ULTIMATE Happiness of Purim before The Geulah

Today is erev shabbos parshas zochor, parshas tetzaveh, taf shin peh vov, 2026. I was once sitting by the bedside of the rosh yeshiva of mir, reb aryeh finkel, zichrono levracha. And I was sitting there was uh talking to him and casually talking to him. He was in hospital for a few days. And in walked reb feivel shmuelwitz, zichus tzadikim levracha, the son of reb chaim. He came in with a beaming smile. And he said as follows, "Reb aryeh, you know, there's something called teshuvah sheleima, and there's something called refuah sheleima." He explained as follows, "Teshuvah sheleima means you'll never go back to the same aveira, the same transgression again. You'll be careful. You've completed all aspects of teshuvah, and now you're ready to move on. Refuah sheleima also means that you'll never ever be sick again. And therefore," he said, "Reb Aryeh, I wish you a refuah sheleima, the end of all illness, the end of all maladies, the end of all sickness." A beautiful comment. I remember Reb Aryeh beamed afterwards. And I was sitting there listening to how they were talking. It was a beautiful expression. I remember as I was going home, I thought to myself, "One minute, there were more sheleimas as well. There's something called emunah sheleima also. There's something called geulah sheleima. And there's refuah sheleima, and there's teshuvah There are different sheleimas." The concept of sheleima means finality. In other words, the matter has completed, the matter is finished. I was thinking as follows, "In reality, maybe refuah sheleima maybe is the only thing which we really put our fingers on, which we can touch. Person is given by the doctors a clean bill of health. That means a refuah sheleima. But the others maybe a little different. Maybe they're all under the guise of something called work in progress. You're working on it." I would suggest as follows, "Emunah sheleima, I don't know how many people can claim every one of the 13 principles rambam ani ma'amin bemuna sheleima shehu boreh umani umani umani umani umani umani umani umani umani umani umani umani umani umani one is completely with I don't know. I think it's really work in progress in the course of a lifetime. You move on chocolate MS motion of being all the aspects. It's work in progress. They do also lame is also that as well. The person can turn on and say for sure I'm not doing that again that transgression again. I've I've confessed about it. I've left it. I've moved on. I've made a I've made a video all the four aspects which the brings down in to say that I mean I I suppose the person can say also I'm working on it. I hope I've completed my my my my mission. When it comes to although that is really something else entirely for sure in order to say we've moved on from every period of exile of God one has to go through maybe the periods of God and look at them and see did I move on from each one. Let's take a quick look in history and see what I mean. Start with Egypt with I suppose you'll say since Israel went from Egypt to Israel maybe it was a complete from the meaning I think is as follows. If we would look at all these symptoms and all the scenarios which took place in the first partial of partial you see as follows they're all a catalyst of situations which moved on from into all private domestic scenes of tremendous care of the care and concern if I would say in Israel the two midwives who looked after the the children where they were born. Take Miriam the babysitter no Miriam looked after what would happen. She came down and she had my show all these scenes private domestic scenes my show he gave his eyes and his heart. He was concerned. He walked the streets of Cairo crying his eyes out the 12 year old boy. Meaning I'm suggesting moving on from God of Mitzrayim. I'm suggesting is the care and concern which one has for a fellow Jew. And that we see from that. The next sentence is that Moshe Rabbeinu is at the burning bush and he sent down to power with his first mission to go and speak to power. Let's move on from there. God of Babel, Babylon and Nevuchadnetzar. I I imagine we could say that was something a tremendous test of bitachon, a trust in Hakadosh Baruch Hu. When the time of the first base Hamikdash clearly swell chaza I'll say sat me ego Rama le bira amikta from a very high tower to a deep deep pit as follows. The glory and the splendor and the enormous majesty but there was in the first base Hamikdash all the miracles which took place and then al naharos Bavel sham yashavnu gam bachinu we sat by the rivers of Babylon and there we cried and Nevuchadnetzar in chains. That in the enormous enormous shock. And therefore clearly so I imagine had to have bitachon and trust when they were told it would be 70 years not more. Now that from all the things which were done wrong avodah idol worship and shedding blood and also immorality they moved on from there perhaps and the base Hamikdash came back and perhaps you'll say that by shame is a teshuvah is a geulah sheleimah from God of Babel. Perhaps you'll say that. I don't know. Maybe you're right. Take a look at God of Yavan. God of Yavan the Greek exile which we went through. I don't know but you'll probably agree with me that nearly all universities and all secular education especially in chutz la'aretz where we come from is really all based on the Greek culture, science, philosophy, sport, drama, architecture, all the different aspects of beauty. It's all really based on Greek culture. Can a person really turn around and say I'm giving up? I've left it all. I remember reading there was a beautiful comment I think Reb Aaron Kotler had said in the name of the Chofetz Chaim. Only a person who is an erev yid, a refined Jew is a people who capable of seeing the Moshiach. and followers. He means as follows, if you've left all the mannerisms, the customs, the behavior, the styles of behavior, it doesn't affect you anymore, then you've