Purim
1. It is known1 how the Baal Shem Tov explained "הקורא את המגילה למפרע לא יצא" ("One who reads the Megillah backward has not fulfilled his obligation"):2 when a person reads the Megillah and thinks that the story told there happened (only) once, "in the past" [l'mafrei'a], and that the miracle is not taking place now, he "has not fulfilled his obligation." The purpose of reading the Megillah is to learn from it how a Jew must conduct himself now.
This is so regarding all the matters (and verses3) of the Megillah: they must not be read in the manner of "l'mafrei'a." All the more so regarding the overall story of the Megillah, and certainly with regard to the verse that explains the name "Purim"
— for since the name of a thing indicates its essence,4 it follows that this verse explains the essence of "Purim," which is the principal point of the Megillah —
in this there is an eternal directive, for every time and every place, both for the Jewish people as a whole and for every Jew as an individual.
2. The verse5 says: "על כן קראו לימים האלה פורים — על שם הפור" ("Therefore they called these days Purim — after the name of the Pur").
Now this is not understood. The word "Pur" is not a word of Lashon HaKodesh but of Persian.5 And when the verse7 says "הפיל פור" ("he cast a pur"), it adds "הוא הגורל" ("that is, the lot"), thereby translating the word "Pur" into Lashon HaKodesh, the language in which the Megillah is written.
So it is not understood: why is the Yom Tov8 called "Purim" ("after the name of the Pur") in Persian, and not "Goralos" ("after the name of the lot") in Lashon HaKodesh, like all the Yamim Tovim (including Chanukah — a Yom Tov of Rabbinic origin), which are called by names in Lashon HaKodesh?
It is also difficult to understand: the name of the Yom Tov should surely have expressed (as with all other Yamim Tovim) the miracle and the deliverance (from Haman's decree). Yet the name "Purim," "after the name of the Pur," points to the very opposite: to the "Pur" that the wicked Haman cast with the intention "להומם ולאבדם" ("to confound them and to destroy them") — G‑d forbid, may such a thing never come to pass!
3. There is another matter in Megillas Esther that is connected with the Megillah as a whole: throughout the entire Megillah, G‑d's Name is not mentioned — unlike all the other books of the Holy Writings, in each of which G‑d's Name is mentioned many times.
This points to an extremely great concealment and hiddenness:9
In general, every Jew, even when he speaks10 of mundane matters, has "שם שמים שגור בפיו" ("the Name of Heaven fluent on his lips").11 And needless to say when it comes to writing (a "מעשה רבה," a "major act"): it is the accepted practice throughout all the Jewish communities (and "מנהג ישראל תורה הוא," "a custom of the Jewish people is Torah"12) that even when one writes a letter about mundane matters, one begins it with "B"H" (or the like)13 [for since "מלא כל הארץ כבודו" ("the whole earth is full of His glory")14 and "לית אתר פנוי מיניה" ("there is no place devoid of Him"),14* it is therefore simply settled for a Jew that, whatever the matter may concern, it is connected with G‑d15].
— And here is an entire Megillah, one of the twenty-four books of the Holy Writings, in which "the Name of Heaven" is not mentioned even once!16
4. As mentioned earlier (Section 1), the content of every thing is indicated in its name. And so too the concealment and hiddenness of the Megillah is indicated in its name:
The name of the Megillah is "מגילת אסתר" (Megillas Esther)17 (or "Esther"18), and Esther indicates the matter of concealment [hester],19 and even more — a double concealment, as the Gemara20 says: "אסתר מן התורה מנין ואנכי21 הסתר אסתיר" ("Where is Esther indicated in the Torah? 'And I will surely hide'") — hester twice.22
But on the other hand, the name "Megillas Esther" (especially as it is also called23 simply "Megillah") points to revelation — "Megillah" from the word giluy, revelation.24
And just as in the Megillah we see two opposite matters — concealment and revelation — so too we see this in the Yom Tov of Purim. On the one hand, the Yom Tov bears the name Purim — a Persian word, and a name taken from a matter connected with the decree — which shows that the Yom Tov is connected with concealment and hiddenness. On the other hand, the days of Purim are days of feasting and joy, far more than other Yamim Tovim, reaching an extremely great joy beyond all measure and limit, in the manner of "עד דלא ידע כו'" ("until one does not know, etc.").25
5. To understand this, we must first preface one directive (of many others) from the overall story of the Megillah and from Purim (a directive that is understood even in its plain sense):26
At the time of Haman's decree, the Jews had very important representatives in the government: Mordechai was one who "יושב בשער המלך" ("sat at the king's gate"),27 and he had moreover saved the king's life;28 and Esther was a queen, and in particular "ותשא חן וחסד לפניו" ("she won his grace and favor").29
Seemingly, then, when they learned of the decree, they should first of all have made use of these representatives, to have them intercede with King Achashverosh to annul the decree.
