Purim - Behind The Mask | Rabbi Sam Shor

each week of the many shim on YouTube We remind those of you who whether you're here in person today and you watch some of the shim on YouTube afterwards or whether you're just joining us via YouTube We remind you please to make sure you like comment and subscribe to our YouTube channel which uh gives us a lot more traction and helps us in terms of the algorithm and statistics so that's an important detail to Please be aware of and also one last public service announcement to please make sure our cell phones are on silent or and vibrate or off completely there are some extra copies of the source sheet here in the front if anyone did not take the source sheet at the table on the way in there are some Sour sheets here and as I mentioned earlier we've we're already in the zone to look ahead to and prepare for purum again tomorrow evening begins Ros KES Adar which means we're really in the zone to look at and prepare for perum and so this morning I want to take a deep dive and take a look in detail at one of the most beloved Customs associated with perm that's the the custom to to dress up and put on a disguise on per just to keep Bob happy I'm gonna put the hat on and um of course we're all familiar with this cust them and we we I know in households where there are children in the house I can just say my daughter has been planting her per costume for the past six weeks and um so what is it about disguising ourselves that we're meant to accomplish AUM what's what's the reason why we masquerade on purum now of course the most obvious and most familiar answer to that question is the fact that the story itself is called migil which literally means the scroll V there it could also mean what to reveal that which is hidden and therefore the entire story is about revealing secrets and hidden messages so that's one idea of course another idea is the fact that hashem's name does not appear in the Milla and therefore the there's a hidden a hidden hero if you will a hidden protagonist calling the shots behind the scenes and that of course is a k bar and then lastly and perhaps most simply is the fact that Esther herself conceals her identity right she when she ascends the throne it's not known that she is of Jewish Heritage and she conceals her identity so those are the three most common answers for why we have this custom of dressing up of masquerading on per but we're going to see together this this morning that there's actually a much deeper message behind our parent masquerade and it begins actually in next week's cedra if you take a look at text number one on our sheets in next week's cedra we're introduced in great detail to the various big the various garments that the Coen and the kohanim would wear in the B mikdash and the materials that are used to make those garments whether it be gold whether it be araman whether it beet and then if you jump ahead to text two on our sheets the the very beginning of mad how does the story of mad begin well no not the exact one what's going on what's the opening scene of the gilad there the party the Mish the suda is making this Grand Mish Grand suda what happens at that suda he comes wearing and showing off the splendors of his kingdom so wait a minute who is AOS AOS actually is not was not really the Royal a married into royalty who's really the royalty vashi vashi of course is the granddaughter of thear and therefore therefore not only did a send the throne by marrying neet's granddaughter vashi but he also inherited the various Spoils of War that nebar gathered over his great triumphs in his period of leadership of B of Babylonia and of course amongst those spoils were what The Spoils of the B mikdash and if you take a look at text number two we we're introduced that that that arrives at this banquet and he wants to show off the Splendor of his kingdom if you take a look at the last P last you know from okay so it's the exact materials the exact materials that were introduced in and describing which which which garments the garments of the co so seemingly ver arrives at that banquet and he's displaying the spoils to the B and then gar Mig text number three in our sheets tells us this explicitly look at the gar the gar says what ises that it teaches us that what that he wore the so the beginning of the whole story is seems like a great desecration comes to comes to the suda and the gar tells us that he displays all the spoils that had conquered conquered and taken when he when he began his Conquest on and took over Isel and therefore sorry comes to that suda showing off showing off that who is in possession of the vessels to the B of mikdash and of the garments of the co and therefore that that's how the whole story begins but that's not the only time we see those B in the Milla what happens later on in the story when when it's found out that Mori had actually spoiled a plot to assassinate and harm the king what happens morai is paraded at the suggestion of ham morai is paraded through the streets on the Royal horse wearing the Royal garments okay if you take a look at text number four in our sheets what which which Royal garments