moved on from God of Yavan, from the exile of Yavan. Meaning that was the Greek culture, the Hellenism. I don't know, I think it maybe it's perhaps still work in progress for many of us. Now let's move on to the theme which we're talking about today. What does it mean Geulah Shleimah from Persia and Media? I suppose you might turn around and say, "Iran is still there." No, and maybe let's see what happens this Purim. See what happens. But for sure, we're still under the influence maybe of Golus Paras u'Madai. But let's look at Purim in that context. Not just Iran of today, but Iran from the time of Shushan and the time of Mordechai and Esther. You might turn around and say that the nature of the exile was that Klal Yisrael had to daven. Remember, Esther wrote to the Sanhedrin and said as follows, "Kisvuni l'doros, write me down for all generations." And Chazal say, "What did she mean?" Divrei tza'akos u'vakosham, matters of fasting and crying and prayer. And maybe you'll say, "Moving on from Shushan means that you realize the value of prayer, that it can shift around from the Hashmi'i l'Rishonah l'Yisrael l'Ohr v'Simchah." It switched completely v'ha'afchu from the worst possible situation of a potential Holocaust of Klal Yisrael to the happiest day in the calendar. Maybe you'll say that's what it means, all because of the prayer. Maybe you'll turn around and say perhaps that the Golus of exile, the exile of Purim came about because they went to the banquet as the Gemara discussed it. And Mordechai said, "Don't go to Achashveirosh's banquet." But they all went, many of them went. I think 18,000 went and they enjoyed themselves and they caught caught up in idolatry idol worship and also immorality as well. Maybe you'll say as in we're really groping to find what exactly is finger on the pulse. What exactly is the nature of the Persian exile that we can to and say, "From there we move on to a Gullah Each of these periods of Gullah from Mitzrayim to Bavel, we have to move on. We have to graduate, to have to proceed so that we can turn around and say, it's final, finale. We're finished. We're finished with exile and there Gullah means I moved on from Egypt, from Babylon, from Greek culture, from I moved on and certainly from our times as well in the Gullah of Edom which we're going through now. What does it mean therefore? How can we actually put our finger on the pulse? Rabbi Yitzchak We had fortunately in Klal Yisrael a man who was called a great man, a king called David HaMelech. He was called a maskil. The Vilna Gaon in the beginning of Mishlei explains the definition of a maskil means someone who's successfully well thought out, who understands things clearly. The Hashem Imo, by David L'chol D'rachav Maskil, The Hashem Imo. The words of David HaMelech are primary words. He's focused completely. Maybe that's the reason why when it comes to Davening, especially P'sukei D'Zimra, we use the words of David HaMelech. David HaMelech is a maskil. His words counted tremendously. There is a chapter in Tehillim, Perek Yud Gimmel, chapter 13, where David HaMelech goes through each of the four periods of Gullah which we mentioned and he gives a label to them. And perhaps that exactly is the nature of the exile and from there we can move on to the redemption from each one. It begins, Adonai Hashem Tishkacheini Netzach. How long Hashem will you forget me forever? Meaning that was the feeling in Babylon. Meaning as if they were completely abandoned, forsaken completely. The nature of Gullah of Bavel was feeling of abandonment. Gullah of the exile of Paras u'Madai, Persia was Adonai Tastir Panecha Mimeni. How long will you hide your face from me? What does this mean, hide your face from me? Gullah of Gullah of Paras u'Madai, the exile of Persia Media was one of complete Hastaras Panim. Hashem is hidden completely. As you know, the name of the Almighty is not mentioned inside the Megillah. It's completely hidden. It's completely secular and you might just learn it all through as a secular story, as an interesting story of Queen Esther and saving her nation. There's something has to It's completely something hidden, something behind it all. Ad on Oshis Aitzos Benafsi refers to Yovan. How long do we have to find Aitzos, advice, how to keep Shabbos, how to learn Torah, how to keep Bris Milah, how to observe Rosh Chodesh. This was the goal of of Yovan. They needed Aitzos. They needed Chochmah how to do it. Ad on Yovum Ayaveiha Lai. How long were they last on How long were Golus Adam? Nearly 2,000 years we were in exile from there. But let's come back to where we were talking about the Golus Esther, Golus of Paras u'Madai. It means as follows. The nature of the exile of Golus of the the the exile of Klal Yisrael in Persia and Persian means as follows. The Hastoras Panim, Hashem was hidden. You couldn't see what's going on. It was all a matter of a cloak and dagger. What's behind everything going on? Maybe we should define what does it mean by Hastoras Panim. What does it mean something which is The Almighty is there, but he's hidden behind the scenes. There is a magnificent essay written by Rav Dessler. If you'd like to look it up, it's in Michtav M'Eliyahu, the first volume, Chelek Aleph, page 177. Rav Dessler explains as follows. There's a difference between Teva, nature, the normal circumstances, and a Nes, something which miraculous which happens. In reality, says Rav Dessler, there's really no difference whatsoever. It's a matter of frequency. Something which happens very often, we call nature, we call Teva. Something which is infrequent and never happens, we would call a Nes. That's really the difference behind it. And he gives a beautiful example. Supposing you're standing, I suppose, one day we should be able to say to see it. You're standing in Me'oras Hamachpelah, where Avraham, Yitzchak, and Yaakov and the Imahos are buried there. And all of a sudden, the ground begins to shake a little bit and also the the ground