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Based on Ohr Chadash* of Maharal of Prague and Likutey Halakhot, Tefillin 6:30

[Queen Esther said to Mordekhai the Jew,] “Go gather all the Jews found in Shushan and fast for me. Don’t eat or drink for three days, by day or night….” (Esther 4:16)

Queen Esther told Mordekhai—the Jew—that in praying to avert and rescind the decree of annihilation, it is necessary for the Jews to pray together. Staying at home to pray as individuals won’t be enough.
Maharal points out that this is also the opinion of Tosfot (Megilah 2a).

Jews joining together for the purpose of prayer redeems us and, as it were, the Shekhinah from exile (Berakhot 8a). (The Shekhinah herself is never in exile, but considered to be so because she never leaves our side.) Our praying together when we have gathered for the purpose of praying to God, is an in-gathering from the Exile.

The gathering together to fast was (and is) meant to be an un-doing, as well. Shortly before Esther became queen, many Jews had gathered to eat and drink at Achahveirosh’s ball (Esther 1:1–8). Since their enjoyment of that event was one of the causes for the decree (Megilah 12a), negating the decree called for un-doing their sin.

But un-doing a sin means more than just not doing it, or doing the opposite of what you did. It means feeling ashamed of having lost (control of) your self to such a degree that you acted so un-Jewishly and of being ashamed that you had no shame. Ideally, Rebbe Nachman teaches, one should feel so ashamed that he’s too embarrassed and unworthy to eat.

Then, writes Reb Noson, God wipes away all your wrong-doing and shame, and invites you to eat, drink and be merry at the Purim seudah (meal).

However foolish or silly you may be then, He accepts it in love.

Have an easy, meaningful fast.

*The Maharal’s commentary on the Book of Esther.

© Copyright 2010 Breslov Research Institute

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CO

Boker Tov:

Ozer, I hope your Purim was amazing. I kept thinking about the singing you were going to do with your family in Jerusalem (see below) and tried at my table to do the same. We shift now from Purim to Pesach. How does the Rebbe want us to make the transition in our thinking between the two holidays? Can you suggest a lesson in L”M that speaks to the preparations for Passover?

CO

OB

Shalom Reb C”O!

Your question is, IMHO, most openly addressed by Likutey Moharan II, Lesson #74 (translation of which can be found at “A Simple Jew” somewhere in ‘06).

The Rebbe zal writes that Purim “becomes” Parshat Parah, the taharah/cleansing from tumat-met (impurity of the dead), said cleansing being required to partake of the korban Pesach (Pascal lamb).

If we properly participate in Purim, we prepare ourselves to properly prepare for Pesach, in relation to the mitzvah of disowning all our chametz. Purim the holiday is over, but Purim’s lessons and influence are still available.

The joy we aimed for and the joy we actually achieved; our increased awareness/comprehension of the Purim miracle (or any part thereof); our attempt to understand the connection of (different facets of) Mordekhai and Esther to Pesach; our understanding of what “chametz” refers to beyond leavened foodstuffs and why it’s important to be rid of them; of why/how eating such foods on Pesach is deadly; and even a trace of them in our possession weakens the cord of our connection with God, are all bridges between Purim and Pesach. (There are others too!) Focusing on one or two, maybe even three (time permitting), can create a structure and a theme for the Seder and, hopefully, for the entire yom tov.

kol tuv.
OB

Ozer Bergman and Chaim Oliver
Breslov Research Institute

© Copyright 2009 Breslov Research Institute

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Based on Rebbe Nachman’s Wisdom #3

On Purim a man is obligated to get so drunk that he does not know the difference between “cursed is Haman” and “blessed is Mordekhai” (Shulchan Arukh, Orach Chaim 695:2). (Other halakhic opinions allow one to get only mildly inebriated.)

Too often, we get so caught up in making sure we do a mitzvah (properly) that we forget to reflect about what it can teach us. (Sometimes, though, it’s enough that we remember to do it!) This is particularly true of getting drunk on Purim. What’s to think about? Just pass the bottle!

Well, there’s a difference between an ordinary no-brainer and a Purim no-brainer. The Chovavat HaLevavot (among others) writes, “The goal of knowledge is to realize that one knows nothing.” Reb Noson writes:

It cannot be put into writing how much the Rebbe emphasized God’s greatness. He stated that it is beyond all measure. So many magnificent and spectacular things take place in the world—so much so, that people truly know nothing at all.

