Purim – The unique avoda of Purim

03 Purim – The unique avoda of Purim

Last Vaad, we discussed how Purim takes us in the opposite direction from the rest of the year. On Purim, our avoda begins with Krias HaMegillah—a cerebral experience—and leads us to the guf, the physical realm, through the seudah.

From Simple to Complex: The Avoda throughout the year 

Let’s clarify this further:

When we think of a religious person, we often associate them with meticulous dikduk in mitzvos. But when we see a jolly man cheerfully greeting us with a hearty “Good morning!” we instinctively consider him less religious.

According to the Rosh in Peah—which we studied last time [1]—this is entirely backward! By his definition, the cheerful, warm person is actually more religious.

This realization forces us to confront an uncomfortable truth: our world is filled with middos ra’os (negative character traits), distorting our perception of what it means to be religious. We need to detach from these faulty assumptions and redefine religiosity properly. This is exactly what the Nefesh HaChayyim means when he explains that ruchniyus enters the guf from the simple to the complex. First, we must refine our middos so that the dirt of the world no longer sullies us. Once our perspective is corrected, the Rosh in Peah becomes obvious, and the demands of the Torah become simple and natural to us.

But on Purim, the process works in reverse.

The unique nature of the Purim avoda

On Purim, the process is reversed because the giluy (revelation) of the day is that Klal Yisroel is indispensable—without us, the world cannot continue. This isn’t about our personal avoda; rather, it is about revealing Hashem’s hanhaga (guiding principle) that the world’s very existence depends on Klal Yisroel.

Because of this, the order of the day starts with the hasaga (intellectual grasp) of this reality through Mikra Megillah. Then, this truth is expanded to the mitzvos that highlight the yichud (oneness) of Klal Yisroel, specifically Mishloach Manos and Matanos L’Evyonim.

The unique halacha of Matanos L’Evyonim illustrates this concept of the yichud of Klal Yisroel. It seems from the halacha that the evyonim are present at Mikra Megillah for people to fulfill their mitzvah of giving. This is striking because, throughout the year, the ideal form of tzedakah is when the giver and recipient remain anonymous to preserve the dignity of the poor. But on Purim, the shame of a poor person asking for money which is the very impetus to generate a halachic obligation on the benefactor to provide the money, is absent because the halachic obligation stems from the mitzvah of Matanos L’Evyonim, not from the bold request of the evyon. In other words, on Purim we actively seek out an evyon to give to, creating an atmosphere of open generosity and reinforcing achdus in Klal Yisroel.

Ultimately, we reach the seudah, where, through drinking, we strip away our individual personalities and simply exist as physical beings who belong to Klal Yisroel. This follows the Purim order of sechel (understanding), mitzvos (action), and finally, the guf (body). This is the opposite of how we grow in avodas Hashem throughout the year, when we work with our bechira (free will), then it goes from the “pashtus (simpleness) of the body” to the “pashtus of the mitzvos” to the “pashtus of the Torah.” 

[1] Editor’s Note: This is referring to the vaad entitled: “02 Purim -The forgery of Amalek in tzuras ha’adam” in the Purim section. There the Rosh is brought which says that Hashem has a greater desire for bein adam lechaveiro mitzvos than those that are termed bein adam lemakom because by bein adam lechaveiro there are two wills, that of Hashem, and that of our friend.