The subject tonight as I announced last week is Purim. The truth is, I think last year and maybe even two years ago, I don't remember exactly, we discussed Purim, so the major issues in regard to Purim were already discussed. So tonight we're going to discuss like certain a certain aspect of it. The major issue of Purim that I discussed, just to be short, was that Purim is a very very holy day. As a matter of fact, it could be considered to a certain degree the holiest day of the year. We all know that Yom Kippur is the holiest day of the year. Well, it says in the Zohar that Purim is greater than Yom Kippur. And that's why, if you look in the Chumash, Yom Kippur is called not Yom Kippur, but Yom Kippurim, which means a day like Purim. That's not the simple meaning of the word. The simple meaning of the word is כיפורים means forgiveness. The word kaparah means to forgive. Yom Kippur means a day of forgiveness. Yom Kippurim means a day of a lot of forgiveness. But the Zohar says that there is a hint in this name: יום, כ, פורים, כ means like, a day like Purim. So when we compare one thing to another, usually the thing we compare it to is greater. If you say this is A is like B, then obviously B is greater than A. So when we say that Yom Kippur is Yom Kippurim, it's like Purim, obviously Purim is even greater than Yom Kippur. And the truth is, we do find certain similarities between Yom Kippur and Purim. One similarity is that Yom Kippur is one day and Purim is one day. That's the only holiday that's one day. There are holidays that are one day originally the way the Torah gave it, but nevertheless, the way we keep it, the way the חכמים gave it to us, we have extra days. For instance, Rosh Hashanah should really be one day, but we have two days. Shavuos should be one day, but really we have two days. Here we have Yom Kippur is the only holiday from the Torah that remains one day. Purim is also only one day, and we don't have two days Purim, even though the day after Purim is Shushan Purim, but that's because in certain areas that was the only Purim, so it was or this day or that day. Being that other people also celebrated it happened the second day, so we make it into a special day. But actually the Yom Tov is only one day. So Purim and Yom Kippur are similar in the fact that they're one day. And the fact that it's one day shows something very special. One is always the number that we use for something that's essential. When you have two, it's already a number. It shows a certain limit of two or three or as many as you have. One is the smallest number possible, so when we want to talk about something being being essential and it has to be a day, so it's always one day. And because that Yom Kippur is a day that the essence of the Jew is revealed and the essence of the connection between the essence of the Jew and the essence of God is revealed, that's why it's one day, so too is it on Purim. We also find something else. We know that on Yom Kippur, one of the special things that was done in the בית המקדש was that they threw lots. There were two animals that were standing there every Yom Kippur that they threw lots which one would be the one that would become the sacrifice, and which one would be the one that would be taken away all the way into the wilderness into עזאזל and be thrown off the mountain, which is part of the service of Yom Kippur, but it was done through lots. And it says in Kabbalah and in other sefarim that the reason it was done through lots, because the concept of גורל, of throwing lots, shows on a level which is beyond limitations. Because the reason you throw lots, when does a person throw lots? If there is any reason why you would choose one thing over another, you wouldn't throw lots, because then you choose the one you want. You throw lots, you make a גורל when they're both equal, and it's something that's beyond your understanding. Yom Kippur is a day that the connection of a Jew to Hashem is beyond the limitations of the person's understanding and the person's feelings, or beyond the limitations of Hashem's level where He is limited, so to speak, to limitations of understanding, which is a level of אצילות, this goes beyond that. And that's why down here in the service of the Beit HaMikdash, they would throw lots, that would represent the concept of something that's beyond understanding and beyond feelings. Purim is also connected to lots. The name Purim, Purim comes from the word pur, and pur, it says in the Megillah, הוא הגורל, is a lot. It also shows the There is one difference between Yom Kippur and Purim. A major difference. On Purim, we eat, and we drink, and we drink a lot, and we have a beautiful feast, and we're very happy, and on Yom Kippur, we have to fast. Now this in truth shows that Purim is greater than Yom Kippur. The fact that they both are connected to such a high spiritual level, and nevertheless you could eat. The reason we have to fast on Yom Kippur is because such a high level, if you reach such a high level, how could you get involved in your mundane physical matters of eating and enjoying food? Food, and we're talking about such high spiritual, godly levels? You can't. That's why the law is that on Yom Kippur you have to fast. Now imagine, Purim you reach such a high level, and the fact that you eat is not a contradiction, is not a conflict, because when you're very, very great, then you are able to bring these great levels of kedushah, of holiness, even into your mundane low things. So Purim is even greater than Yom Kippur. And that's why it says on Purim, I'm just repeating in short the general concept of Purim, that's why on Purim there is a מצוה, חייב איניש לבסומי בפוריא עד דלא ידע בין ארור המן לברוך מרדכי, it says, on Purim you