The Megillah relates, however, that the first action Mordechai took was "וילבש שק ואפר ויצא בתוך העיר" ("he put on sackcloth and ashes and went out into the midst of the city"): he set about doing teshuvah and called upon all Jews to do teshuvah.30 And only after this did he send Esther "לבא אל המלך להתחנן לו ולבקש מלפניו על עמה" ("to go to the king, to beseech him and to plead before him for her people");31
and Esther, too, conducted herself in this same order. When she had to go to the king, she first of all instructed Mordechai32 — "לך כנוס את כל היהודים גו' וצומו עלי ואל תאכלו ואל תשתו שלשת ימים לילה ויום" ("Go, gather all the Jews… and fast for me; do not eat and do not drink for three days, night and day"). And she was not yet satisfied with this, but added: "גם אני גו' אצום כן" ("I too… will fast likewise").
Now seemingly: she had to win favor in Achashverosh's eyes at that time — especially as her coming to the king's inner court was "לא כדת" ("not according to the law")33 and involved actual danger to her life — "אחת דתו להמית" ("there is one law for him: to be put to death")34 — and a special measure of grace was needed (since "ואני לא נקראתי . . זה שלשים יום," "I have not been called… these thirty days"35). How, then, could she think it right36 to fast for three full days in succession,37 something that (in the natural course36) causes one to lose one's grace?
6. The explanation, however, is simple: Mordechai and Esther knew clearly that the decree upon the Jews was not "ממנהג העולם אירע לנו וצרה זו נקרה נקרית" ("the way of the world that this happened to us, and this trouble is mere chance"), but "בגלל מעשיהם הרעים הורע להן" ("because of their evil deeds, evil came upon them").37 And since it is plain that one cannot truly annul the "effect" (the decree) as long as one does not remove the "cause" (the evil deeds), their first action was to call upon Jews to do teshuvah and to decree a fast
[and not simply a call to teshuvah, but they spelled out clearly the sin for which teshuvah had to be done, as the Midrash38 states on the verse "צומו עלי ואל תאכלו ואל תשתו" ("Fast for me; do not eat and do not drink"): "אתם צמית על שאכלתם ושתיתם מסעודתו של אחשורוש" ("You are fasting because you ate and drank at the feast of Achashverosh")].
And after the cause of the decree had been removed through teshuvah — and since G‑d wants the "בכל אשר תעשה" ("in all that you do"),39 that something also be done by natural means — they then went to Achashverosh to have the decree revoked.
And because going to Achashverosh was no more than a garment (so that the deliverance from Above should have a foothold in nature), whereas the cause of the deliverance was teshuvah and fasting, it is understood that the principal attention was paid not to the garment but to the cause.40
7. The directive from this is plainly understood:
When a time of trouble comes, may the Merciful One spare us, there are those who think that the first and principal work must be to seek efforts by natural means. The Megillah tells us that this comes later: the first action must be to strengthen the bond with G‑d by studying His Torah and fulfilling His mitzvos, and only then to seek a garment in nature for the deliverance. And if one acts this way, then in whatever natural garment one makes, the miraculous deliverance that is above nature will clothe itself.
