורים Purim. If you want to read the מגילה megillah and just say, 'yeah, the six day war was a great military battle. What does it have to do with God?' You can. If you want to sit in שול shul and hear the מגילה megillah and say, 'I'm still an agnostic, I'm still an atheist, I didn't see God's name, show me the miracle.' You have license. You can. Our goal, our challenge, our עבודה avodah of פורים Purim is to find God's hand. The name מגילת אסתר Megillas Esther comes from to be לגלות הנסתר megaleh the nistar. אסתר Esther, the גמרא Gemara tells us, אסתר מלשון הסתר Esther milashon hester. אסתר Esther means hidden, concealed. מגילה Megillah, מגלה megaleh means to reveal. We read מגילת אסתר Megillas Esther and it's an exercise in being לגלות הנסתר megaleh the nistar. We're looking for God's hand. Not just on פורים Purim, that should inform and inspire our entire year to realize we're looking for God's hand, to see God in the hidden.So not יום כיפור Yom Kippur we are angelic, we transcend the physical world. פורים Purim we are in the physical world, in the world of hiddenness, in the world of concealment, in the world of illusion, and it's in that world of illusion that we reveal the reality of God's hand, of God being the one who pulls the strings. That's what פורים's Purim's about. And when you combine the two says the גרא Gra, you transcend the יצר הרע yetzer hara of יום כיפור Yom Kippur and you transcend the שעבוד מלכיות shibud malchiyus, the illusion of this world of פורים Purim, and when you transcend the two, you overcome the two barriers to wanting to do God's will, that's when we reach the highest heights. And because that's when we reach the highest heights, יום כיפור Yom Kippur pales in comparison. It's only a יום כפורים yom k'purim. It's only a day like פורים Purim or even in a higher high. פורים Purim, יום כפורים yom k'purim. I want to get on to the other ones, but let's do a little bit more of רב הוטנר Rav Hutner, of the פחד יצחק Pachad Yitzchak. בין בפורים בין ביום Bein b'Purim bein b'Yom... we're on the left-hand column, the top of the left column where he says א' aleph. This is another piece. Till now we read ענין ח' inyan ches, that was essay number eight. Now is essay number 11 where he continues on this theme. פורים הוא יום כיפורים. בין פורים ויום כיפורים מדבר באודות קבלה Purim is Yom Kippurim. bein Purim v'Yom Kippurim, maduber b'odos kabala. What's another common theme of both of these days says רב הוטנר Rav Hutner? The idea of acceptance, of קבלה kabala. ביום כיפור מדובר הוא על קבלה להבא B'Yom Kippur maduber hu al kabala l'haba. What's יום כיפור Yom Kippur all about? What's יום כיפור Yom Kippur all about? It's about תשובה teshuva. יום כיפור Yom Kippur is all about transformational change. And how in Judaism do you make a commitment towards change? What is תשובה teshuva? I regret the past, I make an admission in the present, and I make a commitment to the future. If I stand in שול shul on יום כיפור Yom Kippur and say, 'God, sorry about all the things I've done wrong,' but in my mind I plan on going right back to them on מוצאי יום כיפור Motzei Yom Kippur, that's not very sincere. The effectiveness of יום כיפור Yom Kippur is when I make a commitment to the future. So יום כיפור Yom Kippur represents קבלה kabala, it represents commitment, acceptance for the future. בפורים מדובר הוא על אודות קיימו וקבלו B'Purim maduber hu al odos kimu v'kiblu. פורים Purim represents acceptance of the past. What's פורים Purim? The גמרא Gemara tells us when God originally gave us the Torah, he held the mountain over our head. כפה עליהם הר כגיגית Kafa aleihem har k'gigis. So we were coerced into it. מודעה רבה לאורייתא Modah raba l'oraisa we're about to see says, so you know what, the Jewish people could have claimed, 'I'm out of here. I'm not binding by this contract. It was coercion. This contract was coerced upon me. So it's not binding.' So God says, 'yeah, but look at the story of פורים Purim.' It says קיימו וקבלו היהודים kimu v'kiblu hayehudim, which the גמרא Gemara learns קיימו מה שקיבלו כבר kimu ma shekiblu kvar. With the story of פורים Purim, now they turn to God, electively, voluntarily, with no coercion and they said, 'oh, we want your Torah. This is for us. You're incredible what you've done for us.' So there's קבלה kabala, יום כיפור Yom Kippur is for the future and פורים Purim is about the past. שב'יום כיפור מדובר בקבלה בצירוף עם חרטה. בפורים מדובר רק על אודות קבלה אין שם זכר לעניין חרטה She'b'Yom Kippur maduber b'kabala b'tziruf im charata. B'Purim maduber rak al odos kabala ein shum zecher l'inyan charata. With יום כיפור Yom Kippur there's regret combined with acceptance. פורים Purim, there's no regret. So he says, 'what does this mean?' Let's skip a little bit because we're not going to have time.Go to the next page, please. ענין כ\"א Inyan chaf alef. A third essay where he finds the combination of יום כיפור Yom Kippur and פורים Purim. משלוח מנות איש לרעהו Mishloach manos ish l'rei'eihu. This is great. Just let me tell you outside a little bit more of how רב הוטנר Rav Hutner develops. Why is פורים Purim holier of the two? Because essentially there's two ways, there's two pathways to connect to holiness. I can become holy by withdrawing from the world. I can become holy by leading an ascetic life. If I