opens up and out comes Avraham Avinu, no? Yitzchak Avinu. You can imagine the unbelievable miracle. We say, "Goodness me, what happened here? They were buried inside the ground and they come out from the ground. That's an unbelievable miracle." you would say. That's something called a miracle how we describe it. Says the take another example. You take a seed of an apple and put it in the ground, it decomposes and completely rots, nothing comes out. If you come back with two or three years later, you see a tree in full bloom with apples there. What happened here? Is there any difference says the Tesla between the grave which opens up and the fruit which come? Both are put in the ground. One is frequent, an apple tree, you expect the apples to come out. When it comes to a grave, you don't expect to see it and therefore, the definition of a miracle in our understanding is something which is infrequent. There is a beautiful expression of the Chazon Ish. The Chazon Ish once explained as follows. Teva, nature, is something which rots on her burial of her husband. The will of the Almighty is that it should continue, it should be regular, it should be frequent. Meaning as follows. In the morning, you got up, you managed to get out of bed, you washed yourself, you then spoke to people, you went and davened, you you were able to digest your food, you went to work, you spoke to people, you had communication. You couldn't do that when you were three or four months old, could you? No, that's a nes nistar, something which is completely hidden. Something which is completely hidden. It's it's removed from you. That's the nature of teva. Teva is you expect it to happen. It's a regular occurrence. You got up this morning, you went out of bed, you woke up. I suppose we could say all the brachas are "I open my eyes." "I could stand up straight." "I will be showering with my head clothes." "I shall not send me going." These are all nature, nature, teva, teva we could call them. Miracles are something quite different. Miracle is something which doesn't usually happen. Beautiful story I remember once hearing about the Chazon Ish. He preferred never ever to go out during the day. He lived near an orchard in Bnei Brak, and they say that he was overwhelmed completely by looking at the beauty of nature. He preferred to have it at night cuz it distracted him so much looking at listen to birds, watching the nature, watching the sun. It disturbed him, so they say, in his learning cuz he was so overwhelmed and amazed at nature. He He saw nature with his miraculous straight on, the beautiful description of him. Now, that's the way the Hazon Ish was. From there, Rabbosai, from this definition and this criticism, this essay of Rav Dessler, maybe we can then move on and make a distinction between something which is natural, teva, and something which is miraculous. There was a famous Ramban, Nachmanides, at the end of Parshas Bo, says the Ramban as follows, Min hanisim hagudolim hamufsa'im, when the amazing, wonderful miracles, like kriyas Yam Suf, Matan Torah, giving of the the manna in the midbar, and ananei hakavod, or the oil in in in Chanukah, from these amazing miracles, odam moyde benisim hanistarim, a person makes a certain comparison and says, "Now I understand hidden miracles." Meaning, from there, that there was the ten plagues, that there was something called kriyas Yam Suf, I then understand that the Almighty helped me get out of bed in the morning, I could digest my food, I found a wife, I did business, I spoke to people. From those great, wondrous miracles, you have something a deduction, you come to a certain realization of nisin nistarim. The great Mashgiach of Lakewood, Hagaon Rav Matisyahu Solomon, zichro tzaddik livracha. I mean it. Zichro tzaddik livracha, he was a phenomenal Mashgiach. He was like the Mashgiach of all of America at the time when he left Gateshead and came to Lakewood. We miss him enormously. Rav Matisyahu said as follows, a beautiful point. What is the meaning of learning nisin nistarim from nisin giluim, revealed miracles, from learning from them close miracles? Said Rav Matisyahu, it's something called hekesh sichli, an intelligent comparison. You make a hekesh sichli means you make an intelligent comparison. Because they mighty brought the frogs and the plagues and the olive and makas b'choros Mitzrayim, I therefore understand he's also capable of making my shidduch and give me bread in the morning. I learn from it. A hekesh sichli means I make an intelligent comparison. Just like he's capable of doing that, of course he's capable of daily things, of teva, of an apple tree which grows, no? Everything which happens in the morning. Dogs bark, birds fly, the sun comes up, the sun goes down. These are all teva. Teva I learn from the nissim g'luim, from the amazing wonderful miracles. Min hanissim hag'doylim ham'fursoim, those which are amazing, like matan Torah or the creation of the world or all these wonderful miracles which are very revealed, which are remarkable. You learn about daily hekesh, you make a hekesh sichli, you make an intelligent comparison and come out with a conclusion. But of course Hakadosh Baruch maintains and supervises and monitors those as well. But then Rabbi Tishio went a little bit further and he then came on to Purim. Purim is completely lifting the veil. It moves on completely from something called a hekesh sichli to something which is you actually see the mechanics of the Almighty in front of you, which is much much more. It's no longer just recognizing that there was the sea divided or there were 10 plagues or those 10 or those kriyas Yam whatever these ma'asim or matan Torah. Besides that, there's something much more than that. Inside the miracle of Purim, you actually see the workings, the hanhaga of the Almighty, how he actually behaves. Meaning the nature from one incident to another incident. And when you make that connection from one to the other, you suddenly