it's the same garments that wore to the sud meaning meaning is paraded through the streets wearing what garments the big day and at face Valley this seems like a beautiful beautiful TK Russ comes to the suda and he's wearing the spoils of the B mikdash and then later on the story when the Story begins to turn on its heels the the great s is paraded through the streets wearing the big deun except there's one very big problem with that a valley it's a great tun but what's the big problem Mor is not a Mor is is the m tells us he's is he's from the tribe of bamin so how could it be that Mor the gador the Great sadic allows himself to be paraded through the streets wearing the big day Kahuna that's also a problem but and Andie uh we're gonna come back to that question okay let's take a look let's move on we know the famous medish okay okay the famous Med please let check our phones okay the famous medish text number five in EST anytime in that the word is followed by the word then we know we're speaking specifically about the king okay and anytime the word is not followed by the name of it means that what there's a possibility of a double on Tandra that the word m not only is a reference to the King of Persia but who's the ultimate so anytime the word appears in in the in the Milla and it's not followed by the name says the med the med R there's a double on Tandra that's being introduced and it's not only a reference to but perhaps it's also a reference to the so why is that important so take a look at text number six text number six so who's the M here it could be that it's simply a conversation that she having with but if we accept our Med which suggests what that there's a double on Tandra being communicated but who's giving Esther the confidence that she should feel comfortable standing up and asking and speaking out on behalf of the Jewish people doesn't is instilling within Esther that confidence this is Esther's moment where she Rises to the challenge don't forget in the beginning of the story she's reluctant to speak up and reveal her identity so much so that says that if she doesn't then salvation will come for the Jewish people from another place but at this point Esther finally has the confidence instills within her the confidence so why is that important why is that important we know if you take a look at text number seven in the we learn this very very famous teaching gets its name or its name is similar to that in the future young Kipper will be like Yer is a y the future Yer will be a day like perm it'll be transformed to a day of what celebration and enjoyment so what does that mean so says the r of vision and get ready for this because this gonna kind of turn our our minds in circles says Reb that if PM is called if Y is called the Yum he says it means that the Lesser day is being compared to the greater day ypp is y it means that Yumer which we tend to relate to as what as the most important date in the Jewish calendar says the re of no and it must mean that what if it's being compared to per that means that what that P is even greater and more important than yam Kipper so what exactly does that mean we're gonna come back to that question in just a few moments so we mentioned already so far that there are two moments in the Milla where we see the appearance of the big dayun and we mentioned also that purin is somehow connected or related to what to Yer and maybe even greater than Yer so where else do we see those appear in the mill take a look at text number eight and it came on the third day before Esther is about to go and meet with the King and hamon at theud and Esther put on what the Royal garments that Esther went to stand outside the outer chamber okay of the Palace of the king okay to in order that what she should plead to the king but in both instances the word is not followed by what and she's wearing the she's wearing those same Royal garments this is Esther amala's yipper moment okay per is yipper we just discussed this right this is Esther what happens on yipper what happens when the co God puts on those bepper he goes the Kash in order to what to plead before the king the to have compassion and esthera has finally even though in the beginning of the story she's reluctant to reveal our identity she's reluctant to speak out she's reluctant to try to save the Jewish people at this moment what it's her young Kipper moment she Rises to the occasion she puts on those big Guna it's her proverbial young Kipper she's ready to go plea not before who's she pleading to the she's pleading to it's not on your sheets because I saw this yesterday morning after we already prepared the sore sheet m wolson says about this P we just [Music] learned listen to Rabbi Wilson's beautiful words the this P says that where did she go to stand doesn't mean just in front of the Bas of M the Palace of of mean she she stood toward facing towards Yus she imagined she envisioned just like we're meant to do when we dve in she envisioned herself at that moment as if she was standing in the the certainly means that what it's a because it doesn't the word is not followed by so certainly means the Palace of the