Purim 5772

One is obligated to become intoxicated on Purim to the extent that he can no longer differentiate between “Cursed is Haman” and “Blessed is Mordechai”. (Megillah 7b)

In discussing this well-known statement of Chazal, there is no need to point out the difficulties. Judaism places a premium on rationality and, consequently, on sobriety. Even conceding the topsy-turvy nature of the day, it is hard to understand that we should be commanded to lose our minds!

In addition, the metric that Chazal applied in defining the standard of intoxication requires understanding. How could the celebration of Purim necessitate that we confuse the hero and the villain? At that point, what would we be celebrating?

In various Halachic works (Eliyahu Rabbah and Chayei Adam cited in Biur Halacha Siman 695), we are told that the basis for drinking wine at the festive Purim Seudah is to commemorate the fact that many of the episodes in the Purim story took place in the setting of a drinking party at the royal residence. While this is certainly true, as an explanation, it seems inadequate. Drinking may have been the background of Purim, but that hardly justifies moving it to the foreground!

“On the seventh day, when the King’s heart was merry with wine…” Until now, the King’s heart was not merry? Said Rava, that “seventh day” was the Shabbos. When the Jews would eat and drink, they would begin speaking words of Torah and songs of Divine praise; when the idolaters would eat and drink, they would begin with words of foolishness. (Megillah 12b)

So, what is the answer to the original question? Until now the King’s heart was not merry? R. Tzadok HaKohen (Pri Tzadik, Purim 3) offers an insightful explanation based on the tradition that whenever the title King appears in the Megillah – without the name Achashverosh attached – it is a veiled reference to the Supreme King.

During the first six days of the party, Ribbon Shel Olam was not very happy. (In fact, the Jews’ participation in the feast of Achashverosh was one of the sins for which Hashem allowed Haman’s decree of annihilation to pass.) Only on that seventh day, which coincidentally was Shabbos, was the underlying virtue of the Jewish people revealed. On that day, the Supreme King’s heart was merry with the wine of the Jewish people.

Let us take this one step further. The events of that day actually laid the groundwork for the salvation of the Jewish people that was to come nine years later. The execution of Vashti created the opportunity for Esther to become queen and, of course, to be in the right place at the right time to foil the plot of Haman. This, as Chazal say, was the healing that was put into place long before the illness.

But Hashem does not play favorites. We know that when the Jews stood at the Yam Suf and G-d contemplated splitting the sea to save the Jews and drown the Egyptians, the angels raised an objection, “These are idolaters and these are idolaters.” If the Jews are no better than their enemies, they cannot be saved.

The justification for that initial Divinely-guided process which paved the way for the ultimate salvation was the revelation of Jewish merit in that to which their drinking of wine led – words of Torah and songs of praise – by contrast to the idolaters whose drinking leads to nonsense.

We may suggest that our drinking at the Purim Seudah is not simply a commemoration of the fact that the Purim story took place against a background of wine, Rather, our Purim Seudah, with the drinking that leads to words of Torah and joyous songs of praise, is a replication of the merit which allowed for the first step in the process of salvation to take place.

Taking this again one step further, our drinking wine reveals something very special about the fundamental nature of the Jew, as Chazal say (Sanhedrin 38a), “When the wine goes in, the secrets come out.” The essential Jew is not primarily focused on his own comfort and pleasure; he is focused on the Ribbono Shel Olam, His Torah, His commandments, and the sanctification of His name. And here is the key to the puzzle with which we began.

The Midrash (Shemos Rabbah 7:4) says, “Just as the praise of Hakadosh Baruch Hu emerges from the righteous in Gan Eden, so it emerges from the wicked in Gehinnom.” In other words, just as the blessings which the righteous enjoy reinforce our resolve to live proper lives, so the punishments of the wicked have the same effect. Everyone contributes to the ultimate Kiddush Hashem. Our choice is only how we are going to make our contribution.

To the Jew who thinks of himself and his own well-being, his feelings toward Mordechai and Haman will be quite different. To Mordechai, our saviour, he will bestow blessings; to Haman, our mortal enemy, he will bestow curses. But to the Jew who has taken his wine on Purim and rises above personal score-keeping, the picture is not so clear at all. The Kiddush Hashem that took place on that Purim so many hundreds of years ago required the contributions of Mordechai and Haman. When we realize this we are not in such a rush to curse Haman. Yes, he certainly was a flawed person and his intentions were diabolical. But his “contribution” to the world, unintended as it was, was real.