have to be so happy, drink so much till you get so drunk that you can't tell the difference between blessed is Mordechai and cursed is Haman. And we all know that this sounds pretty strange. Why would we want to do that? Why would we want to forget that Mordechai is blessed and Haman is cursed? The question is even further than that. How is it possible to forget? The whole reason you're drinking is because of the miracle of Purim, which means you're drinking because Mordechai is blessed and Haman is cursed! So how could you forget? The answer is Chassidut comes and says that's not the meaning. It means that you reach such a high level that you remember that Haman is blessed is cursed, which is mean which means all evil things are cursed, Mordechai, which represents all good things are blessed, but you reach that level, the recognition of that level, not because you understand it, because it's beyond your understanding. עד דלא ידע means that you should not understand, that means you should have that in mind and in your heart beyond your understanding. When things are limited to your understanding, then as long as you understand it, you follow that direction. But if somebody will ask you a question, you will forget, then you won't follow the same direction. But if something is deeper than your understanding, then it's there forever. Then it's there eternally. And that's what we want. Purim is such a day that goodness, Mordechai, and evil, which is Haman, are so far apart that essential, it's inborn, becomes inborn in the person. That's how great Purim is, like Yom Kippur. And that's why it says on Purim we can reach very the highest spiritual levels possible. That's how special Purim is.

One of the things that we usually discuss as a as a specialty of Purim, and that's really the point we're going to get to tonight, is when we compare the other holiday which is the one that we seem to compare to Purim. I just compared Purim to Yom Kippur, but usually people tend to compare Purim to Chanukah. We know that Purim and Chanukah are the two holidays which were established by the Chachamim, by the rabbis. So usually we try to find the similarities or the differences between Chanukah and Purim. And there is a major, major difference between Chanukah and Purim as that's what all the commentaries discuss. Looking at the decree, both are holidays that we were saved from problems, from a decree that affected us. What was the difference in the decree? The decree of Purim was against the body of the Jews. Haman wanted to kill all the Jews. Chanukah was a decree against the soul. What they really wanted was the Jews should stop studying Torah, the Jews should stop doing mitzvot, it was against the spirituality of the Jews. That's one thing. But then let's go to another thing. The way the miracle took place. The miracle of Chanukah took place in a very open way, which means it was a revealed miracle. It was very obvious, clearly that naturally this could not have happened. Naturally it is impossible that an army of hundreds of thousands of soldiers against a small army of a few thousand should, and the small army should win. And that's what we actually say in Al Hanisim, in the special prayer that we say on Chanukah, we say מסרת גבורים ביד חלשים, we thank Hashem: you gave over the strong ones in the hands of the weak, which is a miracle, רבים ביד מעטים, many in the hands of few, and as we learn in the history of there were hundreds of thousands of soldiers on the Greek side against a few thousand of soldiers of the Jews, which naturally it's impossible. So, this was an open miracle. The miracle of Purim as much as it was a miracle, but it's called a נס המלובש בטבע. A miracle that was dressed in nature. It was a miracle that took place through a sequence of events. Things took place, and if somebody really really really wants to argue and be stubborn, he could come and say it wasn't even a miracle. It's just a coincidence. It just happened that Esther became the queen. It happened that he killed Vashti. It just happened that Esther became the queen. It just happened that Mordechai overheard the two guys talking wanting to kill the king. It just happened that later on that Mordechai Esther, who was while she was in the in the court in the king's house heard about Mordechai walking the street with a sack. She just happened, it happened to and just happened to Haman just happened to come to the king and the king just happened to tell him that I just realized that I didn't repay Mordechai. All these things just happened and just happened. So someone wants to say, yes, it just happened. So, it looked like nature, but we all know that this it's so far fetched that all these events should take place, that we all are sure that this was a miracle. And we're so sure that it's a miracle that we even make a berachah. One of the blessings we make when we read the Megillah is ברוך אתה השם אלקינו מלך העולם, we saying blessed is השם, שעשה נסים לאבותינו בימים ההם בזמן הזה, that you made miracles to our forefathers in those days this time of the year. The same blessing that we make on Chanukah. When we light the Chanukah candles we say the same blessing because Chanukah miracles took place and Purim we are no doubt miracles took place to make a berachah. So, really it was miracle, there were miracles there, it was a great one big gigantic miracle. But, it was a miracle that was put into the levush into the garment of nature. And we learned in many sefarim that that is special, greater than if it's an open miracle. And that's what I'm going to try to explain why the miracle of Purim is greater. But in order to get to that, let's start from the beginning of the idea, and then we'll continue and see what this shows us.