king and what's the of the Palace of the king the okay and now he says the following the king is so how do we understand this he says how can we say she's standing in the mdash when we know she's where she's in okay so he answers it means that what she she's ding towards just like all of us no matter where we are in the world when we D in we dive in and we face and he say Rabbi Wilson quotes the that who says that if a person really has kavana like we're meant to when we dive in what and we really feel like we're facing and turning towards yush that it's considered as if what we're actually in if a person has the kavana like we're meant to have that it's considered as if we're actually ding in the now listen to this idea just to review what Rabbi wolson is saying so beautifully this is Esther amala's yam Kipper moment she DS those big deuna just like Mori okay and she goes to plead her case before the she dings like the coing God oner on behalf of the Salvation of the Jewish people and she stands in deep deep concentration and contemplative thoughts and it's as if she's transported where to the B itself so there's only one problem with this it's a beautiful idea just like we said about what's the problem how no never mind she's not there how could it be that Esther wears these garments that seemingly are inappropriate for her how could it be how could it be permissible we're going to come back to that question now we're going to come back to our sheets now we're going to take a look at text number nine again I want to focus a little bit more to understand this better on the connection between p and yer and we're gonna be introduced to a beautiful idea that Rab in his text number nine sheets brings in the name of the rebi of koraa okay list what he says the he says there's a beautiful wondrous idea that the rabbi brings okay why what we dress up in Disguise we change our garments why we put on clothing that we otherwise wouldn't wear right and every custom of the Jewish people Finds Its Source in something sacred so listen to this idea what happens on Kipper everyone's running around and we say to our friends do you are you will you Meer is all about what forgiving one another okay per is related to Y and we said earlier even greater than y so now listen to this beautiful idea he said but there are people that what it's difficult for us to forgive sometimes that people that our relationships are so challenging with that person that it's difficult for us to either look them in the eye and ask for forgiveness or to look someone else in the eye and to forgive them okay because we have all us the nature of human beings is what sadly we often all too often hold grudges and we keep accoun things with one another and it's not always so easy for us to what to to put that aside and request and give forgiveness to one another when comes where the power of forgiveness is so great on this day of per in accordance with our teach us okay it's greater even than what it's above it's beyond yum Kipper because yum ker is called a day like purm therefore PM is the greater day what's the essential message of it's Unity Jewish Unity we give Saka to those who are in need we give our we give our friends we give our friends sh our neighbors all about what building building unity and that's why on P we have this custom of changing our clothes or disguising ourselves okay why put a mask on our faces why in order that people in those circumstances he in order to what enable anyone who finds themselves in those circumstances where we have an ongoing Grudge with someone and it's been difficult for us to make amends with them either to ask for their forgiveness or for us to forgive them I'll take this a step further many of us are also crippled by our own guilt many of us have a very hard time looking ourselves in the mirror and forgiving ourselves for mistakes that we've made and says the re the reing this beautiful idea that when we put on our gar our those garments we disguise ourselves we put the mask on our face on Perm it allows us to look one another in the eye and forgive one another and it allows us to look ourselves in the mirror and begin to forgive ourselves because this is the work that we're meant to do during these days of to what to dedicate ourselves this idea of having a good eye of seeing the good in one another and developing true Unity amongst CLA Israel putting on our costumes says thebi is a very very sacred idea it's not just rry it's not just fun and not just part of the symb of perm but rather it is connected to this idea that perm is even greater than yipper yipper is the day of forgiveness and therefore if that's true and and Pam is greater than Yer that means the capacity for forgiveness innate and inher in this day of per is even greater than yamer and if therefore if there were individuals that we were not able to forgive or that we were not able to ask for forgiveness on Kipper we now have that opportunity to putting on our disguises on her to not take ourselves so seriously and be able to look one another in the eye and ask forgiveness and forgive one another and to be able we'll take questions at