stand back and say, "Goodness me, this is what Purim is all about. It's a remarkable miracle here." You see the nature of it's more than a hekesh sichli, you actually realize yourself the divine supervision, the hashgacha pratis from one element to another. Let me explain to you what we have been talking about here. I'm going to use the words, it so happened, but you'll understand behind the word so happened is one aspect, one scenario, which led to another scenario. If you can join them all up, all the I'm going to explain a few points from the Megillas Esther. It so happened. It so happened as follows. That Achashverosh was the king in a place called Elam, in a place that was the capital of the Persian Empire. But he desperately wanted a throne like King Solomon, Hamelech. And the only place he could find carpenters, so the Vilna Gaon explains, was in Shushan. He moved his kingdom to Shushan, where the carpenters was there. It so happened, BaShushan Habirah Ish Mordechai Hayah BiShushan. Mordechai lived in Shushan, meaning behind the scenes you see Mordechai was living there. You see what happened? It so happened that this particular king also needed tremendous prestige and personality building. He was tremendously lacking. He was originally a stable boy, and he rose to become a king. He needed a great support. So he made a magnificent banquet for 180 days. At the end of the banquet, he ordered his wife, who was a very mechuses, a very dignified, from tremendous lineage, the daughter of Belshazzar, a granddaughter of Nebuchadnezzar, to come and parade in front of everybody. She refused, and therefore he executed her. He was blind drunk, he was in a stupor, but he made the most awful mistake, and he regretted it terribly. He executed his wife. He then needed another wife. It so happened, chosen as a wife was taken was Esther. Esther was probably the best Bais Yaakov girl in the whole of the world. She was unique. The possuk explains, she was Yefas To'ar VeYefas Mareh. The Vilna Gaon just explained let me say what Esther was. The Vilna Gaon explains, in physical terms, Yefas To'ar means a beautiful ear, beautiful nose, a beautiful hand, a beautiful hair, beautiful eyes, features which are perfectly formed. Yefas mareh means a beautiful overall look, not just individual features, but also overall look. Says the Vilna Gaon, and that's a martial also. The nimshal is as follows. Yefas to'ar means every mitzvah performed perfectly. Like in the martial, perfectly formed limbs, so perfectly formed mitzvahs. That was Esther. She was perfect in all her mitzvahs. Every mitzvah was perfect in its perfection, in its intention, in its sincerity, in its devotion to the Almighty. Yefas mareh, says the Vilna Gaon, refers to beautiful middos. Esther was beautiful inside and outside. That's what it means. This great girl, this great lady was taken to be the the the wife of the king. And it was a tremendous tragedy in Klal Yisrael. It so happened, it so happened, after she was queen, and she was taken into the palace, Mordechai was sitting one day, out of great concern to what was happening with Esther. Mordechai was sitting at the gate of the palace, and he came went there regularly out of concern for Achashveirosh, to to to what was happening with Esther. He heard two ministers, Bigsan and Seresh, who were talking with each other. They were planning to assassinate the king. They purposely spoke in a foreign language, which no one would they thought would understand. But since as we know, it so happened that Mordechai sat on the Sanhedrin, he knew every single language. He understood what they were saying, and told Esther that they planned to assassinate the king. Esther told Achashveirosh. Mordechai saved the life of the king, and it was written down in the book of Chronicles. It so happened it was written down there. It so happened that Haman, who had risen to power, who gained tremendous because the king recognized his tremendous wisdom in how to deal with the Jewish problem, which Achashveirosh was desperate to solve as well. He was no great lover of the Jews. We mentioned this last week, that one was called a mountain, and one was called a ditch, the Gemara in Megillah explains. The mountain refers to Haman. You see him from a distance, you see exactly what he was. The ditch refers to Achashveirosh. You would get close, you realize who he was. Haman came forward with an idea of of the Haman to to kill all the Jews. One night, the king couldn't sleep. You also can't sleep one night. One night he was terribly disturbed. You also have a night like that. What happened was Ahasuerus wanted someone to read to him. It so happened that he asked for the Book of Chronicles to be brought and he read the page about Mordecai saving his life and asked who is going to help who is going to support What is going What reward are we going to give to to Mordecai? It so happened, Rabbi Isaac, that Haman was outside the room at the moment. He then ordered him to take his arch enemy, a person we had a a vendetta against, to take him on a person through the whole of the of Shushan. Unbelievable. It so happened. Rabbi Isaac, you see what I'm doing? Every in so happened is a theme of Hashgacha Protis. Everything it so happened. Esther came in and begged to the king and asked the king if please if he would come to a banquet with him and Haman. At the final banquet which Esther made, I'm missing a great deal of help, but I want you to get the point of what they're talking about here. Esther pleaded for her nation. Now she say I lost it. The army but that question say I'm asking for my nation. Ahasuerus didn't know what to do cuz he was a buddy. He was in partnership with Haman. He went out into the garden and saw that all the beautiful orchids and roses and tulips were all being cut down. He asked the gardeners who were actually Malachim. It so happened the Malachim were there. They all turned around and said, "Haman told us to do it." Haman