One of the mitzvot that apply on Purim is מתנות לאביונים – the requirement to give charitable gifts to the poor.
This obligation differs from the standard mitzva of tzedakah, in several ways. First, even a poor person who himself relies on charity is required to give מתנות לאביונים. Strange as it sounds, this means that after a pauper receives charity, he needs to take some of the money and give it to another poor person. Why?
Another surprising feature of מתנות לאביונים is that we give to anyone who asks. Normally, we check to ensure that people who request charity are truly in need. On Purim, however, the halachah is that we give to everybody, without asking questions – and even to non-Jews who approach us and ask for assistance.
Of course, on Purim we also spend a great deal of time giving mishloah manot – food packages to other people. We know that the people we give to have no need for yet another box of wafers or another bottle of wine. Yet, we give package after package.
Together, these two mitzvot have the effect of turning Purim into a day of giving. We give and give. We generate so much joy, excitement and friendship by giving, by sharing what we have with other people. And this is why everyone has to do it, and why we give to everyone, and even give things that people don’t necessarily need.
When we think of materialism, we tend to think of greed, of an insatiable lust for money. But Purim shows us that our material blessings can be used to uplift people, to inspire people, to bring people joy, to spread happiness all around us.
One of the sacrifices which the Torah speaks about in Parashat Tzav is the קרבן תודה, the thanksgiving offering, which one would bring to express his gratitude to Hashem. This sacrifice has several unique features – such as a limited time-frame for eating the food. Normally, when the Torah allows the person bringing a sacrifice to eat its meat (as opposed to allowing only the kohanim to eat the meat), the sacrifice may be eaten for two days. The קרבן תודה, however, may be eaten only the day it was offered, and that night.
The reason, it has been explained, is that when somebody celebrates a festive occasion, he is encouraged to invite his friends and relatives to join him. He should not celebrate alone. He must invite lots of people to join him – and so the Torah limits the time-frame when the meat can be eaten, to ensure that this individual’s personal celebration becomes a large festive gathering.
We all, baruch Hashem, have received many blessings, of different kinds. The Torah teaches us that all our blessings can and must be used to uplift others, to bring joy to other people, to make the world a better and happier place. Just as we celebrate the Purim miracle by giving, so should we celebrate all the blessings in our lives by giving, sharing, and spreading happiness to as many people as we can.