the end and to be able to look ourselves in the mirror and begin to forgive ourselves as well what a beautiful powerful idea we're going to we'll take questions at the end because there's a lot more to accomplish here okay so so that having said all that we're still left with the question it's beautiful idea we're still left with the question of how could it be that both morai and Esther allow themselves to wear the big deuna we now have a little bit of an inkling that sow connected both through the Esther story as well as this beautiful piece we just learned that sow connected to the energy the Dual energy of and the and Synergy between Pam and yamer but how could it be that these two great righteous individuals allow themselves to wear clothing that otherwise would be completely prohibited inappropriate for them to wear so the answer to this says the I am another great Master the re of Chernobyl is if we look throughout Jewish history the history of the Tanakh we could probably come up with multiple examples where there are individuals who disguise themselves and engaged in what appear as a face value of as acts of terrible deception when in reality what happened as a result of those people wearing those disguises yeshu and brot came into the world and the two examples that the the rebi of Chernobyl gives are two examples which appear on our sheets numbers 10 and 11 okay the first example of course is the story of Yakov ainu being convinced sorry yeah yakob being being convinced by his mother rifu to deceive his father y to disguise himself and put on clothing and other and other autant that would allow him to appear as his brother asov before his his father his elderly father who's come out on his deathbed and going blind okay to allow to himself to appear to his elderly blinded father as what as his brother ASA and there's so many questions that could classically be asked on the story how could Rifka do this how could Rifka favor one son over another but if says the says the rebi of Chernobyl going with this this whole idea sometimes sometimes we have to step out of our comfort zone and allow ourselves to put on clothing that otherwise would not be appro for us in order to enable brot and yeshu to descend upon CL okay by Yakov daing this disguise he allows himself what to receive the BR instead of Asa which ultimately is what for the good of all of CLA Israel for all eternity and so to was another example the next example that the rebi of Chernobyl sites is a famous story of Yehuda and Tamar okay Yehuda doesn't want to allow his daughter-in La Tamar to marry his third son in order that she should be able to fulfill the the principle of of of of yum of of a lever marriage because the first two sons that she married did not produ they both died before producing children and therefore he refuses to allow Tamar to marry the third son and what ends up happening she disguises herself okay as a as a harlot and at face Valley it seems like a terrible Act of deception but ultimately it's what enables the bloodline of her late husband to continue the BR of children come into the world of a next generation of the Jewish people come into the world through that act so says the the reia Chernobyl that we learn from these two examples as well as from the examples of Mor in of what do we learn a very important principle that sometimes sometimes in our history there are moments where it's important for us to step out of our comfort zone to Dawn clothing that we otherwise wouldn't be comfortable wearing in order to what to bring Yeshua salvation and blessing to the Jewish people and into the world and therefore now we can understand how it is that morai and Esther allow themselves to wear those big vuna explains the re of Chernobyl no I just explained it outside okay in order that what those blessings of Yeshua and salvation should come to the Jewish people okay we're now gonna go to text number 12 because there's another example of Disguise can not related to the big deuna that appears the Milla itself and this is text number 12a one of the chamber chamberlains who served before what the once again doesn't say okay he said it's who is it that reminds the king that hammed had prepared a Gallow for to hang Mor upon it's Kona appears who was Kona Kon was one of one of the servants one of the chamberlains of the king seemingly that King means what but again his name does not appear afterwards which means that this PK has a double on Tandra so why is that important in the shov Pew that we recite following the reading of that Rabbi Adler is going to speak about in next week's Y in Greater detail in shov there's a famous verse that we all know because it became a popular song okay what's that verse that also is remembered for good and where is that expression Z why is that expression familiar to us who else is referred to as being Z being remember for the good who else no onei very good take a look okay at text number 14 this is the this is the med the what did remember for good do okay he disguised himself and appeared as who Kona Eli appears inserts himself in the story Eli appears disguised asona no one recognized him as