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Harav Hagaon Shmuel Friedman Shlita

Purim is a Pep Talk

Purim

Harav Hagaon Shmuel Friedman shlita

Purim, we know, is a day of mishteh v’simchah. Simply understood, the great simchah of this day is due to the Hashem’s miraculously saving Klal Yisrael from annihilation. The Vilna Gaon, however, understands the simchah of Purim differently.

Chazal tell us, לֹא הָיוּ יָמִים טוֹבִים לְיִשְׂרָאֵל כַּחֲמִשָּׁה עָשָׂר בְּאָב וּכְיוֹם הַכִּפּוּרִים, and the Gaon wonders why Yom Kippur is called a “Yom Tov,” considering that every Yom Tov must include an element of “lachem” — for you — and there is no eating or drinking on Yom Kippur. In addition, the Arizal draws a parallel between Purim and Yom Kippur (“Yom KiPurim”). What is the connection between these two days?

The Gaon explains that every Yom Tov has two elements: laShem and lachem. Where is the chatzi lachem of Yom Kippur? On Purim, which is the other half of Yom Kippur. Purim and Yom Kippur are the same Yom Tov, two sides of the same coin. Yom Kippur is kulo laShem, while Purim is kulo lachem.

What does this mean?

Besides being a day of forgiveness and atonement, Yom Kippur is also the day when the second luchos were given. And on Purim, the Megillah says, קִיְּמוּ וְקִבְּלוּ הַיְּהוּדִים עֲלֵיהֶם וְעַל זַרְעָם וְעַל כָּל הַנִּלְוִים עֲלֵיהֶם וְלֹא יַעֲבוֹר לִהְיוֹת עֹשִׂים אֵת שְׁנֵי הַיָּמִים. Besides the simple meaning of this passuk, which is that Klal Yisrael accepted upon themselves all the halachos of the days of Purim, Chazal expound this to mean קיימו מה שקבלו כבר. Although Klal Yisrael had received the Torah at Har Sinai, that kabbalas haTorah involved an element of coercion —כָּפָה עָלָיו הַר כְּגִיגִית, and now, they accepted the Torah b’ahavah.

The connection between Yom Kippur and Purim, then, is that they’re both days of kabbalas haTorah. How do we celebrate the simchah of receiving the second luchos on Yom Kippur? Through the seudah of Purim, which represents the acceptance of the Torah — specifically the second luchos — with love.

What link is there between the second luchos and Purim? And why did these luchos need to be accepted with love?

The Midrash teaches that the difficulty of learning Torah, the requirement of ameilus in Torah, and the lack of clarity in Torah study, are functions of Torah Shebe’al Peh, which we received along with the second luchos. The first luchos were characterized by clarity; Chazal expound the words חָרוּת עַל הַלֻּחֹת to mean that no one would have forgotten anything they learned from the first luchos  nor would it be possible for a person to have the Torah and still do aveiros.

But Moshe Rabbeinu had to break those luchos, and that gave rise to a new situation, where the only way to merit Torah is through amal and yegiah. From then on, learning Torah involves lack of clarity, and only when a person works through the sugya with ameilus is he zocheh to reach a point of understanding.

Before Purim, this aspect of Torah was imposed on Klal Yisrael, and was something difficult for them to fulfill. But now, out of their delight over the miracle of Purim, they accepted upon themselves the Torah of the second luchos with love, and that gave rise to the simchah of Purim.

Rediscovering the Joy

Regarding the passuk לַיְּהוּדִים הָיְתָה אוֹרָה וְשִׂמְחָה וְשָׂשֹׂן וִיקָר, the Gemara in Megillah teaches that orah refers to Torah, simchah refers to Yom Tov, sasson refers to milah, and yekar refers to tefillin. If so, wonders the Sfas Emes, why didn’t the Megillah express this directly, by saying that the Yidden had Torah, Yom Tov, milah, and tefillin, instead of using codes? Why do we have to infer that orah is Torah, and so on?

He explains that before the nes of Purim, Klal Yisrael was on a low spiritual level, and did not feel the light of Torah, or the happiness of Yom Tov, or the joy of milah, or the preciousness of tefillin. Only after their fasting and teshuvah, and after their miraculous salvation, did they feel that Torah is light, and so on.

Chazal wonder why Klal Yisrael deserved such a terrible punishment at that time, and they answer that it was because they enjoyed the banquet of Achashverosh. Now, we know that the food at that banquet was kosher, as implied in the words כִּרְצוֹן אִישׁ וָאִישׁ. So what aveirah did they do by partaking of this feast?

