On Purim, we discover ourselves.
“Megillas Esther” means the revelation of the hidden. It reveals Hashem’s hand that orchestrated all the events of the story, obscured by the veil of chance and cause-and-effect. But it also reveals to us our hidden nature, our true self that’s concealed behind the mask we wear all year round.
The miracles of Purim were unlike any that preceded them in Jewish history. Since the magnificent nissim of Yetzias Mitzrayim, the Jewish nation experienced open miracles that suspended the natural order. Hashem’s hand was vividly displayed to the entire world.
On Purim, on the other hand, Hashem revealed Himself within the natural order, without fireworks or fanfare. Nothing spectacular occurred. Every stage of the story concealed Hashem’s hand. But in the end, the Jewish people saw that behind the series of apparent coincidences, Hashem was with them all along, bringing His plan to fruition.
The miracles of Purim revealed that within the simple reality of the world, Hashem’s hand is constantly guiding everything. They also revealed something about our simple lives as Jews. Haman wasn’t out to suppress mitzvah observance. It was the physical existence of the Jewish people that he couldn’t tolerate.
The miracles of Purim occurred within the simple reality of the world, for the sake of our simple lives. The purpose of the nissim wasn’t to improve our ability to observe mitzvos. We remained in galus; the Beis Hamikdash remained in ruins. We remained servants of Achashverosh, just as we were before. Hashem performed miracles, just for our simple lives.
The previous nissim in history had always been for the sake of something more grand. Hashem brought us out of Mitzrayim, to give us the Torah. He vanquished the kings of Canaan, to give us Eretz Yisrael. He defeated Antiochus, to restore the avodah in the Beis Hamikdash. But on Purim, Hashem worked within the ordinary reality of the world, in order to teach the Jewish people that their ordinary lives have extraordinary significance.
Seeing how much Hashem cared about their simple lives taught the Jewish people a new insight into our nature as a nation. Since we accepted the Torah at Har Sinai, we never questioned our obligation to fulfill the mitzvos. But we didn’t understand how the mitzvos suit us.
The Torah isn’t a burden forced upon our shoulders. It’s a garment that’s tailor-made for us. Klal Yisrael isn’t just the people who happened to receive the Torah; we are the People of Torah. We’re hardwired for Torah. So even in galus, when our mitzvah observance is temporarily lackluster, our simple lives are worthy of miracles. Because our simple lives are Torah lives.
That’s why the Jews accepted the Torah anew when Hashem saved them from Haman’s schemes. Till then, the Jews had experienced the mitzvos as obligations. At Matan Torah, Hashem raised Har Sinai above us, “forcing” us to accept the Torah. Not that we accepted it under duress. We wanted the Torah. But we didn’t know that the Torah suits us.
The nissim of Purim revealed who we really are. Torah and mitzvos aren’t foreign to us. They’re in our spiritual DNA. When the Jews discovered that, they accepted the Torah with love and simcha. They didn’t need Hashem to lift a mountain over their head, just as one doesn’t need to be persuaded to breathe. The Torah is the most natural thing in the world for us, and it sustains us.
In Be’er Yaakov, during the long days of summer, Rav Wolbe used to leave the yeshiva after morning seder to daven Mincha in a nearby shul. The talmidim all wondered why he didn’t daven Mincha in the yeshiva after second seder. Till one day a yungerman mustered up the courage to ask him. The Mashgiach was taken aback by the question. “In the morning, I daven Neitz. I’m done before 7:00. I can’t go 12 hours without davening!”
Rav Wolbe longed to daven. We might only experience that once in a blue moon. But it’s in our nature. We too have a natural affinity for tefillah, Shabbos, Torah study and tznius. They fit us like a glove.
We need this message today more than ever. We think we’re so distant from Torah, as if the Torah were designed for the previous generations. No! The mitzvos are tailor-made for us as well. We only need to discover ourselves.
That’s the gift of Purim. During the year, we have to work hard to uncover our affinity for the mitzvos. Otherwise, we wouldn’t have free will. If we were always thirsty for mitzvos, the yetzer hara would be out of business. So the whole year, our natural love for the mitzvos is disguised behind a mask. We feel pretty much like everyone else on this planet. People who crave physical power and pleasure, people who experience mitzvos as a burden. A person has to painstakingly peel that thick mask away, layer by layer, to even get a glimpse of the Jewish face that hides beneath it.
But on Purim, Hashem removes our mask. For one day in the year, we take a break from the charade. When a person drinks, his true self emerges. All his complexity is stripped away, and his simple, natural self comes out. On Purim, we discover our true Jewish self that loves the mitzvos and longs to connect to Hashem. “The hands are the hands of Eisov,” but that’s only a disguise; “the voice” – our true self – “is the voice of Yaakov.”
On Purim, we don’t need to dig to find our Jewish self. It’s a day of “Megillas Esther,” when the hidden is revealed. We just need to let ourselves be swept away by the joy of the day. Whether or not we drink, we should allow the day’s simcha to melt away our preconceptions about ourselves, and open our eyes to see our real nature Hashem is showing us. Of course, after Purim is done, we’ll have to work hard to live accordingly. But that avodah will be so much easier once we’ve discovered that Torah is our nature.
Don’t cling to your mask. We all have shortcomings. But don’t let that awareness define who you are. Sometimes people are so certain they’re distant from Torah, they don’t see their real self even when Hashem reveals it. Come into Purim with an open mind, and do your best to see the face behind the mask on this special day when Hashem reveals the hidden.
May we all be zoche to discover who we really are, and taste the simcha and sweetness of being a Jew.
Written by Eran Feintuch