Purim Sameach!
This will be our final Purim thought based on the Netivot Shalom.
The Gemarah in Masechet Megillah
(daf ד, עמוד א) looks for a source that a person has to read the Megillah at night and during the day. The source is a pasuk in tehilim (perek 22) that says
ֽאלֹהַ֗י אֶקְרָ֣א י֭וֹמָם וְלֹ֣א תַעֲנֶ֑ה וְ֝לַ֗יְלָה וְֽלֹא־דֽוּמִיָּ֥ה לִֽי
G-d, I called out at day and You didn’t answer me,And at night, and I wasn’t silent
I prayed at night and at day-because You weren’t answering me
How in the world is this a source for source for reading the Megillah by night and day?
I cry out and don’t get answered?
If anything, this seems to be a downer.
This pasuk comes from the perek that the Gemarah tells us was said by Esther, as we mentioned previously.
It says that when she entered Achashverosh’s palace, and came to an area that was full of Avodah Zara/ idols, the Shechina left her. That’s why she said
אֵלִ֣י אֵ֭לִי לָמָ֣ה עֲזַבְתָּ֑נִי
My G-d, my G-d, why did you leave me?
This was the lowest point in Esther’s saga. After three days of fasting, and all that effort, she went in, ready to make her plea, and now feels that G-d left her. That is when she said the line, “I call out by night and day and You’re not answering me.” This was her lowest point, not only physically but spiritually as well. This was a test for her, to see how she’d react to this spiritual low. That is when she said the words,
בְּ֭ךָ בָּטְח֣וּ אֲבֹתֵ֑ינוּ
In You, our fathers trusted.
The power of this Bitachon is what Netivot Shalom calls this a תרופת פלא- a wonder drug! In times when G-d’s judgement is the strictest, and tefilot aren’t going up, there is something even more powerful, and that is the Bitachon/ reliance that Hashem never leaves us.
Regardless of where we are or what the situation is, Hashem is taking care of us. That is the lesson of this pasuk. We read the Megillah by night and day, to remember that we continue to pray night and day.
We have to repeat this lesson twice, in order to learn that even at such a low point, we still have the power to break through any interferences, through our Bitachon.
As we mentioned yesterday, one of the things that we have to do on Purim is “Gather all the Jews together.”
The Netivot Shalom (quoting from the Sefer Noam Elimelech), says that aside from the aspect of achdut/ unity, which is so important to the Jewish people, there is a world up in Shamayim called Kol Yisrael. In that world, where of all the Jewish people are together, there is no sin. The individual might sin, but G-d has such love for the Jewish people at large, that there is no sin up there.
The Netivot Shalom connects this to Bitachon. It’s the first step. We have to know that regardless of any individual person’s sins, the Jewish people, as a whole, are always guaranteed. When we reconnect to the Jewish people, that puts us on the “winning team.”
The reason he says that the Megillah is called Megillat Esther, rather than Megillat Mordechai V’Esther, is because it says that in the times of Esther,
ואנכי הסתר אסתיר
I will be hidden, I will hide.
Why the double language?
There is a point in time where G-d is hidden, in both physical dangers, and spiritually as well. When we feel this distance on both fronts, we don’t feel spiritually connected, but have to be able to overcome these two hurdles. That’s where the power of bitachon comes in.
He says that on Purim, we have to realize the tremendous love Hashem has for us. Every time it says “the king,” in the Megillah it refers to Hashem. It says,
ויאמר המלך... מה שאלתך... ונתן לך
“And the King said, What is your request? And I will give it to you.’
He says a beautiful thought about this: We are alone with Hashem on Purim. He’s asking us what we want. Hashem is our G-d. Every individual person has his own relationship with Hashem. Like we say, in Az Yashir, “זה אלי This is my G-d”
Hashem says, “Anochi Hashem Elokecha- I am Hashem, your G-d,” in singular.
These are the thoughts that we have to have on Purim.
These lessons are powerful.
Purim isn’t something in the past. Every year, we have to relive these feelings, even if we are at that low point where we feel no connection at all. If we feel down or distanced, remember- that was how Esther felt.
We can rekindle our relationship with Hashem, with that Purim bitachon.
B’ezrat Hashem, all our tefilot should be answered.