don't eat, if I take fasts upon myself, well then I'm not going to overindulge and I'm not going to, I'm not going to give into my impulse. If I don't speak, if I take vows of silence, then it's unlikely that I'm going to say לשון הרע lashon hara. If I hold my head down and close my eyes, then I'll never look at any images that are inappropriate. I can withdraw from the world and the result will be I'm holy, I'm righteous. I'm not failing, I'm making no mistakes. And that's one method, that's one pathway to holiness. But there's a second pathway, not to withdraw, not to transcend, not to be ascetic from the world, but to engage the world, to involve myself in the world, and to elevate it. So I eat, but I elevate the experience of eating by making a ברכה bracha, by eating only kosher, by sharing my food with others, by having conversation, by doing הכנסת אורחים hachnasas orchim. I speak, and I use my power of speech to bring joy to others, to communicate important messages and ideas, to inspire, to influence, to comfort, to console. So there's two ways to holiness. יום כיפור Yom Kippur and פורים Purim are the two sides of the coin of the ways to holiness. יום כיפור Yom Kippur I do it by removing myself. I'm angelic. And that's so important. For one day a year we have to remind ourselves that we don't have a soul, we are a soul. And we're wearing the body the way we could wear clothing that we take off at night. We need to do that once a year. But that pales in comparison to the experience of פורים Purim, where once a year we lose ourselves in the physical world and we elevate it. And we prove that it doesn't have to be the antithesis of holiness, but that we can achieve and find holiness within it by elevating it. By elevating it. So that's יום כיפור Yom Kippur and פורים Purim also רב הוטנר Rav Hutner says, two sides of a coin, two pathways to holiness. Which one is higher? יום כיפורים Yom Kippurim is only like פורים Purim. פורים Purim is the higher of the two. That means that פורים Purim is not a day for frivolity, it's not a day for inappropriateness, it's not a day for for drunkenness. It's a day to use the physical world, the משלוח מנות mishloach manos and the מתנות לאביונים matanos l'evyonim and the סעודת פורים seudas Purim and the לחיים l'chaims, to share דברי תורה divrei Torah and to inspire and to bring joy and to lift spirits and to make people feel involved and to make sure nobody feels alone and loneliness. We're using and engaging the physical world and elevating that experience. So that's another of רב הוטנר's Rav Hutner's insights of the relationship of the two. And now here's how he expresses it למעשה l'maiseh. ענין כ\"א Inyan chaf alef, says רב הוטנר Rav Hutner so brilliantly, so brilliantly. If יום כיפור Yom Kippur and פורים Purim are really the same holiday, they could in combination, חצי לכם, חצי לשם chetzi lachem, chetzi la'Shem, right? One's כולו לשם kulo la'Shem, one's כולו לכם kulo lachem. If you combine them, you get the חצי chetzi of each and you get the perfect holiday. So then you should have the same observances of the holiday. And what's that observance of the holiday? Listen to what he says. משלוח מנות איש לרעהו Mishloach manos ish l'rei'eihu. What's the מצוה mitzvah of פורים Purim? To give gifts. כמה פעמים הוזכר Kama paanim huzgar, we already quoted so many times the גרא Gra that יום כיפור Yom Kippur and פורים Purim, יש ביניהם משלח משותף yesh bein'hem mishlach mishtaf, they are two sides of a coin. כתב הגר\"א, כי בכל עסקינו בענין יום טוב, דינה שחצי לשם וחצי לכם. בהלכה זו יום פורים ויום כיפורים מהוים שלימות. יום כיפורים, חצי לשם, יום פורים חצי לכם Kasa ha'Gra, ki b'kol asanu b'inyan Yom Tov, dinah she'chetzi la'Shem v'chetzi lachem. B'halach zeh Yom Purim v'Yom Kippurim mahavin shleimus, fine. Yom Kippurim, chetzi la'Shem, Yom Purim chetzi lachem. We already saw all this, the שני חצאים של שלימות אחת shnei chatza'im shel shleimus achas. כמה פעמים חזרנו על דברים אלו Kama paanim chazarnu al dvarim eilu. Says רב הוטנר Rav Hutner, I've shared this so many times with you, ועכשיו לא נשנת פרשה זו אלא בשביל דבר שנתחדש בו v'achshav lo nishnas parsha zu ela b'shvil davar shenischadesh bo. Why am I repeating it? Because I have a new insight in it. הצד השווה של פורים ויום כיפורים הוא שבשניהם היתה ישועה מגזירת השמד Hatzad hashaveh she'l Purim v'Yom Kippurim hu she'b'shnei'hem haysa yeshua mi'gzeiras hash'mad. Another commonality of the two is we faced the threat of extinction on both holidays. On יום כיפור Yom Kippur if we receive the poor judgment, we're out. And on פורים Purim, המן Haman tried to destroy us. So, both days we faced the threat of our own demise. שכן ביום הכיפורים נאמר חרב ממני ואשמידם Shechein b'Yom HaKippurim ne'emar cherev mimeni v'ashmidem. On Yom Kippur, God says, I'm going to destroy you. Right? Yom Kippur after the חטא העגל chet ha'egel, I'm going to destroy you if you don't repent. ובעניינו של פורים נאמר להשמיד להרוג ולאבד U'v'inyano shel Purim ne'emar l'hashmid l'harog u'l'abed. And there's no secret. What did המן Haman want to do? He wanted to exterminate and extinguish the Jewish people. אלא שביום הכיפורים גם הגזירה וגם הישועה לא היה עניינם ניכר אלא למעלה, בדיבורם שבין הקדוש ברוך הוא למשה Ela she'b'Yom HaKippurim gam ha'gzeirah v'gam ha'yeshua lo haya inyanam nikar