This is true on a large scale, as per Megilat Esther, and in our own personal lives. We have no idea why we were born where we were, when we were or as we were. But here we are, as we are, like it or not. And when Haman casts his specter over us, when he says he will have us killed—physically—and annihilated—spiritually—we believe it. Haman says our Judaism is dead and gone. It gnaws at us; we have a sinking feeling he may be right. The cancer of doom metastasizes in our hearts and minds.

We believe him because we know he’s right. “I did this sin and that, I haven’t been doing all the mitzvot I know I should, etc., etc.” At this point we need to draw on Rebbe Nachman’s un-knowing. The Rebbe explicitly said though his teachings were very unique, his not-knowing was even more unique. That is, he was unique in acknowledging his ultimate un-knowing (Rebbe Nachman’s Praise, The Pilgrimage #33).

On one such “un-knowing” occasion (Rebbe Nachman’s Wisdom, #153) the Rebbe made his famous declaration: There is no such thing as despair! That was one of the many times the Rebbe emphasized the power of repentance, of starting again. And now, in our day and age, beginnings don’t have to wait for Pesach. Now, beginning starts on Purim (Likutey Moharan II, Lesson #74).

So getting drunk until one doesn’t know, is exactly what we need. As the Maharal of Prague put it, we need to get drunk in order to realize that, ultimately, left to our own devices, we are truly helpless, destined to come an end just like everything else in creation, just as the year ends in Adar. But it’s not enough to know it. You have to not-know it, first-hand. L’chaim!

afreilekhen Purim!

Purim sameach!

Merry PURim!

Ozer Bergman
Breslov Research Institute

© Copyright 2009 Breslov Research Institute

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CO:

Okay let’s talk about Purim. What especially does the Rebbe teach us about Purim? Can you give us an idea or two? Can you speak about how you will be celebrating Purim this year, anything special? How can we have a particularly rewarding Purim?

OB:

Maybe we’ll start at the end. To have a particularly rewarding Purim, it pays to daven (pray) to ask Hashem (God) for help to not only do all the mitzvot that are done on Purim, but to feel the Purim. Reb Noson says that we should be misbonen (ponder): what were the miracles of Purim? What is it that we are really celebrating? Are we just celebrating being saved, which of course is something worth celebrating, but how did that happen? Was there anything in particular that was the key moment(s) or was it really a whole chain, a whole process? Was there a point in the process, a critical moment when the process took a turn for the better? or for the worse? That’s too much to think about on Purim. You have to think about it before Purim.

How will I be celebrating Purim this year? By drinking as much as I can. I will try to do that with friends and people I spend time with during the year, people I learn Torah with. I want to sing with them. I have a song list in my mind of songs I would like to on Purim.

I have a son-in-law and a son that are Toldos Aharon Chasidim. For a couple of years I made it to the tish (mealtime gathering of chasidim and their rebbe) and there’s a lot of singing. (I’m sure this is true of other chasidim as well.) They’re not singing drinking songs or even Jewish drinking songs, but Nishmas (from Shabbos morning davening) and other nigunim (songs, liturgical or otherwise). That is something I would like to do at my own tish (table). I have a list of songs that are particularly meaningful to me that I would like to sing over the course of the Purim seudah (meal).

I think that’s something that most people have, at their own level, some song that makes them feel more Jewish, that tugs them to be more Jewish. For some it will be Adon Olam and for some something from Fiddler on the Roof (lehavdil—pardon the comparison), or whatever Yiddishe nigunim, from this singer or that, Bentzion Shenker or someone else, from this chasidus or that. Wherever it will come from; I think everyone has a song that touches him.

A Shabbos song is not out of place on Purim. Nothing is out of place on Purim except being unhappy. So singing of that sort is what I will try to incorporate in celebrating Purim this year.

As far as what the Rebbe z”l teaches us about Purim—well as you know because you’ve read the “How to Learn Likutey Moharan” piece and wrote the “Reach Up” piece—the Rebbe says that any of his lessons can be applied to the whole gamut of Torah. So you can hold a lesson up to the Purim light and see Purim. You mentioned Lesson #8 before. Mordechai and Esther’s various prayers and wailing are like the deep sigh and groans that the Rebbe z”l teaches become the vessel of salvation.

