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PURIM READING

Rabbi Johnny Solomon

Redefining Simcha

During Adar

very Jew is required to be b’sim- challenges that we face. Adar isn’t about teach us to reach a state of drunkenness
cha throughout the year, as we running away from stress. Instead, it is on Purim?
Efind in the Torah: the month in which we are taught to The simple answer to this question is:

“And you shall rejoice (vesamachta) in face up to the things that are causing us No!
every good thing which the L-rd your stress, while finding the positive even in Rav Chaim Friedlander (in his Siftei
G-d has given to you” (Devarim 26:11). the negative.
Chaim, Moadim Vol. 2 p. 230) points
Significantly, this verse describes a sit- Reading the Megillah at Nighttime out that the word י ֵ מּוס ְ ב ִ ל – which is gen-
uation when someone has every reason Why do we read the Megillah twice, erally translated as ‘to intoxicate’ - is
to be happy – namely when they are in the night and the morning? Basing actually used just a few lines above this
blessed with a good harvest. himself on the Gemara (Megillah 4a), statement to refer to the sweet dessert
However, the Gemara (Ta’anit 29a) the Ktav Sofer explains that night is that we eat at the end of a meal (א ָ חו ְ ו ַ ר
teaches us about fostering a more analogous to times of distress, while ַ חי ִ כְשׁ א ָ מי ִ ס ְ ב ִ ל – there is always room for
sophisticated level of simcha in the day is analogous to good times. Further- sweet things), and in light of this obser-
month of Adar, and it states that we more, he also reminds us of the teaching vation, he interprets Rava’s teaching to
should choose Adar as the month in (Brachot 54a) that just as a person must mean that, “the sweetening of the bad is
which we confront any challenging sit- recite a bracha on a positive moment, achieved by the deeper understanding
uations that we are facing. so too must they recite a bracha on a that bad itself enables us to reach the
good.”
negative experience. Given all this, the
“” We are encouraged reason offered by the Ktav Sofer as to According to this explanation, just like
why we read the Megillah both at night
the Ktav Sofer’s insight, what Rava is
to use Adar to
develop a deeper, and during the day is because the first teaching us is that we should endeavour
to reach an emotional and intellectual
reading at night is meant to express
more sophisticated, how we should see the good in how we state on Purim whereby we cannot dis-
approach to life were threatened, while the reading in tinguish between ‘cursed be Haman’
the daytime should express our joy from and ‘blessed be Mordechai’, meaning
our salvation. a state where we see good in the ‘bad’
Reflecting on this teaching, Rav Shlomo What this means is that in contrast to and not just in the ‘good.’
Zalman Auerbach explained: “The many other holidays when we celebrate Ultimately, while many people interpret
statement of ה ָ ח ְ מ ִ ׂש ְּ ב ןי ִּ ב ְ ר ַ מ, “we increase just the good times, Purim forces us to the word simcha to defend practices
simcha [in Adar]” does not mean that find simcha in the tough times too. that lead to over-the-top behavior and
we should necessarily increase posi- drunken stupor on Purim, the message
tive activities [in the month of Adar]. Getting “Drunk” on Purim of the month of Adar, and specifically
Instead… during [the month of Adar], One of the most oft-cited statements of Purim itself, it that we should try and
we should remove all worry and sadness concerning Purim is the teaching of see good in the bad, make peace with
from our hearts” (Halichot Shlomo, Rava that: the stresses and challenges we confront
Purim p. 328). in our lives, and where possible, remove
“It is the duty of a man to intoxicate
What this teaches us is that our avodah himself (י ֵ מּוס ְ ב ִ ל) on Purim until he all worry and sadness from our heart.
in Adar should not involve over-the-top cannot tell the difference between
behavior. Instead, we are encouraged Rabbi Johnny Solomon is a teacher, writer,
to use Adar to develop a deeper, more ‘cursed be Haman’ and ‘blessed be Mor- editor and spiritual coach.
dechai’” (Megillah 7b).
sophisticated, approach to life where we
learn to confront the things that worry But what does this phrase actually A member of the Mizrachi Speakers Bureau
us and somehow find the good in the mean? And does the Gemara actually mizrachi.org/speakers

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