Let's start with the Gemara. The Talmud asks a question, says that the students of Rabbi Shimon bar Yochai asked their teacher, who was Rabbi Shimon bar Yochai, author of the Zohar, but this is not in the Zohar, this is actually in the Talmud, in the Gemara. And they asked him, מפני מה נתחייבו שונאיהם של ישראל כליה? What was the reason that the Jews deserved this great decree of being wiped out? What did they do? What was so terrible that they did that they deserved something like this? And he answered them, and the quote that he said is what counts, and let's let's pay attention to the words, I'll say it in Hebrew, translate it literally into English, because a literal translation is what counts. He answered, מפני שנהנו מסעודתו של אותו רשע, because they had pleasure, they enjoyed the meal of that wicked man. Then there's another opinion in Talmud, מפני שהשתחוו לצלם, because earlier they have bowed down to an idol. And this goes back to the time of Nebuchadnezzar which was around 70 years earlier in the time of the destruction of the second בית המקדש, of the first בית המקדש, that the Jews listened to Nebuchadnezzar the king and they bowed down to the idol. And that's on another opinion. The question that the commentaries ask is we could understand that if the Jews bowed down to an idol, that's worshipping idols is the worst sin. We have three top top sins in the whole Torah: idol worship, murder and adultery. Out of the three, the worst is idol worship, because that's completely against God. And the punishment for worshipping idols is death. So much so that there is even a possibility, in certain cases, that if a whole city worships idol, that's called an עיר הנידחת. That's the name. Even the little children would be killed because the whole city becomes an idol city, and you kill even little kids who did not sin because they're so small. But, for worshipping idols you do find in the Torah that the punishment is very very harsh. So, according to the opinion that they deserved this punishment, this decree of being wiped out because they worshipped idols, makes sense. For something like that, you deserve this punishment. But, according to the opinion that they participated in the party of Ahasuerus, for that you deserve to die? What is this opinion? Let me explain it. We know in the Megillah we learned that Ahasuerus made a big, big party. First he made for different officers, then he made a party in Shushan for eight days and he invited everybody, all the people. It wasn't for officers or special people, but for everybody. And the Jews participated in the party. And the simple meaning of when we say because they participated in the party, what was the sin? The sin was, as it seems from the simple pshat, they ate from the party. It was non-kosher. So, they ate non-kosher food. For eating this non-kosher food, that's why they deserved this punishment. That's how the simple trans- interpretation of the Gemara is. And the commentaries ask, why would they deserve such a harsh punishment for eating non-kosher food? We don't find anywhere something like that, for eating non-kosher food to deserve such a punishment. It's a hard thing to say. So, how can we say that? Besides, who says it was non-kosher? Well, obviously Ahasuerus did not eat kosher, we all know that. But who were the people in charge of the party? The people in charge of the party were none other Many people don't know this, but the Talmud tells us the two people in charge were none other than Mordechai and Haman. And it says לעשות, that the decree, not the decree, the the king ordered that no one should be pressured into anything, לעשות כרצון איש ואיש. They should do the will of the man and the man. The simple meaning is that every man should do as he as he wishes. But the Gemara says that these two words איש and איש, to do the will of the man and the man means to do the will of Mordechai and Haman, cuz they were both in charge. Because Haman is called איש in the Megillah, and Mordechai is called איש. In the Megillah, it says, איש יהודי היה בשושן הבירה ושמו מרדכי. There was an איש, a man, in Shushan and his name was Mordechai. That's how the Megillah says. So Mordechai is called איש. Then we find in the same Megillah it says, איש צר ואויב המן הרע הזה, the terrible man Haman. He's also called איש. So who were the two people that were in charge when Achashverosh said you shall do the wishes of the two איש? Mordechai and Haman. Now we could imagine that Mordechai made sure that the Jews would have kosher food. There is no question about it. If Mordechai was in charge, and he saw Jews come, he definitely had kosher food for them. As a matter of fact, in a different place it even says והש- and a pasuk in the Megillah where it says והשתיה כדת אין אונס, that the drinking כדת means was like the rule, no force. So, there are different interpretations. The Gemara says it means that no one was forced, because other times they would force, when