ela l'ma'ala, b'dibburam she'bein ha'Kadosh Baruch Hu l'Moshe. On Yom Kippur, where was the appeasement? Where was the atonement attained? On high. Moshe ascended the mountain, negotiated with God, God forgave us. אילו ביום הפורים, גם הגזירה וגם הישועה היה מקומן ניכר גם כן בהשתלשלות אחשוורוש ומרדכי והמן Ilu b'Yom haPurim, gam ha'gzeirah v'gam ha'yeshua haya mekomam nikar gam kan b'hishtalshelut Achashverosh v'Mordechai v'Haman. So on Yom Kippur it was a spiritual threat we faced, and there was a spiritual appeasement we achieved. Purim, it was a physical threat we faced and it was a physical reconciliation. וקדושת הזמן של שני המועדים הללו עומדת היא בהקבלה, בהקבלה למקום המאורע שלהם U'kdushat ha'zman shel shnei ha'moadim ha'lalu omedet hi b'hakbalah, b'hakbalah l'makom ha'me'ora shelahem. בגזירת השמד וישועת יום הכיפורים שמקומם למעלה, גם קדושת הזמן, אנחנו דומים במשהו לימים ההם שזולת השם של הישועה זו B'gzeirat ha'shmad v'yeshuat Yom HaKippurim she'mkomam l'ma'ala, gam kdushat ha'zman, anachnu domim b'mashehu la'yamim ha'hem she'zulat ha'shem shel ha'yeshua zu. So Yom Kippur, which is a spiritual threat and a spiritual salvation, we observe with spirituality. ואילו פורים, גזירת השמד והישועה דפורים, שמקומן היה מקום כאן למטה, הנה קדושת הזמן, אנחנו דומים במשהו היא מאכל ומשתה של הישועה V'ilu Purim, gzeirat ha'shmad v'ha'yeshua d'Purim, she'mkomam haya makom kan l'mata, hinei kdushat ha'zman, anachnu domim b'mashehu hi ma'achal u'mishteh shel ha'yeshua. Purim, where the threat and the salvation came down below in the physical world, how do we observe it? By enjoying the physical world. And here's his, here's his great insight. והוא הדין היא המידה גם בחלק שבין אדם לחברו של שני זמנים הללו V'hu ha'din hi ha'midah gam b'chelek she'bein adam l'chavero shel shnei zmanim ha'lalu. So when it comes to the spiritual, the בין אדם למקום bein adam la'makom, the way we observe it in connection with God, Purim, Yom Kippur rather, where there was a spiritual threat and a spiritual salvation, we spend the day in spirituality. And Purim, where there was a physical threat and a physical salvation, we connect to God by spending the day in his physical world. That's בין אדם למקום bein adam la'makom. What about the way we observe the בין אדם לחברו bein adam l'chavero of these holidays? חלק ה'בין אדם לחברו' של יום הכיפורים נאמר בו עד שירצה את חברו Chelek ha'bein adam l'chavero shel Yom HaKippurim ne'emar bo ad she'yiratzeh et chavero. How do you observe בין אדם לחברו bein adam l'chavero of Purim, of Yom Kippur rather? You have to, if you tell God I'm sorry about the way I gossiped about someone else, are you forgiven? Absolutely not. If you hurt someone else, you can only be forgiven how? By asking for forgiveness. ואילו בחלק בין אדם לחברו דפורים נאמר בו משלוח מנות איש לרעהו V'ilu b'chelek bein adam l'chavero d'Purim ne'emar bo mishloach manot ish l're'eihu. כלומר, ב'בין אדם לחברו' ד'יום הכיפורים' המדובר הוא על אודות ריצוי ופיוס הנעשה על ידי אמרות ריצוי ודיבורי פיוס הפועלים על הרוח. ואילו ב'בין אדם לחברו' ד'פורים' המדובר הוא על אודות ריצוי ופיוס הנעשה על ידי ריבוי המאכל והמשתה והסעודה היא כיפורים על הגוף. Klomer, b'bein adam l'chavero d'Yom HaKippurim ha'medubar hu al odot ritzui u'piyus ha'na'aseh al yedei amarot ritzui v'diburei piyus ha'poalim al ha'ruach. V'ilu b'bein adam l'chavero d'Purim ha'medubar hu al odot ritzui u'piyus ha'na'aseh al yedei ribui ha'ma'achal v'ha'mishteh v'ha'seudah hi kippurim al ha'guf. So Yom Kippur, which is a day of spirituality, the threat, the salvation were spiritual, I connect to God through spirituality, and how do I connect to people? Spiritually, a relationship, asking them for forgiveness. Purim, where the threat and the salvation were physical, how do I connect to God? Through engaging his physical world. And how do I connect to others? Physically, through משלוח מנות mishloach manot. So essentially, what he's saying is, when you ask your friend for forgiveness on Yom Kippur, you're delivering spiritual שלח מנות shalach manos. You deliver שלח מנות shalach manos on both Yom Kippur and Purim. On Yom Kippur, you give spiritual שלח מנות shalach manos by working on the relationship in a spiritual way, and on Purim, you deliver physical שלח מנות shalach manos. So that Purim and Yom Kippur again in the thought of רב הוטנר Rav Hutner, and there are many, many more examples I could give, but in the thought of רב הוטנר Rav Hutner, Purim and Yom Kippur are two sides of a coin. In combination, they make the perfect holiday. And the two sides of the coin are spirit and material, spirituality and physicality, that speaks to the way we observe the holiday, it speaks to the threat we face, it speaks to the salvation, it speaks to every component of it. רב הוטנר Rav Hutner gives another example. Why don't we say הלל Hallel on Purim? So the גמרא Gemara gives three answers why we don't say הלל Hallel on Purim. You say הלל Hallel on חנוכה Chanukah, הלל Hallel on פסח Pesach. Why don't you say הלל Hallel on Purim? The גמרא Gemara gives three reasons. One of them is, קריאתה זו הילולה kri'atah zu hilulah. The reading of the מגילה Megillah is הלל Hallel. is הלל Hallel. So you do say הלל Hallel. In fact, the מאירי Meiri goes so far as to say if you find yourself on a deserted island and you have no access to a מגילה Megillah, what