The answer is that their enjoyment was really a symptom of an underlying problem. At that time, there was no Beis Hamikdash, and they were missing the Ribbono Shel Olam’s presence and hashra’as haShechinah. That being the case, they should have derived their enjoyment in life from a daf Gemara, from Shabbos, from mitzvos. Why were they seeking enjoyment from Achashverosh’s party? If they derived pleasure from that feast, that is a sign of what their spiritual state was. After they reaccepted the Torah with love, they once again found enjoyment in ruchniyus, and reveled in the pleasure of Torah and mitzvos.

Why Denigrate Others?

The Mishnah (Berachos 4:2) teaches that when a person leaves the beis midrash, he should say the following tefillah, composed by the Tanna R’ Nechuniah ben Hakaneh:

מוֹדֶה אֲנִי לְפָנֶיךָ ה’ אֱלֹקֵינוּ וֵאלֹקֵי אֲבֹתֵינוּ, שֶׁשַּׂמְתָּ חֶלְקִי מִיּוֹשְׁבֵי בֵּית הַמִּדְרָשׁ. וְלֹא שַׂמְתָּ חֶלְקִי מִיּוֹשְׁבֵי קְרָנוֹת. שֶׁאֲנִי מַשְׁכִּים וְהֵם מַשְׁכִּימִים. אֲנִי מַשְׁכִּים לְדִבְרֵי תוֹרָה וְהֵם מַשְׁכִּימִים לִדְבָרִים בְּטֵלִים. אֲנִי עָמֵל וְהֵם עֲמֵלִים. אֲנִי עָמֵל וּמְקַבֵּל שָׂכָר וְהֵם עֲמֵלִים וְאֵינָם מְקַבְּלִים שָׂכָר. אֲנִי רָץ וְהֵם רָצִים. אֲנִי רָץ לְחַיֵּי הָעוֹלָם הַבָּא, וְהֵם רָצִים לִבְאֵר שַׁחַת. שֶׁנֶּאֱמַר וְאַתָּה אֱלֹקִים תּוֹרִדֵם לִבְאֵר שַׁחַת. אַנְשֵׁי דָּמִים וּמִרְמָה לֹא יֶחֱצוּ יְמֵיהֶם, וַאֲנִי אֶבְטַח בָּךְ.

This is a very unusual tefillah, notes the Tiferes Yisrael. Why didn’t the Tanna suffice with thanking the Ribbono Shel Olam for giving him a portion in Torah, without disparaging others who devote their time to other pursuits?

The Tiferes Yisrael gives a beautiful answer. He explains that when a person is sitting in the beis midrash, engrossed in his Gemara, while the outside world is bustling — people are coming and going, the businesspeople and workers are hard at work earning money — he might look at himself as a lazy good-for-nothing, and his wife and family might view him that way too. Therefore, a talmid chacham has to talk to himself and be mechazek himself so he should feel proud of his choice to soar above those who devote their lives to chasing the vanity of this world.

Normally, we don’t try to focus on the flaws of others in order to build ourselves up, but in this case, it is crucial for a talmid chacham to not only thank the Ribbono Shel Olam that he merited a share in Torah, but to also remind himself that all those other people, who seem to be moving ahead and accomplishing in this world, are really just running themselves into the grave. Otherwise, he might get swept up in the worldview that embraces pursuit of money and worldly pleasure, and forget that his occupation is the only one that brings true rewards.

We, too, have to be mechazek ourselves to be proud of our limud haTorah and excited about it — to be mekabel b’ahavah.

Returning to the insight of the Vilna Gaon, when the second luchos were given on Yom Kippur, we did not celebrate with the food and drink of a regular Yom Tov. Instead, we celebrate the feast of Purim, through which we rejoice over our renewed kabbalas haTorah and our newfound ability to revel in the light of Torah, the happiness of Yom Tov, the joy of milah, the preciousness of tefillin, and so on.

These feelings are reflected in the tefillah that we say after learning Torah, in which we not only thank the Ribbono Shel Olam that we were zocheh to learn, but also give ourselves a pep talk and remind ourselves of the immense zechus we have that we can learn a daf Gemara, a passuk of Chumash, a dvar halachah, while keeping the mitzvos of the Torah.

Now is the time when we need this chizuk of kabbalas haTorah b’ahavah. This is what we should be proud of, and this is what should bring us tremendous simchah on Purim.

We should each be zocheh to experience this sublime joy, besides the joy of our miraculous salvation, and to experience our own kabbalas haTorah during these days of Purim.

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