you would sit by the king they would force you to drink cups of wine in the In this case no one was forced to do anything. You could drink as much and as little as you want. But the chachamim say another פשט, והשתיה כדת, the drinking was according to the law. That means the wine was kosher. They drank the wine according to the Jewish law. They drank kosher wine. So if they ate kosher food and they drank kosher wine, then what's the problem? So the question is both ways. First of all, there was nothing wrong in going to the party because it was kosher. But let's go a step further. Even if it wouldn't have been kosher, it still doesn't make sense that because of the participation in the party of Achashverosh and eating non-kosher food, let's say it would have been non-kosher food, for that they deserved such a punishment? It's very hard to understand. Then there is another opinion that says that the problem with participating in the party of Achashverosh was not because of the food. It was because the party that he made was in honor of his thinking that the Beit Hamikdash will never be rebuilt. The Gemara tells us that everyone knew that there was a prophecy when the first Beit Hamikdash was destroyed that in 70 years the Jews will return to Yerushalayim and they will have a second Beit Hamikdash. Achashverosh calculated and he miscalculated, thinking that already the 70 years were up. And he saw nothing was happening, so he says, ah, that shows they're not going to go back. So he made a party! That was the reason for his party. And at in the party he took out the vessels of the Beit Hamikdash, and he displayed them, and he used them. And it says in the Megillah that at this party they used וכלים מכלים שונים, vessels of vessels, different types. It means that Some people have a custom, not necessarily Lubavitch, but some people have a custom that when they read the Megillah, those three words are said with the tune of Eichah. Eichah is the part that we read on Tisha B'Av, and there's a special special tune, a very serious, sad tune. The Megillah we read with a special happy tune, a special Megillah tune. There are certain pesukim in the Megillah that we read just that pasuk with that sad tune of Eichah. The pasuk where it says, ומרדכי ידע את כל אשר נעשה, Mordechai dressed in sack clothes, those that verse we read with the tune of Eichah. When it says all the Jews of Shushan were sad, we read with its tune of Eichah. Some people read these three words where it says that they displayed כלים מכלים שונים, different types of vessels, also with the tune of Eichah because we know that these vessels were the vessels of the Beit Hamikdash. Now according to this, when the Jews participated in the party, what it really means that they participated in a celebration over the destruction of the Beit Hamikdash. And that shows that they did not really believe that the בית המקדש will be rebuilt, they didn't believe in the redemption, and that's why they were punished. But the truth is this doesn't really answer the question 100%, because after all, even for that, even for not believing that the בית המקדש will be rebuilt, even in celebrating the destruction of the בית המקדש, let's say, they don't deserve death. They certainly don't deserve that even little children should die. The decree of Haman was אנשים נשים וטף, men, women, and children. Children certainly are not at fault. According to the other opinion that it was because of עבודה זרה, there we find such a punishment for children, even if they were not at fault, because by a עיר הנדחת we find such a halacha. But we don't find anywhere else that if the parents are so bad and they don't mind that they have no בית המקדש and they celebrated its destruction, for that their children should be punished? There must be something more to it than this. There must be something deeper in the meaning of this Gemara where it says that because they had pleasure from the party of that wicked man, because of that they deserved this punishment, and Hashem did a miracle and it didn't take place, but originally this was there was this decree. The pshat is, the Rebbe explains this at length, and he says like this. Now let's start with something else. The Midrash says that there are many times when the Jews are considered כבשה אחת בין שבעים זאבים, one sheep among 70 wolves. 