should you do? Say הלל Hallel. Because you really have to say הלל Hallel on Purim, it's just that we say הלל Hallel using the מגילה Megillah. Says רב הוטנר Rav Hutner, what? You say הלל Hallel with the מגילה Megillah? Say הלל Hallel. What do you mean you say הלל Hallel with the מגילה Megillah? So רב הוטנר Rav Hutner has another magnificent insight. He says, our הלל Hallel corresponds to the miracle. When the miracle is revealed, then our praise of God is revealed. And when the miracle is hidden, then our הלל Hallel is hidden. So when there's a חנוכה Chanukah revealed miracle, פסח Pesach a revealed miracle, we sing הלל Hallel, we scream out הלל Hallel. We use the words explicitly of הלל Hallel, of praising השם Hashem. But on Purim, where God is concealed and hidden, it's our job to reveal him, so our הלל Hallel is also in parallel, hidden, through קריאתה זו הילולה kri'atah zu hilulah, through the reading of the מגילה Megillah. So in other words, according to this insight, you could have read the מגילה Megillah, you don't say הלל Hallel because you don't need to say הלל Hallel, the מגילה Megillah is instead. רב הוטנר Rav Hutner says no, מגילה Megillah is not instead, the מגילה Megillah is the fulfillment of the reading of הלל Hallel, but the הלל Hallel has to correspond with the nature of the miracle. And that's why if you don't have a מגילה Megillah, according to the מאירי Meiri, you actually have to say הלל Hallel. So we've seen in the thought of רב הוטנר Rav Hutner, Purim, Yom Kippur are two sides of a coin, two different types of threats, two different types of miracles, the observances correspond with them, two pathways to holiness, which is higher, Purim is even higher than יום כיפורים Yom Kippurim. Purim is, is even more exalted because we engage the physical world and we elevate, and we elevate that experience. And we realize, I'll tell you this is in closing on the רב הוטנר Rav Hutner. מהר\"ל Maharal says, that's why we drink on Purim. What is עד דלא ידע ad d'lo yada? That's a Jewish notion? Inebriation, intoxication, losing oneself? That's so counter to Jewish values. We have a holiday which לחיים l'chaims, עד דלא ידע ad d'lo yada, and there's a big debate about how you fulfill that. I'm not endorsing getting drunk. But what does that mean? Even the, the association of alcohol with Purim? Says the מהר\"ל Maharal, when you drink on Purim and you become in a state of a little happy to drunk, a drunk person knows that they're not comprehending reality accurately. A drunk person realizes that they lack control. Being drunk on Purim is our way symbolically saying, we know that even when we're sober the rest of the year, we might as well be drunk because we don't understand God's will, we don't understand how God runs his world, that God is really in charge, that God is really in control. We wear costumes on Purim to show that what you see is not what you get. That all year round, what is on the surface is not reality, it's an illusion. That God is really controlling. Though God is hidden beneath the surface, never accept the surface for what it is. God is really, God is really the one who's in control. So all of these observances of Purim, Purim is a day that for 24 hours we work on ourselves to say that even though all year long I think I understand, even though I think I'm in control, even though I think I'm the arbiter of my destiny, even though I think I can comprehend, I can analyze, I can anticipate. As a speaker at AIPAC last week who said, you know, we we should be humbled by the knowledge that if you look at the history of the modern state of Israel, nothing has ever turned out the way we thought it would. Every threat that we faced, the people we thought were not a threat turned out to be a threat, those we thought were our greatest threat turned out not to be a threat at all, things we thought were impossible became possible, things that we thought were very possible became impossible. We should be humbled in studying the, the short history of the modern state of Israel to realize, we should be humbled that when we sit here and try to look in our crystal ball and and prophesize about exactly what's going to happen and what we need to do, we should be humbled by the by the historical lesson that nothing has turned out the way we thought it would. And that's the lesson of Purim. In other words, even when we're sober, we're drunk. Even when we think we understand, what we're seeing is what's on the surface. Even when we look at someone and we think that's their face, it's really all a costume. That's the essence of Purim, in the thought of רב הוטנר Rav Hutner. Next, the thought of the רב Rav, רב סולובייצ'יק Rav Soloveitchik. In the book, Days of Deliverance, the book Days of Deliverance, which is a thought of the רב Rav on Purim, he develops the following idea. I'd like to try to develop a metaphysic of Purim and understanding of the holiday's underlying principles. This endeavor sounds self-contradictory. Purim is a day of gaiety, while the development of a metaphysic is inherently serious. In other words says the רב Rav, Purim's a holiday, it's the happiest day, enjoy, drink לחיים l'chaim. I'm going to develop some metaphysic, some philosophical reality, so serious. Purim and seriousness are