told you to do it. He was furious. He frowned. He came into the room and saw Haman on top of Esther. He accidentally so happened he had fallen on top of Esther and therefore said Ahasuerus, "You're going to take my wife as well? Take him away and kill him. Take him away and kill It so happened. Rabbi Isaac, I want to say there's one last incident of it so happened. Listen to this beautiful commentary of the Vilna Gaon. It's a wonderful payrush here. It so happened in the room with someone called Harbonah. Harbonah was a minister who standing there. He advised the king what to do with Haman. I want to read out to you the sentence. If you want to look at it, it's payrush Zion, possuk tes in the Megillah Esther. Because I don't have anything wrong with my throat, but I'm going to read you the positive the way I think the Vilna Gaon means it. My throat is okay. Listen to what I'm saying. By Yoma and Havona said, who was he? Echoed me and Hassoris in one of the ministers of the king. If you have a minute, he said to the king, this is the comment which Havona said. He put it in this way. Gam, behold, he may hates heels the tree 50 amos high. Shalom, which Haman had made the mode Toy to the Melech. The king never heard the words the Mordecai asha dibair. He had as follows, he had asha also Haman the Mordecai asha dibair in brackets toy to the Melech, meaning the tree was made for the king to hang the king on. By Yoma Melech is 50 amos high, take him and and hang him. It so happened, says the Vilna Gaon, that this is what Ahashverosh heard, that he tried to kill me. This is what he's trying to do. He took my wife and tried to kill me. Take him away and hang him. I will say, what do you do with all these incidents? What do you do with all these incredible pay washing of the Vilna Gaon? He never heard the words the Mordecai asha dibair. All he heard is eight toy to the Melech. That's all he heard. The tree is good for the king. You have to put them all together. You have to see from one point to another, from time Esther was taken. Each stage goes in different stage. The Matisyohu said I think once explained this for us a beautiful point. You must join together that Tila Esther the base of men of Esther was kidnapped and taken to the house of the king. Put that together with me or Decker is cuz I see God to the mouth cuz Mordecai said, who knows what maybe this is a reason why you came to the to become the queen for this reason. The whole issue the issue Shushan to the base of Mecha in the end Shushan is is rejoicing. What happened? We moved from a potential holocaust to the happiest day in the Jewish calendar. Put them all together. That's the point. Once you put them all together, you see the hanhaga, the behavior of the mighty. It's more than kriyas yams. Kriyas yams that you witness something, matan Torah, which is revealed the 10 plagues. But here you're actually looking to see the mechanics of of the way the world works from one point to the next. If you grasp all these points, you suddenly realize, "Goodness me, the simcha of Purim is enormous. It's enormous simcha here." From one point to the next, it moves on like that. I better say I don't have to use a stretch of imagination to take the point a little bit further. But vadai but vadai, of course, we are also living in the time of our master upon him. Look what happened in Klal Yisrael now all this in the last 80 90 years, what happened from the time of the Shoah, enormous problems in Klal Yisrael. I remember Rav Breuer, zichronah l'vrachah, once mentioned in a vort, I heard him based on what also in the Mir Yeshiva, he once explained, he once went to the Chazon Ish and told the Chazon Ish, "What's going to be with Klal Yisrael after the war?" There seems to be nothing left. The Chazon Ish said, "Nothing is left." That's how bad it was. The devastation was terrible what there was in Klal Yisrael. Enormous devastation from the Holocaust. But now we came out and what happened here? We then move on to situation of tremendous renaissance. Eretz Yisrael was given to Klal Yisrael now and we we came and lived here and the population and the growth of Eretz Yisrael. I came here 40 50 years ago and goodness me, look at the difference. The enormous build, the enormous riches, the enormous growth, the stability, the greatness of Klal Yisrael of Eretz Yisrael which has grown. The renaissance in Torah is enormous here. The enormous Daf Yomi. The changes are enormous what's going on here. We'll come on to it a little bit later. But this is the point you have to realize. It's from one stage to another stage. Rav Matisyahu explained it in the following way. It's a beautiful moshel, but you'll get the point straight away. The simcha Purim must be explained like this. Supposing someone is teaching you the letters of the aleph bet. He first of all teaches you the letter aleph. Then you'll learn the letter hey. Then you learn the letter vav. Then you learn the letter mem, and then you learn the letter nun. What do they make up? They're just letters. Aleph, hey, vav, mem, nun. Hey, put them all together. Put the letters together. Um aleph, hey, vav, mem, nun. Put the letters together. Juggle with the letters and advise what you come with. You come out with emunah. No? If you assemble the letters a certain way, you suddenly realize goodness me, these letters mean my faith in the almighty. You suddenly see the scene in front of you. From each different scenario in the megillah, you suddenly realize goodness me, this is what happened here. From Esther being taken to Bigthan and Teresh there's the simcha. The simcha is from Esther being taken for a shushan holiday of Susa. The moments of rejoicing. You must feel the point. It goes through completely. Therefore, the simcha of Purim is enormous. Let me explain to you in what capacity it's amazing. Perhaps even more than Pesach. More than that. In the following way. The Rambam, the contradiction in the writings of the Rambam. The