And just as this is so for the Jewish people as a whole, so too with every individual Jew. A Jew must know41 that he is bound with G‑d, Who is not, G‑d forbid, limited by the laws of nature.42 There must indeed also be the "בכל אשר תעשה" ("in all that you do"), in which the "וברכך הוי' אלקיך" ("the L‑rd your G‑d will bless you")43 is to clothe itself. But since the "doing" that a person does is no more than a garment, it is plainly understood that the principal effort must be directed not at the garment41 but at receiving the blessing from G‑d, which is accomplished through Torah study and the fulfillment of mitzvos.
But if one "bypasses" the essential for the sake of strengthening the garment, this is similar to one who goes into a bank to withdraw money when he has no check with which to receive the money, or the check is from someone who has no account at the bank.
— The first thing he must do is provide himself with a "check," and see to it that the "check" is not from "בורות נשברים אשר לא יכילו המים" ("broken cisterns that cannot hold water"),44 but rather, to make the distinction, from the One of Whom it is said "לי הכסף ולי הזהב" ("Mine is the silver and Mine is the gold").45 And once he already has the "check," G‑d tells him to "cash" it in a natural garment through "in all that you do."
8. One might think that all the above applies only at a time when G‑dliness shines openly; but in the time of exile, and especially in the "heels of Moshiach," when there is a "doubled and redoubled darkness," then since G‑d Himself made the "darkness," it is a true concealment, G‑d forbid, such that the flow from Above (of material matters) has been handed over (by His will) to the laws of nature.46
To this comes the answer: at the time of Purim, too, the Jews were in exile, "מפוזר ומפורד בין העמים" ("scattered and dispersed among the nations"),47 and this situation remained even after the miracle, as the Gemara48 says: "אכתי עבדי אחשורוש אנן" ("We are still servants of Achashverosh"). And nevertheless, then too the deliverance came (not through natural means, but) through "Fast for me… three days," through turning back to G‑d.
9. And this is the directive from the fact that the Yom Tov bears the name "Purim" (in Persian, and pointing to the decree, as mentioned above, Section 2), and also from the fact that the Megillah does not mention (openly49) the Name of Heaven — for in this lies the accomplishment of "Purim" and "Megillas Esther":
That Jews are not subject to the laws of nature is so not only regarding "מילי דשמיא" ("matters of Heaven"), their spiritual concerns (such as success in the study of Torah according to the truth, which requires "סייעתא דשמיא" ("the help of Heaven"), which comes through the fear of Heaven), or even in business when the trade is conducted among Jews — for among themselves, after all, "לא50 שינו את לשונם וכו'" ("they did not change their language, etc.") —
but also in the business that a Jew conducts with a non-Jew, to make the distinction, when he has to speak with him in "Persian," and since "הלכה בידוע שעשו שונא ליעקב" ("it is an established rule that Esav hates Yaakov"),51 it is possible that the non-Jew will seek various schemes and stratagems against him — "he cast a pur"; and even when he finds himself in a situation where there is a concern52 that instead of mentioning the Name of Heaven, the non-Jew will mention, to make the distinction, the name of an idol.53
He might think: since the non-Jew is indeed subject to the laws of nature, and the flow of blessing to the Jew seemingly goes together with the flow to the non-Jew (for they do business together), the Jew too is consequently subject to nature.54
On this comes the directive of "Purim" and "Megillas Esther": even when a Jew has to do with "Purim," in Persian, and with "Esther," from the words "הסתר אסתיר" ("I will surely hide"), he must know that within this is that which is above nature. The "Pur" is "that is, the lot," and a lot by its nature is above the chain of descent [hishtalshelus];55 and within "I will surely hide" is the "אנכי" ("I"),56 which is higher than all the Names,57 even the Name Havayah.58
10. And when a Jew reads "Megillas Esther" — such that even the matters of "Esther" (the double concealment, "I will surely hide") he reads (and takes in) as "Megillah," from the word for revelation, because he knows that even the "Pur" (down to the "Pur" that Haman cast) is "that is, the lot" — and (all of this) is not "l'mafrei'a," but is present with him now,
he then arrives at the ultimate revelation — "Megillah" without qualification, which brings to an extremely great joy, to the point of "until one does not know, etc.," a joy without limit,
and through this, "סומכין גאולה לגאולה" ("one redemption is joined to another"):59 from the redemption of Purim one comes to the future Redemption (which is likened60 to the redemption of the Exodus from Egypt),
when "ולילה כיום יאיר" ("the night will shine like the day")61 will come to pass, so that even the darkness of "night" will shine (as explained above regarding "Megillas Esther," that even the concealment becomes revelation).
