This year is a leap year which means we have 2 Adars. Although we celebrate Purim in the second Adar, there’s something special about the 14th day of the first Adar as well. There are implications in our prayers (we don’t say Tahanun) and there are implications for fasting.
The Rama in the Shulhan Aruch mentions a custom to have extra celebrations on this day. We don’t have the Megillah but maybe some other aspects of the holiday still exist? He comments that some say:
חייב לרבות במשתה בשמחה
One should eat and drink and celebrate like its Purim.
While we don’t hold like that he says,
מכל מקום ירבה קצת בסעודה
But add a little bit to fulfill the obligation
And he ends with a quote from Mishleh :
וטוב לב משתה תמיד
And for someone who has a good heart - it’s always a party.
People have a hard time understanding this. Whether you’re eating or not, you’re always at a party? It almost sounds like we should we should be partying every day, or that we’re always drinking. People get confused.
The Chida explains it beautifully and writes that there is wisdom in this
... מור"ם ז"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 placement of the phrases reveals a deeper meaning. The first words of the Rama in Shulhan Aruch are
שויתי ה׳ לנגדי תמיד
Place Hashem opposite me always
The last words of the Rama in Shulhan Aruch are טוב לב משתה תמיד.
This is 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.
The first pasuk tells us שויתי ה׳ לנגדי תמיד
To always place Hashem in front of us, and the second pasuk
Tells us that if you טוב לב משתה תמיד have a good heart - you’ll always be at a party. One pasuk hinges on the other. If we put Hashem in front of us at all times, we’ll always be happy and “at a party”
In the Megillah it says ליהודים היתה אורה ושמחה 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, will follow along.
Why? The Rama continues- The person that follows the Torah and has a Torah life:
הוא אוכל בנעימות- his food will always be tasty
שמח בחלקו he’ll always be happy with what he has,
נהנה בנחת
He will enjoy everything with serenity,
ובטח באלקיו he relies on Hashem to give him what he needs
ומסיר דאגה
מלבו, he doesn’t have worries.
The power 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 always at a party
On the other hand it says
משלי פרק טו (טו) כָּל יְמֵי עָנִי רָעִים וְטוֹב לֵב מִשְׁתֶּה תָמִיד
All the days of the poor person are bad.
The Gemara asks what this means and answers that it’s not referring to a poor person with no money, but rather a עני מדעת. Someone without the right attitude and outlook on life.
Here, we are learning the secret of Purim Kattan and Purim. Hashem is in charge of the world, and sometimes things happen that we don’t understand. We have to learn to reframe:
Look at 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 the palace, the Bet Hamikdash is rebuilt, and everything turns around.
That’s the power of Purim. If you have the right attitude, and a good heart, then you’ll live a life of שמחה.