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PURIM READING

Rabbi Judah Mischel

The Inner Light

of Purim

o hear the great tzaddik Rabbi It was Antiochus, the villain of the the simcha of the Yamim Tovim, and
Shalom Rockeach, the Sar Chanukah narrative, who outlawed revealed the sasson of our Covenant and
1
T Shalom of Belz, lein the Megil- mila, moed and Shabbat. And it was the honor of wearing tefillin. Mitzvot
lah, was an unforgettably uplifting the Roman Era persecution which that were taken for granted and had
experience. When he was a young man, forced Jews into hiding to “illegally” become perfunctory observances were
still an unknown budding student of the study Torah. There is no indication in filled with life once again.
Chozeh of Lublin, he was called upon the Megillah that Haman or the Persian May this Purim be one we experience
to read the Megillah in the Chozeh’s authorities interfered with our obser- with attunement to real inner growth
Beit Midrash. Those assembled didn’t vance of mitzvot. and renewal. In the spirit of the Chozeh
recognize the young scholar, but sensed Another drasha in the Gemara (Megil-
they were experiencing something spe- lah 10b) explains Haman’s description of Lublin, may we say, “It’s a celebra-
cial. At the completion of the Megillah tion I’ve enjoyed many times, but never
leining, the Chozeh remarked: “I have of the Jews: ד ָ רֹפ ְ מּו רָּז ֻ פ ְ מ ם ַ ע ֹונ ׁ ְ שֶי, “There quite like this.”
is a people that is spread out and set
heard the Purim story many times, but apart….” ֹונ ׁ ְ שֶי can also be read as “they Wherever we may be, and from whom-
I’ve never heard it told quite like this.” ever we hear the Megillah, may we listen
slept,” i.e., our Yiddishkeit was “sleepy;”
e our mitzvah observance had become and internalize the story like never
before – lishma. And may Purim and
Megillat Esther describes how we cele- stale, lacking chiyut, vitality. We were our mitzvah-observances all year round
brated upon hearing of Haman’s down- distracted, pulled in all sorts of direc- be drenched with this light, happiness,
fall and the miraculous turnabout of tions away from what truly mattered. joy and honor!
Purim. ר ָ קי ִ ו ןׂשׂ ָ ש ְ ו ה ָ ח ְ מׂ ִ ש ְ ו ה ָ רֹוא ה ָ תְי ָ ה םי ִ דּוהְּי ַ ל, Rav Tzadok HaKohen of Lublin offers
ֹ
“The Jews experienced light, happiness, a moving interpretation: we did learn
joy and honor” (8:16). Torah, but by rote, lifelessly turning 1 Literally, “Prince of Peace”.
The Gemara (Megillah 16b) explains pages as if studying a secular text. There
the four terms in this verse: ה ָ רֹוא, “light,” was no ora, light, in our limmud. In
alludes to Torah, ה ָ ח ְ מׂ ִ ש, “happiness,” the days of the Persian exile, Jews kept
alludes to Yom Tov, ןׂשׂ ָ ש, “joy,” alludes Shabbat and Yom Tov, but our experi-
ֹ
to brit mila, and ר ָ קָי, “honor,” alludes ence of those exalted, holy days lacked
to tefillin. the main ingredient: simcha. Even
brit mila, circumcision, became just
However, this explanation seems to another lifecycle event, lacking sasson,
miss a basic point in the narrative of the deep joy of appreciating what our
the Megillah and the experience of the covenant with G-d means. Wrapping
Jews of Shushan, namely that the decree tefillin day in and day out had become
of Achashverosh and Haman against labor-intensive in our eyes, our daily Rabbi Judah Mischel is Executive Director
Am Yisrael had nothing to do with the prayers but a heavy obligation. of Camp HASC, the Hebrew Academy for
mitzvot described here! In the Purim Special Children. He serves as an edu-
cational consultant to schools and syna-
story, the goal was clear: ד ֵּ ב ַ א ְ לּו גֹר ֲ ה ַ ל The miraculous salvation and turn- gogues in the United States and Israel.
– to annihilate us physically, regard- about of Purim was a spiritual jolt that
less of religious observance or Jewish woke us out of this state of sleep (“ֹונ ׁ ְ שֶי”). A member of the Mizrachi Speakers Bureau
expression. It put the ora back in Torah, restored mizrachi.org/speakers

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