prima facie mutually exclusive. Nevertheless, let us investigate Purim, beginning from a halachic viewpoint. Says the רב Rav, רבי יהושע בן לוי קורא את הגמרא מגילה דף ד Rebbe Yehoshua ben Levi quoting the Gemara Megillah daf daled. רבי יהושע בן לוי Rebbe Yehoshua ben Levi taught one is obligated to read the Megillah in the evening and to read it a second time in the morning. And he quotes a פסוק pasuk. We've also learned רב חלבו Rav Chelbo says in the name of עולא דברי Ulla d'biri, one is obligated to read the Megillah in the evening and to read it a second time in the morning, and it quotes a separate פסוק pasuk. Says the רב Rav, continuing the next page, we have two identical rulings, but two different reasons. רבי יהושע בן לוי Rebbe Yehoshua ben Levi and עולא Ulla formulated the same law, that you read the Megillah twice. The only Megillah we read twice, by the way. The other Megillot we read once. איכה Eicha we read at night, not in the morning, and the other Megillot we read in the morning, not at night. Esther is the only Megillah we read both at night and in the morning. And that's taught by these two rabbis in the גמרא מגילה Gemara Megillah, and they quote two verses. They formulate the same law but quoted two mutually exclusive verses. רבי יהושע בן לוי Rebbe Yehoshua ben Levi quoted a verse from Psalms, the famous prayer of the individual in distress, forsaken and abandoned. My God, my God, why have you forsaken me? This psalm reflects the cry of total despair, the shriek of a frightened, lonely child who has suddenly discovered that his or her mother is gone. According to our tradition, Esther recited this psalm on her way to the inner court of Achashverosh. In a word is the psalm of a person who has lost almost all hope and out of the depths of despair petitions the Almighty. From the psalm רבי יהושע בן לוי Rebbe Yehoshua ben Levi inferred one must read the Megillah at night as well as in the day, for the prayer of the lonely, forsaken person is without pause or stop. He cannot help himself but pray. It continues at night into the day. In other words, the reading of the Megillah was equated by רבי יהושע בן לוי Rebbe Yehoshua ben Levi with the offering of a prayer to the Almighty from the straits of distress, addressing and petitioning him from the depths of agony and misery. רב חלבו Rav Chelbo, in the name of עולא Ulla, introduced a verse from Psalm 30, a different פסוק pasuk. A jubilant psalm of dedication. A psalm and song at the dedication of the house. This psalm of Thanksgiving of a sick individual miraculously cured overflows with gratitude. Weeping may endure for a night, but joy comes in the morning. He did not just thank the Almighty, he sings to him in an incessant hymn of praise day and night. Therefore, עולא Ulla concluded one must recite the Megillah in the evening also in the morning. In other words, עולא Ulla identified the reading of the Megillah with the offering of praise and thanks to the Almighty. The Megillah according to עולא Ulla is a great song of gratitude. It's a good to sing praise to the Lord. In fact, Rav Nachman's famous statement that the reading of the Megillah is to be equated with the recital of Hallel confirms עולא Ulla's opinion, right, that we mentioned a moment ago. Of course, the question arises, what is the Megillah? According to רבי יהושע בן לוי Rebbe Yehoshua ben Levi, the Megillah is a book of human sorrow and misery, the cry of the lonely person to the Almighty. According to עולא Ulla, the reading of the Megillah is a jubilant song of thanksgiving and praise of a person cured and redeemed by the Almighty. Which is the correct understanding? Which is the real Megillah? Is the Megillah despair and loneliness, desperation? Or is the Megillah joy, salvation, happiness? The answer is simple. Both characterizations are correct. The Megillah contains two stories, the story of human happiness and fulfillment, as well as the story of human misery and distress. The reading of the Megillah is a dialectical performance. We pray to the Almighty that we read the Megillah because we are in distress. We thank God and relate his wonders while we read the Megillah, for we have found refuge in him, he has saved us. We feel both simultaneously. And here the רב Rav continues. Consequently, the whole character of Purim changes. It's not just as people assume a day of hilarious feasting, drinking, merrymaking, and gaiety to the extent of self-forgetfulness, a day associated with the famous statement of the Talmud, one is obligated to become inebriated on Purim until he cannot distinguish between ארור המן arur Haman and ברוך מרדכי baruch Mordechai. No, Purim is also a day of meditation, of introspection, of serious self-examination. The mystics, speaking of the five letters of פורים Purim, which occur also in יום כפורים Yom Kippurim, say this signifies a common denominator between the two festivals. One day is the most hilarious and noisy, the other is the most solemn, awesome, and fear-inspiring. Yet a strange equation has been formulated by the mystics. יום כיפורים Yom Kippurim equals כפורים ke'Purim. No wonder that some of the גאונים Geonim advised that תחנון Tachanun is recited on Purim because Purim is a day of supplication and petition. We don't פסק'ן pasken this way. We