Rambam in Hilchos Yom Tov, look at that, perek vav, halacha kaf, says as follows. K'she-adam oichel b'seisa d'simcha b'regel, when a person eats and drinks and is happy and is simcha shel Yom Tov on a Yom Tov, Pesach, Shavuos, and Sukkos, lo yimashchech b'yayin. Don't drink too much wine or b'sleich or b'chalas sh'eish. Shekol mishi yeiseif, if a person drinks too much hashikvas basleich, chaber and it leads to chalas sh'eish and holus. You must be careful how much you drink. You drink a revi'is zayin, but not too much. Don't become shikor on on Yom on Pesach, Shavuos, and Sukkos. Be careful how much you drink. You have to be careful. If you open up to the Rambam in the laws of megillah, Hilchos Megillah, perek base, halacha tes vov, listen to the Rambam here. The contradiction here, quite difference. Keitzad choyel sudas How do you make your seudah on Purim? Sheyochal basar v'yitakin seudah. You should meat and prepare your suda. You feel I should do get shaker. The year you yes get drunk. What's going on here? How can it be shaker is an incredible awful situation. Shaker is a girl, you know. How can you tell me to get shaker to get drunk on on Yom Tov you're not supposed to get drunk. The difference is as follows. I would say we have to really look in the Shulchan Aruch and explain what's going on here. How come by Purim, which is the happiest day, you should get shaker and yet on Yom Tov you don't. Says the Shulchan Aruch in 12 in English a person is duty bound on Purim until you don't know the difference between all of Haman and all of Mordecai. Until you cannot tell the difference. You are duty bound, you should, you are obligated to get shaker. You can't tell the difference between an all who is Haman and a ball who is Mordecai. Let me explain to you a little bit what what means here. You have a man who was phenomenally powerful, unbelievably wealthy. He was the second most powerful man in the world. Ahasuerus ruled all over the world. Haman and his sons, he had all his sons were presidents, prime ministers. Each one was a dignitary and a profound person in the country where they lived. A phenomenally successful man with all the money and all the gifts and all the all the prestige that you can possibly need. This was a man who was unbelievably powerful. One day, you're walking through the streets of Shushan. It was a windy day and you walk through the streets of Shushan. You turn the corner and there you see, lo and behold, goodness me. How can this be? Here is this man who is phenomenally powerful and successful swinging in the breeze and underneath him are his 10 sons. What happened here? What happened here? How can this extremely powerful man be swinging from a tree and his 10 sons? What happened here? That is the definition says the Vilna Gaon of an all. After all his fame and his wealth and his prestige, he ended up as an all, a cursed man hanging on a tree with his sons. Take another individual. There was a Talmud Godol a tzaddik who was one of the top people in the Sanhedrin, one of the most renowned Talmud in the Sanhedrin, if not the top of all. He heard about the situation of Klal Yisrael. He realized what the desperation was, and he changed his clothing to sackcloth and ashes. He took a stool and sat outside the palace of Achashverosh and cried his eyes out and davened. He gathered together thousands of kinderlach and davened for the for Klal Yisrael. And he made a tremendous tremendous commotion. And the gatherings were you know, he traveled all around the provinces telling people you must daven, you must be concerned. He was unbelievable. He he lowered himself completely just for the sake of Klal Yisrael. In the end, he became the position of the first one. He became the Mishneh L'Melech. He became number two. Tremendous Mordechai. Tremendous splendor and and pride. We mentioned last week that the Targum brings down that Mordechai HaYehudi Mordechai had this big palace, sincere Jew. Everybody was terrified of him. Mordechai said something, Mordechai is going somewhere, everybody was amazed over Mordechai. The Biscalov mentioned one of the great miracles of Purim also is there was no enmity, there was no revenge afterwards. Mordechai remained pronounced and even though he was a Jew, there was no anti-Semitism. Which is there was no there was no boomerang from Mordechai's tremendous success. That's the point which we must realize. Tremendous miracle happened here. This man became number That's the next Mishnah of Bovo. Says the Vilna Gaon. Bovo means at the end of the day. Now, says the Chofetz Chaim on that halacha of Before you drink the first cup of wine, make a l'chaim over the following idea. I don't know which is the greater miracle, what Hakadosh did that he brought down this tremendous fiend, this rasha, this evil man Haman, who was so powerful, or he rose up an a tzaddik from the ground and made him into such an important person. Which is make another make another drink. I'm thinking again, I don't know which is the greater name which is the greater praise to the almighty. How much should I thank the almighty for all that's happened here? I have tremendous hakoras hatov. What he did, he saved my nation from the holocaust to the happiest day of the Jewish calendar. What happened here? Have another chaim. He says the chaim must always have in mind what is the greater miracle, the fall of the rosha or the rise of the tzaddik? Chaim looks absolutely I don't know. I can't work it out. I'm thinking. I'm working on it. I can't It's bobbled and I'm I've become almost befuddled. I can't see it clearly. That is the point of becoming shicker. I'm overwhelmed with thanks. Kol tikra l'Hashem kol yom. We don't say hallel on Purim but you can certainly sing hallel at the seudah. It's You have to read the megillah. We mentioned that last week. The megillah is is the most important but you sing hallel. Hodu l'Hashem ki tov ki l'olam chasdo. I thank you Hashem that you saved my nation and also