being El Navi it's elvi who's the harbinger of salvation for the Jewish people who appears disguised as Carona and he's the one who says to the to the the me double because he's the of as well as to wait a minute don't you remember H Russia built the Gallows to hang morai upon why don't we hang Ham on that G and says the re of in text number 15 on our sheets we learned in The Who that is and he appears before them disguise we can learn from this what that must have been what a lofty soul of to the realm of kipot of impurity and he says we learned this okay in the describes that often throughout history an ordinary person is born with what a very very lofty Soul okay this is the idea of Gil Gil that sometimes sh have to come back into this world and sometimes there are lofty Souls that have reject themselves in periods of Jewish history by being reincarnated in order that they should be in the position to what to be the Catalyst for salvation okay and was one of those servants who served as a Chamberlain before the Mel the king okay it means what that it is Essence who was his soul meant to serve who did he personify in his service who did he really come into this into existence to serve not the king but who that okay if that's true and if that's true okay then what what does it mean now we can understand how Kona inserts itself in the middle of the story okay all of a sudden out of nowhere Comes This Chamberlain of the king okay and he's the one who reminds everyone what ham wanted to kill Mori let's use that same shallows to hang hmer okay he didn't just come out of nowhere he was none other than Eli appearing in Disguise in order to enable the Yeshua to come to the Jewish people there's one last idea that I want to bring now and just to bring this all together con which is connected not only to this idea of the of the Masquerade but more importantly to this idea of the of the parallel the connection between perm and yipper and Yan Kipper as being a day that's likened to perm meaning that perm is even greater and Beyond yum Kipper the capacity for forgiveness and and and kapar and and atonement therefore is greater even on this day of Pam than what we experience on young so you take a look at text number 16 on our sheets this is the and you should write as as you wish to the Jews in the name of whom the M doesn't say the M right says to double anandra write as you wish as you will to the Jews in the name of the M which is the double onra meaning possibly both and hasem and should be in sealed with the Insignia of the Ring of the okay not but the because once it's been written something's been written at the hand of the and sealed at the hand of the M it can't be overturned now wait a minute this P the word bear is three times in this PK and it's not filed even once by the name which means that therefore we could read what that if something has already been sealed written and sealed with the signature and the Insignia of the M meaning Hashem you can't what you can't change that decree peram again is liken to what Yer and in Yer We Believe okay we say sh it's it's written and on what and on the day of the fast day of Yer the sacred day of Yer it's sealed we have a period of 10 days between rashash and yer where Hashem the M writes the decree and then on y Kipper the completion of those 10 days the me seals the decree if we understand this okay that it doesn't f the name doesn't follow the name then therefore what might we learn that once it's sealed on Yer okay whatever that decree is seemingly there's what there's no going back but is that true we have a sh what else do we have what else do we have what else do we have some us learned together about Z KH a few weeks ago and we T learned about that there's a minut to say there are many periods throughout the throughout the year calendar year by way if you want to you look at be perplexed you can find that year on YouTube it's called T and you'll you'll hear that idea there are many periods seemingly throughout throughout our calendar year where we can work towards overcoming that decree but most specifically there's one day and what is that day take a look at text 17 the beautiful teaching from the Shalom of course was a great master who died in the year 2000 so he a pretty contemporary Master he was a who together with his father-in-law theas ofum revive the the was devastated was decimated by the nais and the bir together with his son-in-law Shalom came to ER Isel with just a handful of that survived the war and they began to rebuild the son in and you can still go to visit the Yesa there and begins his career here in ER the Riva of of the Yesa when his father-in-law the biras dies in 1981 he becomes the the SL rebi and he becomes one of the most famous and most beloved masters of the 20th century his Shalom or shom are found in virtually every b m in the world they are amongst the most powerful beautiful and easily accessible in terms of their Hebrew far uh in the world and we're now going to learn just a short beautiful snippet from theom in text number 17 this is what he says what do we learn that there's one day a year one time a year where all