With the coming of our righteous Moshiach; may he come and redeem us very soon indeed.
(From the sichos of Purim 5726)
Notes
1) Cited in the sefer Divrei Shalom, Parshas Bo.
2) Beginning of the second chapter of Megillah.
3) Like the law of "l'mafrei'a" in its plain sense: even if one read only a single verse out of order [and even in a way that does not change the matter], he has not fulfilled his obligation (Shulchan Aruch, Orach Chaim, Siman 690, se'if 7; [OCR unclear] there).
4) See at length above, p. 35ff., and the notes there.
5) Esther 9:26.
5) Ibn Ezra, ibid., 3:7.
7) Esther, ibid. [3:7]; 9:26.
8) In the maamar beginning "ליהודים היתה אורה ושמחה" ("The Jews had light and joy") of 5626, it is stated that what they said (Megillah 16b), "שמחה זה יו"ט" ("'Joy' refers to Yom Tov"), is because the festival of Purim will not be nullified. See at length the sicha of Purim and Shabbos Parshas Tisa 5728.
9) In Ibn Ezra's introduction to Megillas Esther: "וזאת המגילה חיברה מרדכי . . והעתיקוה הפרסיים ונכתבה בדברי הימים של מלכיהם והם היו עובדי עו"ג והיו כותבין תחת השם הנכבד והנורא שם תועבותם . . והנה כבוד השם שלא יזכירו מרדכי במגילה" ("This Megillah was composed by Mordechai… and the Persians copied it, and it was written in the chronicles of their kings; they were idol-worshippers and would write, in place of the honored and awesome Name, the name of their abomination… And so it was out of honor for the Name that Mordechai did not mention it in the Megillah"). However, from the fact that Esther sent word, "כבר כתובה אני על דה"י למלכי מדי ופרס" ("I am already recorded in the chronicles of the kings of Media and Persia") (Megillah 7a), it is clear that the story of Esther and so on was recorded in the chronicles of their kings before the Megillah was written. This is also implied by the plain sense, since "על ספר דברי הימים למלכי מדי ופרס" ("in the book of the chronicles of the kings of Media and Persia") are written "כל מעשה תקפו וגבורתו ופרשת גדולת מרדכי" ("all the acts of his power and his might, and the account of Mordechai's greatness") (Esther 10:2) — including what was not written in the Megillah — and consequently one cannot say that the Persians copied this from the Megillah. In addition: even according to this explanation of Ibn Ezra — since all matters, and especially matters in Torah, come about by Divine Providence, the very fact that there were such reasons on account of which they could not write the Name in the Megillah (especially such a reason — that the Name might be replaced by the name of their abomination) shows that the Megillah is connected with concealment.
10) Even though it is only a "מעשה זוטא" ("minor act") (Sanhedrin 65a).
11) Furthermore, the negation of mentioning [G‑d's Name], etc., shows the character of Esav (Rashi, Toldos 27:21, from Bereishis Rabbah 65:19).
12) See Torah Or 14, beginning of side b; Shaarei Teshuvah of the Mitteler Rebbe, part 1, 8b; the maamar beginning "חכמות בחוץ תרונה" ("Wisdom sings aloud in the street") of 5694, ch. 2 (Sefer HaMaamarim Kuntreisim, vol. 2, 296a). Note also Sefer HaMaamarim Yiddish, pp. 138-9.
13) Sources are noted in Likkutei Sichos, vol. 4, p. 1080.
14) Yeshayah 6:3.
14*) Tikkunei Zohar, Tikkun 57.