besides on a macro scale on a micro scale myself as well. All that happened to me in my life. I thank you That is the nature of the simcha on Purim. But you will turn around all the bobbies and all the grandmothers and all the wives will turn around but why do you have to get shicker? It does not mean shicker laying on the ground and you can't talk anymore in a stupor. The Chofetz Chaim says quite clearly it doesn't go that far. It goes as far as being shicker with thanks to but more than much more than Yom Tov. Why is that? Why is what's behind it? I saw a beautiful explanation on this from the writings of HaGaon Reb Yaakov Edelstein. Zechuso tzaddik livracha. The love of Hashem. He explained as follows. It's a beautiful point. It goes to explain all and to an explain to all these grandmothers and wives who see their husbands or their boys getting shicker on Purim. What's behind it all? What is behind this halacha of getting shicker on Purim? Says Reb Yaakov as follows. Our behavior is usually and should be monitored according to our seichel. I think something out. I think shall I buy this? Shall I not buy this? Shall I say this? Shall I not say this? Shall I go there? Shall I not go there? Shall I marry this person? Shall I not marry this person? Everything works There is emotion, of course, but the most predominant factor is your seichel, your rationale. Should I do something or should I not do something? Seichel governs most things, and emotion as well, but seichel should be the the guiding line, the lighthouse for whether you make a decision, how you do something or not. Says Rebbi Akiva, but if you lose your seichel to a certain extent, mainly you drank too much, what happens is the real person comes out. The pnimius, the internal make mechanism person come You suddenly realize behind the seichel, you see the person behind it all. I don't know if you've ever seen a talmid chacham shicker on Purim. He's standing there crying, "Rebono shel Olam, how much can I thank you? And I'm I'm not a perfect I'm not a tzaddik." And the confessions he makes and the the thanks that he gives to Olam, the pnimius comes out. The real genuine devotion to the Almighty comes out. That's what comes out. You can't do that with your seichel. You need to be a little bit high. You need a certain amount of intoxication, not complete intoxication to thinking being bo choma, bo mudrei no. I'm just saying bo choma and over mudrei. Yeah, I don't know. I make stuff I confuse. That level is beyond the role of the seichel, comes to the role of the heart, no? And the heart comes out. The pnimius, your nichnas yayin yotzei sod, the sod comes out of the person from wine. You suddenly realize who he is. That's the reason behind it. And with that, you come to teshuvah. Remember the beautiful analysis which we mentioned last week about Isaac Sher. What Isaac Sher says as follows, "Zechuso yagen aleinu. Rosh Yeshivas Slabodka." Yom Kippur begins with a banquet. Everybody eats the seudas hamasekes. And then you end up the teshuvah comes out from the inuyim, selicha, mechila, and kappara. You say "Al chet." Purim begins with a fast, Taanis Esther, and ends up with a banquet, the simcha. From the inuyim, from the difficulties of Yom Kippur, you come to teshuvah. From the simcha and the thanks and the hatov, appreciation to the love between a fellow man, that is the chuva on point. That's the nature. It's a tremendously high level of simcha, but it comes out through the wine. Comes out through the intoxication. The real person comes out. It's not no longer the rational, no longer the sacred, it's much more than much more powerful than that. That's what we must understand. Once you get that point clear, we can maybe understand the comment which was made by nephew of the she once made a beautiful point. Modern day psychiatrists and psychologists say as follows, the greatest problem we have with our generation are drugs. Drugs removes the whole cycle and the rational of a person. And since a person is under drugs, what happens is he can be immoral, he can kill somebody, he can steal. He does all those horrendous acts because he's under the influence of drugs. So that's not true at all. It's nothing to do with that. Because behind all the person is nothing else. He was never ever brought out properly. He was never ever trained. He never ever made a relationship with the almighty. The problem is there was never any training before. So the real person comes out, the evil inside a person, the natural causes of of and come out. And that's what happens. With a with a person doesn't have in him, but the what comes out with the drunk is the the behind the person. The real soul comes out. But with a with a person has never had inside him, what comes out is the worst possible features, the worst profile comes out. That's a beautiful understanding behind it all. And therefore we begin to realize what does it mean is an incredible simcha. Even more maybe according to the more than because it's you even get for that the real person comes out. It goes more than on it goes into the heart and the soul of the person comes out and you begin to see who is this person underneath. He's crying. Why is he crying? Because he does Why is he crying? He doesn't maybe the maybe he spoke maybe his isn't good. May This is what he's worried about. The person comes out and the thanks and appreciation which he says to and he sings hallel with tremendous gusto, tremendous enthusiasm and motivation. That's the point which comes out. Rabbi Siyyah there's a beautiful mashal which is given by Reb Hutner take this mashal and run with it. It's a beautiful mashal parable. Says Reb Hutner Reb Hutner Siyyah What happens if a person nebach is sick and after he's sick he recovers completely. He makes a seudas hoda'ah a festive meal to celebrate his recovery. The connection between the illness and the and the seudah which he makes is really there isn't any connection. He makes the seudah