don't say תחנון Tachanun. But the רב Rav references רב עמרם גאון Rav Amram Gaon that you say תחנון Tachanun on Purim. Why in the world would you say תחנון Tachanun on Purim? Such a happy day. Says the רב Rav, because Purim contains two components. Yes, there's salvation, happiness, merrymaking, feasting, joy, but there's also introspection, reflection, realizing how close we came to the brink, how much we rely on Hashem. As a matter of fact, the whole institution of the fast of Esther rests upon this very dichotomy inherent in the festival of Purim, upon the paradoxical halachic requirement that Purim be observed both as a day of prayer and as a day of joyous celebration. Since it is impossible to comply with this paradoxical requirement, the Rabbis advanced the observance of the prayer aspect of Purim to the 13th of Adar. How can you have a fast and say get drunk on the same day? You can't. So what do the Rabbis do? They created the fast of Esther, תענית אסתר Taanit Esther. So you combine תענית אסתר Taanit Esther with Purim, you get the complete experience of the day. And that's what the day has in common with Yom Kippur. The serious, prayerful mood, the frequent cry or shriek accompanying the communal fast, the recital of סליחות slichos and the reading of אבינו מלכנו Avinu Malkeinu, these belong and are closely related to the very observance of Purim. The fast of Esther is not to be treated as an extraneous addendum to Purim, it is a genuine Purim day on which the words of the Psalmist are translated literally into liturgical reality. Oh God, I call by day, but you answer not, and at night, and there is no, there is no surcease for me. There is a passional experience involved in the whole day of drama of Purim. He quotes the Megillah. Then Esther the Queen wrote with all emphasis to confirm these days of Purim in their times appointed according to Mordechai the Jew and Esther the Queen had decreed upon them. This day they had decreed for themselves and for their seed with regards to the fasting and the order of lamentation. The decree to observe Purim in this manner, which Mordechai and Esther observed it, entailed the acceptance of two commitments: to observe Purim with celebration and gaiety, but also to observe it as a fast day. Since you can't have a fast day and a merrymaking day on the same day, we advance the fast day, but really they work together. So that this is the רב's Rav's interpretation of the גרא Gra, Purim and Yom Kippur are two sides of the same coin. The two verses that teach us you have to hear the מגילה Megillah at night and in the day, there are two aspects to Purim. It's a day of joy, but it's also a day of realizing. You know, the רב Rav doesn't talk about it here, talks about it elsewhere in the book, but there's another close connection between Yom Kippur and and between Purim. Think about it. Yom Kippur, how did the day of those learned דף יומי Daf Yomi, we recently completed יומא Yuma. And there's a whole section in יומא Yuma about the two goats that are brought in the beginning of the כהן גדול's Kohen Gadol's עבודה avodah, the beginning of his performance of the process. What does he do? What does he create? You have two identical goats. They have to look identical, be the same age, have the exact same appearance. They have to be identical. And one gets pushed at the edge of a cliff and one gets brought as a sacrifice. Which one is which? What do you do? What's the word that's used? גורל goral. פור, גורל Pur, goral. Like a גורל goral. The משנה Mishnah over and over again, the גורל goral. You draw lots. You could draw lots. What was Purim? The name itself, הפיל פור הוא הגורל he'pil pur hu ha'goral. What's Purim? How did it get its very name? When Haman drew lots to decide which day he would exterminate the Jew. So the רב Rav develops this idea elsewhere, many develop this idea, another connection between Purim and Yom Kippur is this idea of the lottery, of lots, of the appearance of chance and randomness, which really is not randomness at all. But, you know, the רב Rav actually develops this idea within Yom Kippur. Yom Kippur, the day of chance, the lottery. What are we supposed to draw from the כהן גדול Kohen Gadol that these two goats look exactly identical but have such different ends? They have such different destinies. What we draw from it is that the two people could look exactly the same and do exactly the same, and yet it's in the hand of the Almighty what happens. What looks like a lottery really is determined and picked by the Almighty himself. And that's the experience of Purim, that's the experience of Yom Kippur. It's another connection, it's another association between the two. A third approach is the שפתי חיים Sifsei Chaim, source three, רב חיים פרידלנדר Rav Chaim Friedlander. רב חיים פרידלנדר Rav Chaim Friedlander was the משגיח mashgiach of ישיבת פוניבז' Yeshivas Ponevezh in בני ברק Bnei Brak. And in his in his שפתי חיים Sifsei Chaim, חלק ב' chelek beis, he says the following. He quotes not from the גרא Gra, but from the ארי Ari. מובא בספרים הקדושים בשם האריז\"ל, יום הכיפורים כפורים. Muva b'sfarim ha'kdoshim b'shem ha'Arizal, Yom HaKippurim ke'Purim. היום הקדוש בשנה, יום הכיפורים, הושווה במעלתו לפורים Ha'yom ha'kadosh ba'shanah, Yom HaKippurim, hushvah b'ma'alato