Holidays: The Joy of Purim

by Rabbi Zalman Baruch Melamed, Founding Dean (Rosh Yeshiva) of Yeshivat Bet El, yeshiva.org.il, translated by Hillel Fendel.

Our Sages taught (Taanit 29a): "Just as we are to reduce joy when the month of Av begins, similarly when Adar begins, we increase our joy." Regarding Av, there are laws about how to reduce happiness: No weddings, no celebrations, no haircuts – but regarding Adar, we don't find rabbinic laws regarding how to increase joy. The Sages did not give us any practical guidance as to how to do this.

In the month of Av, every rabbi is asked about whether happy music can be played in camps, whether one can go on hikes, what new articles we are permitted to buy, etc. But when Adar begins, there are no questions regarding how to increase joy, what things are forbidden because they cause us sorrow, and the like.

So let us try to delve into the words of the Sages and see how we should fulfill "When Adar enters, we increase joy."

Joy of Mitzvah

The Talmud tells us that contradictions were found in the Scroll of Kohelet (Eccelesiates). For instance, one verse says, "I have praised happiness," while another verse states, "What is the point of joy?" Which is correct? Is joy valuable, or is it pointless? This is a fundamental question: Are we to look at life with positivity, seeing its light, being upbeat – or should we be critical, assume that we were brought into a world full of difficulties and problems, and remain in a state of constant tension so as not to succumb?

The Talmud ultimately resolves the contradiction by saying that Kohelet praises "happiness of mitzvah," whereas joy that is not of mitzvah - "what does it accomplish?" 

That is to say, elation disconnected from Torah, stemming from transient pleasures and momentary excitements, is not sustainable. It disappears quickly and causes frustrations; it is not the true success and progress of genuine happiness. It is rather the "joy" about which Kohelet asked, "What's the point of it?" But the happiness of good deeds is a deep and profound bliss, something permanence that uplifts and makes us better and more complete. That is the true joy that Kohelet had praise for.

HaRav Kook, of saintly blessed memory, wrote (in Ein Ayah to Shabbat 2,98) of two ways to deal with the natural human inclinations toward physical pleasures. Some try to "declare war" on these tendencies and seek to repress them, while others take the opposite approach: Since these inclinations cannot be changed, we must live with them and even give in to them. Both of these approaches are mistaken. Tendencies of this nature must not be repressed, nor surrendered to; they must be uplifted and directed to a profound and true objective. One who is healthy of soul is naturally happy, but if he does not direct it in the right direction, the happiness remains shallow and superficial. The inclinations can be uplifted and directed towards meaningful joy – joy of deeds that give depth to one's life. 

The Joy of Faith

The Maharal of Prague links happiness to the level of one's faith in G-d. The Sages say (Tr. Shabbat 119b) that "one who answers Amen with all his might, the doors of Paradise are opened before him, as is written (Yeshayahu 26,2): "'Open the gates and the righteous nation will come, keeping faithfulness [emunim, from the same root as amen].'" Saying Amen expresses faith, and one who does so with full devotion is a strong believer - deserving of entry to the glory of heaven, where joy and security reside, far from all sadness. Faith gives strength and stability; the believer leans on and trusts in G-d.

And the Maharal writes that Moshe Rabbeinu had an unsuccessful encounter with this issue. When he went to extricate water from the boulder as commanded by G-d, he spoke to Bnei Yisrael in an angry tone, and also hit the rock with anger, instead of speaking to it. If he would have strengthened himself with faith, the Maharal writes, his inner happiness would have been renewed, and he would not have acted out of anger – "for faith brings to song and happiness." 

These words of the Maharal tell us that deep and strong faith puts a person into an inner world of trust in G-d and of happiness, a type of Gan Eden (Paradise). Nothing can unsettle him and nothing rattles him or drives him to anger. 

And so, we have learned that the way to "increase joy" in the month of Adar, or any other time, is by engaging in the joy of doing mitzvot – and the source of it all is by deepening our faith. 

Nowadays

The memory of the miracles that happened to us during the times of Mordechai and Esther, shortly before the return of the Jews from the Babylonian Exile, arouses us to look around at the miracles of our own time. Just like then, the miracles of today are hidden; they are miracles within natural law. 

Everything that happened on Purim appeared to be just a series of coincidences and random natural acts: Esther "happened" to be chosen as queen, Mordechai "happened" to overhear a plot to assassinate the king, and Haman just "happened" to come to the king's palace just when the king was wondering how to honor Mordechai. None of the miracles were open and obvious; rather, the events were orchestrated by G-d in such a way that the terrible tragedy that seemed about to engulf Israel turned into salvation. 

Today as well, ever since the establishment of the State of Israel in 1948, we have encountered countless natural miracles. The most blatant was the Six Day War, after which even the most hardened atheists acknowledged that G-d's hand was present in our great victory. The many "coincidences" that occurred one after the other just before and during the war showed us that there was a Guiding Hand. 

Similarly in Gush Katif [before the Disengagement/Expulsion of 2005]: So many rockets were fired from Gaza, causing relatively very few casualties. We remember also the opening of the gates of Soviet Russia for massive Aliyah to Israel. 

One of the grandsons of the Baal Shem Tov, Reb Baruch of Mezhibuzh, understood the Mishna in Tr. Megillah in this vein. The Mishna states, "One who reads the Megillah retroactively [out of order], does not fulfill his obligation" – and Reb Baruch explained: "If someone understands the Purim story as just something that happened once long ago, and does not understand that it is actually relevant and true for every generation and its enemies of the Jewish People, is missing the point that the Megillah must be understood from the vantage point of nowadays as well, with the same message about Divine miracles and our obligation to strengthen our faith.