the Gaz roots can be overturned when we have the capacity to overturn all the Gazo even those that have already been categorized as being what sealed with the Insignia of the king of Hashem himself and therefore what PM is greater than any of the other holidays shabas anything the Jewish calendar because they don't possess this capacity of overturning the gazer the P we learned in the beginning of this year okay and when the verse says that the king promises Esther anything you ask for on the M what's that a reference to m where else do we have a mish with Y the story of the story of P begins with a the sud Esther that hosts two different sud with and ultimately one of the reasons why is why why we have to drink wine at the perm suda is that wine becomes this sud this Mish becomes the Catalyst for what for for the Salvation of the Jewish people and therefore there's one day a year okay where we have a mish where we have a celebration with wine where the king is invited so to speak to that c the not the is invited one day a year the sud when we have that m the m is invited and the M therefore promises us what anything you ask for at that will be given to you is the king of the universe who says to the Jew who is walking in darkness and stuck in hiddenness anything you ask for will be given to you and anything you request shall be yours on the day of the of the per okay on this day of perm we're sitting at the perm suda where we're engaging in that M anything we ask for the king is there with us anything we asked for the king is ready to Grant even those things that have already been sealed on yum Kipper okay Yumer is a dayim it's like P says the rabbi of vision has we began yam Kipper therefore is a day that's lesser than perm perm is even greater than yam Kipper therefore if something is already been decreed and signed and sealed on yipper seemingly that decree is already signed sealed and delivered except there's one day a year well we can undo that decree and there's one experience each year that allows us to plead our case before the Mel and be given the opportunity to overturn those decrees and that one experience is the Mish the sudas when we're dressed in our in our disguises we're drinking where we're together with our family with our neighbors building all these beautiful ideas where we've have where we have the capacity to forgive one another to look each other the face and forgive those for for whom we've had conflict that we've been struggling to forgive and most importantly perhaps to be able to look ourselves in the mirror and be able to let go of the guilt that all too often cripples us and leaves us stunned like Dearing headlights and unable to move forward unable to have the confidence to ask Hashem for that which we need unable to have the confidence to speak out on behalf of others in Sarah but just as Esther Amala had her yum Kipper moments and she appeals to the ultimate at the one day a year the M comes to our Mish the king comes to our wine B one day a year the king is there with us as we Dawn our disguises our costumes and we have the opportunity to plead our case with confidence that in knowing that was the ultimate R was unending love and compassion for every single member of K Israel and Hashem gives us the day of per where it has the capacity to even overturn those decrees that were signed sealed and delivered on Yumer itself my friends as we prepare for Roses Adar tomorrow evening and the awesome days ahead I'll leave you with one last idea from the reab ofin reab ofin asked the question you know the famous M when ad begins we already from R we're already supposed to increase our joy and he asked and he points to the the first mishna talks about what days of the week we are allowed to read the Miga let's say I live in a small village and I don't have a professional Balor I don't have my own Milla scr there so on the days that we come into to the bigger cities to do Commerce even if it's already the 11th of Adar or the 12th of Adar the 13th of Adar even if it's not perm itself I'm allowed to have the Milla read for me on those days was called the days that we come in to the bigger cities to do Commerce so says the re of vision if yam Kipper okay has 10 days to prepare for okay and perm is even greater than your keer the perm needs even more time than young keer to prepare for and therefore the Mula can be read already on the 11th okay what does it mean that we have 11 days so to speak from to prepare for the energy of P my friends as we get ready as we to enter into the matad and we embrace all these beautiful ideas it would be Z especially this year more than ever to to prepare ourselves emotionally spiritually for the awesome y of P for the Y where we're gonna sit at the Mish where the m is going to sit together with us we're going to Da our disguises so we have the confidence to forgive ourselves and let go of the guilt to forgive one another but most importantly is that we have the confidence to stand up and ask the M who's there with us at our Mish and at our peras to bring us to Salvation that we so desperately desperately need may we to see that salvation this p as well