Purim Sameach!
We will start with a question that the commentaries ask:
Twice on Purim, when we read the Megillah, we make the beracha:
שעשה נסים לאבותינו בימים ההם בזמן הזה
G-d made miracles for our forefathers in this time in those days.
The Rishonim point out that this text of miracles shows up in two other areas.
As was discussed recently in the Daf Yomi, if a person comes to place where miracles happened to the Jewish people (such as the spot of the splitting of the sea) we say
שעשה נסים לאבותינו במקום הזה
That Hashem performed a miracle for our forefathers in this place.
So, we acknowledge miracles that occurred in both time and place.
Additionally, if a miracle happened to an individual, he’d say ....
שעשה לי נס במקום הזה
That G-d did a miracle for me in this place.
The Commentaries explain however, that this beracha refers only to open miracles, such as if a camel were chasing you and a wall suddenly opened and you jumped in. This beracha is not said for hidden miracles, or if, for example, your car flipped over, but you walked away from it. It’s reserved for open miracles.
So why then, the Rishonim ask, do we make a beracha for the miracle of Purim? As we often point out, (and unlike Chanukah that had the open miracle of the oil) Purim was not an open miracle. This seems to break the rule.
To answer this question, we go back to Amalek, for as we have said, the story of Purim is rooted in Amalek.
When Moshe Rabbenu sent Yehoshua to fight Amalek, it says that Moshe was sitting on a mountain, and his hands were heavy. They put rocks under his hands to support him. When he lifted his hands they’d win, and if he lowered his hands they’d lose.
The Gemarah in Masechet Berachot says that if you were to come to that rock, that Moshe Rabbenu sat on, you’d make the beracha
שעשה נסים לאבותינו במקום הזה
That G-d performed miracles for our forefathers in this place.
The Maharsha asks, we say the beracha when we come to the spot of splitting of the sea, because that’s where the miracle happened. But the miracle of the war against Amalek happened on the battlefield. If you were to watch the Navy Seals on a screen, during a raid on Bin Laden somewhere in Pakistan, you wouldn’t make the beracha in the war room. you’d make it in Pakistan. So why make the beracha at the rock?
The Maharsha says that if you were there on that rock, and saw how every time Moshe’s hands were up they hit their mark, and how when moshe’s hands were down they missed, you’d begin to see that the miracle wasn’t happening on the battlefield. It was happening on the rock. It was so clear to them, in the war with Amalek, that the miracle was above nature. They had clarity of this emunah, and that’s how they won the war. That’s why Moshe Rabbenu
וַיִּ֥בֶן מֹשֶׁ֖ה מִזְבֵּ֑חַ: built that altar, וַיִּקְרָ֥א שְׁמ֖וֹ ה׳ נִסִּֽי. And called it “G-d is my miracle.”
Because when they beat Amalek, it became clear to them that it was a miracle.
And now for our punchline:
When we read Megillat Esther, and in fact throughout the whole day of Purim, we can see with clarity that all those 13 years were a miracle. Just like they could see from the perspective of the rock that it was a miracle, we can see with clarity, from our perspective, that Purim in its entirely was a miracle.
In fact, someone told me recently that one of the Rishonim says that if you count the pesukim in Megillat Esther, it’s the same amount as the words in the two parshiyot of Amelek. There’s a strong connection between the two. That’s our point. Amalek is all about saying everything is a coincidence, and we beat Amalek when we have the mindset that everything in our every day lives is a miracle. So only on Purim can we say a Beracha on 13 years of natural events. We can’t do that on any other day. This is the clarity of Purim.
We should all take advantage of this Purim clarity, and apply it in our own lives, as our rabbis tell us that we should all write our own Megillat Esther.
Take a few minutes today to sit down and think about the events in your life that brought you to this point, such as how you met your wife, or how you found your business, etc and realize that you have your own personal Megilat Esther. Then, when you sit down with your family at your Purim Seudah, share the stories of your personal Megillah with your family, “Look where I am today. Look at the miracles of my life.”
That’s the goal of Purim.
BeH we will all walk away with that hizuk and see the open miracles of our lives on Purim.
Have a wonderful day, Purim Sameach and don’t drink too much.