15) Moreover, it may be said that this is a matter in man's service of his Maker: that "יחשוב בכל עסקיו ועניניו" ("he should consider, in all his affairs and concerns") "שממה"מ הקב"ה חופף עליו וכו'" ("that the supreme King of kings, the Holy One, blessed be He, hovers over him, etc.") (Shulchan Aruch of the Alter Rebbe, Orach Chaim, beginning of Siman 1 — first edition; see also there, second edition).
16) In addition to the question on the matter itself, it is not understood at all: this too — that the Name of the Holy One, blessed be He, is not mentioned in the entire Megillah — is a directive (especially as it pertains to the Megillah as a whole, as mentioned above). Seemingly, what is the directive and lesson from this? On the contrary, one's conduct should be such that the Name of Heaven is fluent on his lips!
17) Bava Basra 14b; Tur and Shulchan Aruch, Yoreh De'ah, end of Siman 283.
18) Megillah, ibid.
19) See Chullin 139b (cited below in the text). See also Megillah 13a: "על שם שהיתה מסתרת כו'" ("because she would conceal, etc."). And even according to the second opinion (in Megillah, ibid.), "על שום אסתהר" ("after Istahar" — the morning star), which is a matter of (revelation and) elevation, there is nevertheless also the element of concealment in this, since it was the nations of the world who called her so — similar to the concealment of "Purim," which is in Persian. It should be noted that according to both opinions — "that she would conceal, etc.: 'Esther did not reveal her people'" and "that the nations of the world, etc." — it is a concealment in the matter of Jewishness (the content of the directive below, Section 9).
20) Chullin, ibid.
21) Vayeilech 31:18.
22) It is known (Toldos Yaakov Yosef, beginning of Parshas Bereishis; see at length Likkutei Sichos, vol. 7, p. 41ff. (Section 4); vol. 9, p. 193) how the Baal Shem Tov explained this: the concealment itself is concealed, that is, one does not know at all that it is a concealment.
23) Throughout tractate Megillah (to the point that for this reason the tractate itself is called Megillah). In addition: even in relation to the other Megillos (Shir HaShirim, etc.), it is called simply "Megillah" (Rambam, Laws of Sefer Torah 7:15).
24) Torah Or 119, top of side a (from Pri Etz Chaim, Shaar HaPurim, ch. 5).
25) Megillah 7b. See at length Likkutei Sichos, vol. 7, p. 20ff.
26) On what follows (in this section and the next), see at length also Likkutei Sichos, vol. 1, p. 213ff.
27) Esther 2:19, and elsewhere. See also Megillah (end of 13a) that Achashverosh took counsel from Mordechai.
28) Esther, ibid., 21ff. In particular, in actual fact the beginning of the annulment of the decree came about through Achashverosh's remembering this (ibid., 6:2ff.).
29) Esther 2:17.
30) Ibid., 4:3; Targum Sheni there, v. 1.
31) Esther, ibid., v. 8.
32) Ibid., v. 15.
33) Ibid., v. 11.
34) Note Shulchan Aruch, Orach Chaim (end of Siman 571), that those who must go to battle are not permitted to fast, except once they have been saved.
35) In Ibn Ezra here: "יתענו שני ימים ושני לילות" ("they shall fast two days and two nights") (and the words "three days" mean "until the third day"). And in Yalkut Shimoni here (remez 1056): "שהיו מפסיקין מבעוד יום" ("they would stop while it was still day"). However, the Talmud, Yevamos (121b), proves as stated in the text, since the episode of Rabbi Meir there (121a) is that he came up after three days.
36) See Ibn Ezra, 4:16.
37) Rambam, Laws of Fasts 1:2-3.
38) Yalkut Shimoni, Esther, beginning of ch. 5 (the remez cited above).
39) Re'eh 15:18.
40) And although, as mentioned above (note 34), a city surrounded by idolaters "אינם רשאים להתענות שלא לשבר כחם" ("may not fast, so as not to break their strength"), it may be said that our case is different, since it concerns an individual (Esther): since all the Jews in Shushan were fasting for three days, an individual should not separate from them. This requires further investigation.