l'Purim. The holiest day of the year pales in comparison to Purim. We're on the right-hand side of page number one, two, three, four, page four. למדנו מכאן, לומדים אנו מכאן, עד כמה גדולה היא מעלת פורים Lamdeinu mi'kan, lomdim anu mi'kan, ad kama gedolah hi ma'alat Purim. If Yom Kippur pales in comparison to Purim, one can extrapolate how great Purim is. ויש אף משמע, כי מעלתו גדולה מיום הכיפורים, שהרי כי מי נתלה במי, הקטן נתלה בגדול. V'yesh af mashma, ki ma'alato gedolah mi'Yom HaKippurim, she'harei ki mi nitlah b'mi, ha'katan nitlah b'gadol. So he says, what does it mean? רב חיים פרידלנדר Rav Chaim Friedlander, שפתי חיים Sifsei Chaim, what does it mean that Yom Kippur pales in comparison to Purim? So he quotes רב דסלר Rav Dessler. רב דסלר Rav Dessler in מכתב מאליהו Michtav M'Eliyahu, מבאר, במה פורים נעלה יותר מיום הכיפורים m'va'er, bameh Purim na'aleh yoter mi'Yom HaKippurim? כי מעלתו הגדולה של יום הכיפורים היא, כי ביום הזה יכפר עליכם לפני השם תטהרו, ועל ידי כן זוכים להתעלות ולדבקות בקדוש ברוך הוא. אומנם קירבה זו באה מתוך יראה, בבחינת יראת העונש. Ki ma'alato ha'gedolah shel Yom HaKippurim hi, ki ba'yom ha'zeh yechaper aleichem lifnei Hashem titharu, v'al yedei chen zochim l'hit'alot v'lidveikut ba'Kadosh Baruch Hu. Omnam kirvah zu ba'ah mi'toch yirah, bivchinat yirat ha'onesh. He says both days we connect to the Almighty, Yom Kippur and Purim. But what is it that binds us to God on Yom Kippur? What draws us to connect to God on Yom Kippur? What draws us is fear, awe, יראה yirah. יראת העונש yirat ha'onesh, maybe it's the fear of consequence of sin. יראת החטא yirat ha'chet, it's the fear of the mistake we made. יראת הרוממות yirat ha'romemus, it's the awe of God's exaltedness. All of these different components. ובכן תן פחדך השם אלוקינו על כל מעשיך U'v'chen ten pachdecha Hashem Elokeinu al kol ma'asecha. God, instill your fear, your awe in your creation. So Yom Kippur is driven by the emotion of fear, of awesomeness, of angst, of anxiety, of intimidation. למעלה מזה l'ma'ala mi'zeh, what's even higher than that? יום הפורים Yom ha'Purim. אנו מתקרבים בו לקדוש ברוך הוא מתוך אהבה ושמחה כתוצאה מהכרת ניסי השם והשגחתו התמידית עלינו. Anu mitkarvim bo la'Kadosh Baruch Hu mi'toch ahava v'simcha k'totza'ah mei'hakarat nisei Hashem v'hashgachato ha'tmidit aleinu. What drives the joy of Purim? Not fear, not intimidation, not awe. What drives Yom Kippur or what drives Purim is joy, is love. So Yom Kippur is driven by יראה yirah, Purim is driven by אהבה ahava. Which one trumps which? He doesn't quote it here, the רמב\"ן על התורה Ramban al ha'Torah says that לא תעשה lo ta'aseh, the רמב\"ן Ramban on the Torah says, the negative commandments in the Torah, don't do this, you can't do this, you shall not do that, those come from יראה yirah. That's how you worship God from יראה yirah. Awe. God says, don't do, you don't do. The מצוות עשה mitzvos aseh, the positive commandments, says the רמב\"ן Ramban, they stem from אהבה ahava. Put on תפילין tefillin, light candles. מצוות עשה mitzvos aseh, those are אהבה ahava. If you have a conflict between the two, which trumps which? עשה דוחה לא תעשה Aseh docheh lo sa'aseh. עשה דוחה לא תעשה Aseh docheh lo sa'aseh, says the רמב\"ן Ramban, אהבה דוחה יראה ahava docheh yirah. Love supersedes fear. If מצוות עשה mitzvos aseh represent אהבה ahava, לא תעשה lo sa'aseh represent יראה yirah, עשה דוחה לא תעשה aseh docheh lo sa'aseh, love supersedes fear. So says רב חיים פרידלנדר Rav Chaim Friedlander, quoting from his Rebbe, רב דסלר Rav Dessler, who preceded him as משגיח mashgiach in פוניבז' Ponevezh, that what is, why is Purim greater than Yom Kippurim? Because Yom Kippurim is driven by the emotion of fear. Purim is driven by the emotion of love. Which one yields a greater, a greater connection? למעלה מזה L'ma'ala mi'zeh. אף בתוך הגלות וההסתר... אהבה כידוע, היא אומרת דרגה עליונה יותר בקירוב לשם יתברך מאשר יראה Ahavah ki'yaduah, hi omeret dargah elyonah yoter b'keiruv l'Hashem yisbarach mei'asher yirah. אהבה Ahava is more significant, as greater in our connection to God than fear. אם כן, הקרבה אל הקדוש ברוך הוא ביום הכיפורים הוא תפל ביחס אל הקרבה אל זוכים ביום הפורים Im ken, ha'kirvah el ha'Kadosh Baruch Hu b'Yom HaKippurim hu tafel b'yachas el ha'kirvah el zochin b'Yom HaPurim. Okay. And then he goes on, he quotes the גרא Gra as well. He continues this on the next page. He says there's another common theme, we already saw this hidden, alluded to in, in רב הוטנר Rav Hutner, that קבלת התורה kabbalat ha'Torah, there's a קבלת התורה kabbalat ha'Torah of Yom Kippur, there's a קבלת התורה kabbalat ha'Torah of Purim, that both appear on both days as well. You could read the rest of his piece, it's beautiful. Lastly, the fourth interpretation, if you go to the last page. Excuse me, the fourth interpretation is from רב דוד שמשון פינקוס Rav Dovid Shimshon Pincus. רב פינקוס Rav Pincus was an American rabbi who moved to Israel, became the רב Rav of אופקים Ofakim. Died tragically in a car accident in Israel. His Torah is being is being published very often today. We study one of his works together on Wednesday mornings, those that come to cup of Joe, we do 10 minutes of שערי תפילה Sha'arei Tefillah, that's his book. It's a beautiful, beautiful book. So this is the fourth approach to this notion of the relationship between Yom