as a representation of thanks for what he went through. But there isn't really any connection. The banquet is a separate entity to all the illness that he had. Says Reb Hutner what happens if a person in reality his illness is depression more shchoyra. He's always miserable. He's always sad. He can never smile. He can never laugh. He can never joke. That's an illness he has. Now he recovers from the depression. What happens now? The simcha of the seudas hoda'ah is amazing cuz it's actually that is the antidote to the illness that he had. The actual simcha is represents what he went through cuz that is the nature of it. In other words the the purpose of the simcha is exactly what he went through. He now can laugh. He now can smile. He can now make a joke. He now his life is happy again. That is what Purim is all about. Purim is we actually not just recognizing from afar that was a miracle. That's a hekesh hekesh sichli intelligent an intelligent comparison. It's not that. It's really seeing how the mechanics are how the tools are the culture one thing to another to another and celebrating Purim is you you see it the actual workings of the Almighty how he works. That's the important incredible point behind it all. That's what we're getting at here. Therefore the simple pulling is an incredible poet, simple. Much more. That's the reason why we get shaker cuz you want to bring out the real person and that's when the trouble will come out. If that's the case, why bother say it's not hard to make that connection therefore to what they're going through now, the good of Schleiermacher as well. What does it mean the Schleiermacher from pulling? Means as follows. From God as part of the world from the Persian Empire. It means as follows. It means the person begins to recognize in our times as well. From the Shoah, from the enormous difficulty of the Shoah. I remember once reading about the famous Rebbetzin Judith Grunfeld, aleiha shalom. She once gave a sheer and explained as follows. You must imagine in your mind that everything that happened at Auschwitz, Treblinka, and Belsen, all those ashes came out and that was the reason why there's a mere yeshiva, that's the reason why there's a brisk, why there's a base medrish at Lakewood, why there's a in heaven, all the different impact Philadelphia. It's some The ashes cause this. Someone drew a painting of it. I saw the painting. See the ashes coming out and there's there's the mere, there's heaven, there's Ponevezh, there's Philadelphia, there's Lakewood, all the different yeshivas which are around the world. That was the cause. You begin to realize there's something called a cause and effect when you can see that. The different what rise of clarity as well as we mentioned previously in the daf hayomi, the enormous renaissance in Torah which has taken place, the enormous growth which there is. I remember talking to the manager, I think the menahel of Lakewood yeshiva in America about Mordechai Hershkowitz once turned around to me and said to me as follows. He said, "One of the greatest problems we have in Lakewood is nowadays finding room for all the children. There's no room. There's no room. Nothing." And then when I came to the mere yeshiva, there was maybe 5 or 600. Now there's only about 10,000 people. What happened here? There's a growth. You must go from one to the next, the stages. When we come to the time of the good of Schleiermacher, you'll suddenly realize hazore'im bedima berina yiktzoru, you sowed in tears and with joy you will reap, you will harvest. That's what happened here. If we're able to realize Purim is a dress rehearsal, a full dress rehearsal of the good that's the nature of Purim. We mentioned last week that is the reason why Mordecai was called meaning what it means as follows this nature of goodness kind of kindness of of understanding of others is the antidote of sinners sinners that's what it what you're saying from Purim is the rehearsal for what the good means here. That's what we're taking out of it. The method is as follows as I said moving from one point to the another. Once you can see that thread coming out you suddenly realize and stand back. Maybe when the good come we also have to drink at the during all maybe that's what we'll be asked to say by the Messiah. Sing that's what not all but all we can tell me that's what we'll have to do. You see the connection going on. That's what we must do. We must learn to see exactly what the is. Come back to where we began. For maybe is instant when the person gets recovery. Good is quite different I'm suggesting good means if you can see and use the plan that the the the structure of Purim and take it into our times you suddenly same is really a dress rehearsal for the good and hail the amen we should be to have a failure in Purim and learn and have to get not too but more to be able to let our hearts can come out and the real person can should come out with devotion to the almighty and appreciation and from there we should see the good and hail the amen we should see the downfall so this Persia in this Purim amen amen amen my wife and I are planning to be in Lakewood, New Jersey for Passover. We will be there from now Pesach until April the 20th. If you're interested in my coming to a shear either in the New York area, Monsey, Passaic, and the outlying area of New York, I would be delighted to come in, maybe share the brachos with you. If you'd like to be in touch with me, my email address is y alprn y a l p r e n rbs, that stands for my rabbet shamesh, [email protected]. I look forward to hearing from you. I wish you a freilichen Purim. More than a heck of a stick you have to place. They're much more than intelligent to buy this. You should be able to live Purim man ad loyada bein all Haman and Mordechai. It should be something which our hearts come out and we should see exactly express the simple to our God shabach. My ocean bless him called my lawyer lie. Amen. Can you want to say?