41) See Derech Mitzvosecha 107a ff.; the maamar beginning "וידעת היום" ("And you shall know this day") of 5656; and in many other places.
Moreover: there are some things that a person must leave to G‑d's conduct alone, not doing anything but trusting… When one sees that the conduct must be in this way, this is not included in "we do not rely on a miracle," etc. (the maamar beginning "בסוכות" ("In sukkos"), תר"ג — in the Hemshech of 5672).
42) See Likkutei Sichos, vol. 7, p. 184, and the sources noted there.
43) On the contrary, one who multiplies garments spoils things, like a person who makes a garment much longer than the size of his body, which causes him to stumble over it, etc. (Derech Mitzvosecha 107b).
44) Yirmeyah 2:13.
45) Chaggai 2:8.
46) Similar to the claim of the spies, that the Master of the house cannot (G‑d forbid) remove His vessels from there (Sotah 35a; Arachin 15a): although He is the "Master of the house," nevertheless, since by His will they fell (through the Shattering of the Vessels) into the kelipos, He cannot take them out (see Derech Mitzvosecha 185b; Likkutei Sichos, vol. 4, p. 1044).
47) Esther 3:8. And so too in spiritual terms, that they are scattered and dispersed "בריבוי המחשבות דעוה"ז" ("in the multitude of the thoughts of this world") (the maamar beginning "בלילה ההוא" ("On that night") of 5700, end of ch. 4).
48) Megillah 14a.
49) Unlike the initial and final letters, etc. On the contrary, "צריך לכוון בהם" ("one must have them in mind") (Pri Etz Chaim, Shaar HaPurim, ch. 6; see also Mishnas Chassidim in its place).
50) Vayikra Rabbah 32:5; Bamidbar Rabbah 20:22. See Likkutei Dibburim, vol. 3 (406a), that the intent is the "Jewish language of exile."
51) Sifri, Behaaloscha 9:10; Rashi, Vayishlach 33:4.
52) See Ibn Ezra's introduction to Megillas Esther (quoted above, note 9).
53) See Orach Chaim, Siman 156.
54) Similar to the mistaken notion "הואיל ורבי עובד ע"ז אף אני כן" ("since my master worships idols, I will do so too") (Toras Kohanim and Rashi, end of Parshas Behar; see Likkutei Sichos, vol. 7, p. 183ff.).
55) See Torah Or 102d; 123c. See also Iggeres HaKodesh, end of section 10; and the discourses on the verse "אך בגורל יחלק את הארץ" ("Only by lot shall the land be divided") (in Ohr HaTorah, Pinchas, and elsewhere).
56) As it is written (Vayeilech 31:18), "ואנכי הסתר אסתיר" ("And I will surely hide"). See Likkutei Sichos, vol. 9, p. 195, at the end.
57) See Likkutei Torah, Pinchas 80b, and Zohar III, 256b: that "Anochi" is the level that "לא אתפס בשם ולא אתרמיז" ("is not grasped by any name and not alluded to"), etc.
58) See also Torah Or (100b; 121c), that the reason no Name is mentioned in the Megillah is that the light vested in it is above the level of the Names. See there.
59) See Megillah, end of 6b.
60) Michah 7:15.
61) Tehillim 139:12. See at length Likkutei Sichos, vol. 7, p. 41ff., on the explanation of "בלילה ההוא נדדה שנת המלך" ("On that night the king's sleep was disturbed") — the force of the Purim miracle: that the concealment of "on that night," the ultimate concealment, becomes the level of "the king's sleep was disturbed," the ultimate revelation. See there at length.
Key Lesson
Reading the Megillah is never about the past alone: it teaches that a Jew's first response to any challenge is to strengthen his bond with G‑d through Torah and mitzvos, with natural efforts serving only as a garment for the blessing. The Rebbe teaches that even where G‑d seems most hidden, in the "Persian" dealings of daily life, the Pur "is the lot" and the "I will surely hide" contains the "Anochi" above all Names. One who reads concealment this way turns it into revelation and boundless joy, leading from the redemption of Purim to the future Redemption.