What is the big simchah on purim?
Is it just about the great miracle that happened in the time of mordechai and esther??
Why is matanos la’evyonim actually different from tzedakah all year?
Why is it so important for us to gather men, women, and children to come to shul and listen to the Megillah, to hear a story we all know by heart?
What in the world are we doing when we drink?
Ask yourself: “Do I actually think about Haman’s failure to kill the Jews, and experience true joy for that specific reason, like a feeling of “phew, I’m so thankful to Hashem that my ancestors were not murdered on this day?”
The answer to that is probably no… Many of us find it hard to truly feel any emotional connection to a miracle that happened 2,300 years ago!
The list of questions that we could come up with about Purim is endless, because Purim is the most concealed Yom Tov of the year! Even though it’s an exciting and busy day with lots of mitzvos and simchah, if we don’t fully understand the awesome spiritual potential of the day, we won’t be able to maximize our growth from it! And if we don’t tap into the spiritual essence of the day, our neshamah will be left feeling disappointed, which is why some people feel a sense of ‘let down’ after Purim. If we do not take the time to learn and understand the real message of Purim, we could find ourselves sitting at our Purim party, enjoying the day, but with our soul left thirsting for the deeper truth. Let’s take care of our neshamos!
Hashem embedded within every Yom Tov a special energy which every Jew can absorb. On a simple level this energy, or ohr, gives us the ability to internalize a message or lesson that will bring us closer to Hashem. The goal is to ‘live’ this message on Yom Tov, and then “take it to go,” elevating ourselves all year round.
The Purim story taught us that even when Hashem isn’t altering nature, He is guiding it. We can absorb this spiritual energy on Purim, and start to experience the guiding hand of Hashem in every aspect of life.
On Purim we are given the opportunity to see Hashem in our lives, even though He is concealed in nature. Unlike other miracles, the miraculous story of Purim happened completely within the laws of nature. When Hashem makes an open miracle, He demonstrates that He created the entirety of creation — the One who created nature, can defy it. On Purim Hashem pulled off the mask, revealing the natural order of the world as being nothing more than an illusion, a vessel through which He facilitates His Will.
All year round we may know this truth on an intellectual level, but on Purim we have the ability to experience it with absolute clarity: to feel it, to breathe it, to live it!
This clarity brings us to pure inner simchah! Purim is when I internalize that every single thing that happens to me is being Divinely orchestrated by Hashem’s guiding hand. I realize that every single interaction I have, every challenge and joy, is directly from Hashem. Hashem loves me with an ahava shein’o tel’uya b’davar — a love that is not contingent on my behavior, like the love of a parent to a child. Just as Hashem was there all along, throughout the entire Purim story, He is here with me now. And if I don’t yet see the light at the end of the tunnel, I take comfort and find inner peace and joy knowing that I’m in good Hands.
The more I immerse myself in this truth, the more my awareness of Hashem increases. Hashem showed us on Purim that He was, is, and forever will be, right here. World events are just vessels to bring out His Will — and I am but a holy vessel to see Him reveal Himself to the world! My existence is not self-sustaining. I am nullified before the awesome presence of Hashem.
The goal is to experience a taste of this bittul. If we can feel this for even a moment on Purim, we will have accessed the greatest joy a Yid can have: a state of pure bliss. If we can truly experience this, life for a moment will be whole and complete, as I internalize that everything I have or don’t have, physically or spiritually, is absolutely perfect.
Purim is when I internalize that every single thing that happens to me is being Divinely orchestrated by Hashem’s guiding hand.
This article was found in Nekuda Tova Issue 27 Special Purim Editions.