Kippur and Purim. בגדר שמחת הימים טובים שניתנו לישראל... הגמרא אומרת, יום טוב חלקו, חציו להשם וחציו לכם B'geder simchat ha'yamim tovim she'nitnu l'Yisrael... ha'Gemara omeret, Yom Tov chelkehu, chetzyo l'Hashem v'chetzyo lachem. We saw this already in רב הוטנר Rav Hutner. אמר הגר\"א Amar ha'Gra, second paragraph, חציו לכם של יום הכיפורים נשלם בפורים. chetzyo lachem shel Yom HaKippurim nishlam b'Purim. Right, quoting the גרא Gra like רב הוטנר Rav Hutner did, when you combine Yom Kippur and Purim, you get the חציו להשם chetzyo l'Hashem and חציו לכם chetzyo lachem. Third paragraph. יש מן המפרשים על דרך הדרש, שמאחד ביניהם הוא ששניהם בבחינת כל הפושט יד נותנים לו Yesh min ha'mefarshim al derech ha'drash, she'me'ached beineihem hu she'shneihem b'vchinat kol ha'poshet yad nosnin lo. לפי זה תסבר גם מעדיפות פורים על פני יום הכיפורים L'fi zeh tisbar gam ma'adifut Purim al pnei Yom HaKippurim. Some say another connection between Yom Kippur and Purim is the idea that whoever extends their hand, you should give. What does that mean? It means that on Yom Kippur, if someone approaches you asking for forgiveness, you should cooperate, you should be flexible, you should grant them the forgiveness. On Purim, the רמ\"א Rama quotes this in שולחן ערוך Shulchan Aruch. Whoever, normally throughout the year, somebody asks for צדקה tzedakah, you're entitled to say, do you have the תעודה teudah from the ועד vaad? Or tell me more about her, I want to make a phone call and find out if you're legit. On Purim, whoever sticks out their hand, כל הפושט יד kol ha'poshet yad, whoever puts out their hand on, on Yom Kippur, on Purim, נותנים לו nosnin lo. So what's the connection? So, there's another connection, spiritually נותנים לו nosnin lo on Yom Kippur, physically נותנים לו nosnin lo on the physical day of Purim. מה אם יום הכיפורים זוכין רק על ידי תשובה, אבל בפורים האדם נמצא במצב של עד דלא ידע, וזוכה לכל סגולות היום. Ma im Yom HaKippurim zochin rak al yedei teshuva, aval b'Purim ha'adam nimtza b'matzav shel ad d'lo yada, v'zocheh l'chol sgulos ha'yom. So it means not only כל הפושט יד נותנים לו kol ha'poshet yad nosnin lo in this, in in our relationship with man, the giver of סטקע staka, but it means in our relationship with השם Hashem. That Purim, we're in a position that when we extend our hand to השם Hashem and say what we need, נותנים לו nosnin lo. God is more prepared to answer and to provide what we need. Purim is a very auspicious day for prayer. We actually neglect it and get too busy with משלוח מנות mishloach manot and מתנות לאביונים matanot l'evyonim and the פורים סעודה Purim seudah, but it's a very holy day because of the holiness we achieve by elevating his world, because of the holiness we achieve by, by לכנוס כל היהודים l'chnos kol ha'yehudim, by the אחדות achdus, by the unity that we experience, it makes it a prayer, a day which is very significant for prayer. And that's what he's saying. That's כל הפושט יד מקבלים, נותנים לו kol ha'poshet yad m'kablim, nosnin lo. Everyone who puts out a hand, it is, it is accepted. Go to the left column. וביאר המהר\"ל שמה שמיוחד בשני ימים אלו...היא עבודת ששניהם נוגעים לעצם החיים של כלל ישראל...לולי יום הכיפורים ואויב יכול מכריע את הס\"ן חס ושלום U'bi'er ha'Maharal she'mah she'meyuchad b'shnei yamim eilu... hi avodat she'shneihem nogim l'etzem ha'chaim shel Klal Yisrael... Lulei Yom HaKippurim v'oyev yachol machria et ha'satan chas v'shalom. Without Yom Kippur, the Jewish people could not last, we would not sustain. וכמו כן בפורים נצלנו בקדוש ברוך הוא מגזירה הנוראה להשמיד, להרוג ולאבד U'chmo ken b'Purim nitzalnu ba'Kadosh Baruch Hu mei'ha'gzeirah ha'nora'ah l'hashmid, l'harog u'l'abed. And without Purim, we would not physically be here. So similarly, whatever challenge we face, which we're worried is going to be our end, when we turn to God, that's the day God is more likely, more accepting of our prayers. נמצא אם כן... שהשמחה בפורים אינה על העבר... על הנס הגדול שהקדוש ברוך הוא עשה לדור ההוא Nimtza im ken... she'ha'simcha b'Purim einah al ha'avar... al ha'nes ha'gadol she'ha'Kadosh Baruch Hu asa l'dor ha'hu. אלא הרגשה מתחדשת בכל דור ודור, שעליהם נאמר זכרם לא יסוף מזרעם, הרגשה שמטבעה היא חיה וקיימת אצל כל יהודי בכל דור ודור. Ela ha'hargasha mitchadeshet b'chol dor vador, she'aleihem ne'emar zichram lo yasuf mi'zaram, hargasha she'mitiv'ah hi chayah v'kayemet etzel kol yehudi b'chol dor vador. So the joy of Purim is not about a miracle of the past, the joy of Purim is about the feeling in the present that God controls my destiny, he loves me, he's prepared to hear my prayers, and he's going to answer them the way he did for those earlier than me as well. So we saw four different perspectives: רב הוטנר Rav Hutner, the רב Rav, רב חיים פרידלנדר Rav Chaim Friedlander, and רב פינקוס Rav Pincus about this teaching, this tradition that we have, that Yom Kippur and Purim are two sides of the same coin. What does that mean? That only when you combine them do you get the perfect holiday. Each alone is כולו להשם kulo l'Hashem and כולו לכם kulo lachem, but Jewish holidays have to be חציו לכם, חציו להשם chetzyo lachem, chetzyo l'Hashem. So only when you combine them together, the teaching of the גרא Gra and the אריז\"ל Arizal, four different ways of seeing it. Have a phenomenal שבת Shabbos, a fabulous Purim.