I was thinking today about Lesson #5 (Likutey Moharan I). The Rebbe says that sometimes after a decree has been sealed and tzaddikim need to camouflage or disguise a tefillah (prayer)as a story. This is very much reflected in the Megillah itself. The decree was sealed and the story about it doesn’t even mention God at all anywhere in the text. Just the telling of the story, reading the Megillah, itself is a tefilah, a prayer that Hashem should save us. Plus in tractate Megillah, the Gemara asks why we don’t say Hallel on Purim. A miracle took place right? One of the answers is that the reading of the Megilah is the Hallel! We see that in a very real sense, Chazal (our Sages) tells us that reading the Megilah is a tefilah, so of course when the Rebbe says that you can tell a story and intend it to be a tefilah in disguise. Here we have an example of it.

I think it’s important for us to be aware that the Rebbe just doesn’t mean the reading of the Megilah and he just doesn’t mean the super-duper tzaddikim. The Rebbe means that you and I also can have a certain degree of awareness when we tell our troubles and the troubles of others, that we’re not talking just to the person in front of us, or on the other end of the modem, but that we are also addressing Hashem, that He should please hear our concern and translate that into salvation for another Jew. I think that is something that we can really take to heart.

Even telling a story that somebody was saved and somebody did have something happen. Somebody took a medical test, and the results were favorable, just telling that can be expressed as a thanks to Hashem; a person should be aware of that.

Ozer Bergman
Breslov Research Institute
© Copyright 2009 Breslov Research Institute

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yossipurim

We are going to discuss a lesson about Purim found in the writings of Reb Noson.

One of the main focuses of the lesson is called “Klipas Haman Amalek”. Literally translated this refers to the “husks” of Haman and Amalek. In our context this is the joint negative, spiritual force of Haman and Amalek. Haman is the Rasha or evil person who tried to annihilate the Jewish people during the rule of King Achashverosh. It is said that he descended from the evil nation of Amalek who attacked the Jewish people while they were travelling through the desert.

Reb Noson explains that this spiritual force was actually the culprit for trying to cause the destruction of the Jewish people. Many times a Jew is trying to pray and this force attacks him telling him, don’t bother praying, you prayed so many times already and G-d didn’t listen to you. Why bother? Or one may think that the situation is already beyond the realm of hope and that prayer cannot help at this point. Such thoughts turn a Jew away from praying. Because of the lack of prayer in the world, both the personal exile of this Jew and the state of exile of the Jewish nation as a whole become prolonged. This extended exile causes the Jew to despair even more and forget about putting strength into his prayers altogether.

This vicious cycle would never end if it were not for the Great Tzaddikim that Hashem sends us. They teach us that G-d loves and waits for us to pray. That even the smallest single prayer is heard and helps.

This theme can be seen throughout the story of Purim.

The Jewish people believed that they were going to be redeemed after 70 years. Many of the great Jews miscalculated the time of this redemption including Daniel the prophet. “Klipas Haman Amalek” used this to attack the Jews telling them, “You see your G-d does not listen to you anymore. He didn’t even bother redeeming you. Why pray to Him?” This is why Haman made himself into an idol and commanded everyone to bow down to him.

This is the power of Amalek throughout the generations. It says in the Torah “ Zachor es asher asah lecha amalek… asher karcha baderech”, “Remember that which Amalek did to you… that they met you on the way.”

Karcha can also be translated as cooled you on the way. They seek to cool us from our prayers.

However, G-d sent us Mordechai – Mori D’chayi, which can be translated as “a pleasant smell.” He refused to bow down to Haman. He told the Jews to fast and pray. He encouraged the Jews and taught us that G-d wants to hear from us, our prayers are pleasant smelling to Him. Perhaps we still need to pray more, but every prayer that was said, has been heard. Let us continue and strengthen ourselves in prayer and we will surely be redeemed and this terrible decree will be renounced.

Esther represents the Jewish People. She went down to the palace of Achashverosh, a place filled with idols and was taken under the spiritual influence of his evil reign. The Gemara says at this point her “Ruach Hakodesh” or Divine Inspiration left her. She screamed out “keyli keyli, lama azavtani – My G-d, my G-d, why have you abandoned me.” Even when we have involved ourselves in bad situations, and are surrounded by idols, we can always scream out and be saved.

Today we find ourselves in a similar predicament, both personally and as a nation. But we and our ancestors have screamed and screamed for thousands of years. Surely, if we will hold on only a little longer and scream just a bit more, we will also be redeemed.

A freylechen Purim

Yossi Katz
Breslov Research Institute
© Copyright 2009 Breslov Research Institute

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