Thisyear is a leap year which means we have 2 Adars. Although we celebrate Purim inthe second Adar, there's something special about the 14th day of the first Adaras well. There are implications in our prayers (we don't say Tahanun) and thereare implications for fasting.
TheRama in the Shulhan Aruch mentions a custom to have extra celebrations on thisday. We don't have the Megillah but maybe some other aspects of the holidaystill exist? He comments that some say:
חייב לרבות במשתה בשמחה
One should eat and drink and celebrate likeits Purim.
Whilewe don't hold like that he says,
מכל מקום ירבה קצת בסעודה
Butadd a little bit to fulfill the obligation
Andhe ends with a quote from Mishleh :
וטוב לב משתה תמיד
Andfor someone who has a good heart - it's always a party.
Peoplehave a hard time understanding this. Whether you're eating or not, you'realways at a party? It almost sounds like we should we should be partying everyday, or that we're always drinking.People get confused.
The Chida explainsit beautifully and writes that there is wisdom in this
... מור"םז"ל בחכמה יסד אר'ש חתימה מעין פתיחה שני תמידין כסדרן, כי הוא פתח בריש הגהותיו(סי' א סע' א) שויתי ה' לנגדי תמיד. וחתם טוב לב משתה תמיד
The placementof the phrases reveals a deeper meaning. The first words of the Rama in ShulhanAruch are
שויתי ה׳ לנגדי תמיד
Place Hashem opposite me always
The lastwords of the Rama in Shulhan Aruch are טוב לב משתה תמיד.
Thisis teaching us a lesson. The 2 times it say's תמיד in these 2 pesukim correspond to:
שני תמידין כסדרן the 2 Korbanot we bring each day.
Thefirst pasuk tells us שויתי ה׳ לנגדי תמיד
To always place Hashem in front of us, and thesecond pasuk
Tells us that if you טוב לב משתה תמיד havea good heart - you'll always be at a party. One pasuk hinges on the other. Ifwe put Hashem in front of us at all times, we'll always be happy and "at aparty"
Inthe Megillah it says ליהודים היתה אורהושמחה וששון... The Rama writes on this in his commentary to megillah : אורה- light-is referring to the light of Torah. If you have the light of Torah, the joy,the happiness ...שמחה, ששון, willfollow along.
Why? The Rama continues- The person thatfollows the Torah and has a Torah life:
הוא אוכל בנעימות- hisfood will always be tasty
שמח בחלקו he'll always be happy with what he has,
נהנה בנחת
He will enjoy everything withserenity,
ובטח באלקיו he relies on Hashem to give him what he needs
ומסיר דאגה
מלבו, he doesn't have worries.
Thepower of the Torah, which gives you Bitachon, is that it makes you worry free.Therefore, you always have a party! Even if you're eating dry bread and onions!So we see טוב לב משתה תמיד. With good heart/attitude you're alwaysat a party
Onthe other hand it says
משלי פרק טו (טו)כָּל יְמֵי עָנִי רָעִים וְטוֹב לֵב מִשְׁתֶּה תָמִיד
Allthe days of the poor person are bad.
TheGemara asks what this means and answers that it's not referring to a poorperson with no money, but rather a עני מדעת. Someonewithout the right attitude and outlook on life.
Here,we are learning the secret of Purim Kattan and Purim. Hashem is in charge ofthe world, and sometimes things happen that we don't understand. We have to learn to reframe:
Lookat Purim- what's going on? Jews at the party,the decree against them, Haman in the palace... all the events look terrible,but after the 9 year story Haman is dead, Mordechai takes over his spot in thepalace, the Bet Hamikdash is rebuilt, and everything turns around.
That'sthe power of Purim. If you have the right attitude, and a good heart, thenyou'll live a life of שמחה.