70 nations of the world are like wolves, and the Jews are the one sheep. And it is impossible, impossible naturally for the sheep to exist. Just imagine: a sheep standing and 70 wolves around, how long do you think it would last? Not long. It's impossible naturally, it's impossible for the sheep to exist. Nevertheless, the Gemara the Midrash says, גדול הרועה שמצילם, that we have a great Shepherd Who takes care of us. And even in such a such a situations, that we are in that situation, not always are we like that, sometimes the goyim are not against us, but sometimes they're so against us that naturally it is impossible for us to exist. And the only way the Jews existed throughout these times is because Hashem protected them beyond nature. Naturally this couldn't happen, it's all beyond nature. Now, when does this take place, that Hashem protects the Jews beyond nature? If they allow that to happen. That means, if the Jews realize that naturally is not nature is not what will help them, and they realize that they have to rely on the miracles of Hashem, that's when Hashem will protect them, that's when those miracles will take place. But if the Jews start making a mistake, and the Jews start thinking that they are under the control of nature, and they so to speak give importance to nature, then they lost this special protection, because they're basically fighting that special protection. It's as if saying to the one that comes to protect them and say, \"I don't need you, because we'll make we'll take care of it naturally,\" and naturally it won't work. So the moment they fight, they tell Hashem, or they show through their behavior to Hashem, that, \"You know, we feel that nature is what is important and nature takes care of us,\" so Hashem says, \"Okay, go ahead. Be my guest. Let's see what will happen.\" When that takes place, automatically, if they're put back into the hands of nature, and what will happen? Naturally, they can't exist. Automatically, they will have to cease to exist. And this is exactly what took place the time of Haman and Achashverosh. When the Jews went to the party of Achashverosh, they went to this party eating kasher food. Fine. Why did they go to the party? There's two ways they could have gone to the party. One way they could have gone to the party was, being that we live in Shushan, and this is our king, so we have to do what the king asks. The king asked us to come, we have to, as they would say in Yiddish, nebach, we have to go, that's what we have to do. We'll try our best to eat kasher food, but we have to go. They didn't go that way. The expression, that's why I said before, we have to follow exact words. It says they enjoyed the party of Achashverosh. When they went to the party of Achashverosh, they went because they enjoyed it. Why did they enjoy it? Because they felt, after all, Achashverosh is the king, and the king, this goyishe king is inviting us, that gave them enjoyment. So the party itself that they enjoyed showed that they felt that the protection that they have comes from Achashverosh, that's our king, and we have to, and and we're happy that he's inviting us. So by doing that, they showed Hashem that they give importance to the natural protection, to the natural events. The moment that happened, automatically now they're back in the world of nature. Now, right after that, when Achashverosh gave over the the control to Haman, who was this big rasha, the Jews fell into a situation where you could consider them one sheep among 70 wolves, because here you had the wolves in control. They became the rulers. Naturally, the Jews can't exist. In other words, naturally, the goyim, when they're terrible goyim, have to make a decree. It wasn't something beyond nature that Haman made this decree. This was only natural for him to do. The thing was that in order for the Jews to exist, you needed an extra special, supernatural protection of Hashem. But because before this happened, they already showed Hashem that we are basically not interested in beyond nature, but we are some people who believe in the nature, and that's what we're under, Hashem said, okay, in that way I take away my special protection. It's not a punishment that He gave them. See, we think that it was a punishment, and when the Gemara asks, why did they deserve punishment? The answer is for enjoying the party of Achashverosh. Then we ask, why should they be punished like that? It's not a punishment at all. It's a natural result from the fact that they rejoiced being invited to Achashverosh's party. They enjoyed thinking that this is the right way, good for us to be here. Instead of thinking, for us it's terrible to come here, we just have no choice. But they felt it's good for us, this is the right way to do it. So they gave themselves over to the laws of nature. So automatically, as a as a result of that behavior came the decree of Haman. Let's explain this a little bit more in detail.

We know that Hashem wants us to behave according to nature. That we know. There is a law, ein somchin al hanes, you're not allowed to rely on miracles. We have to do everything naturally. We also know the pasuk says: וברכך ה' אלקיך בכל אשר תעשה. Hashem will bless you in everything that you do. We have to do. We have to work. We have to realize that, in truth, it's Hashem who gives us our livelihood, gives us our health, everything comes from Hashem. And in truth, because of our belief, that's part of knowledge, we know that Hashem gives us everything, and it's the blessing of Hashem that gives us everything we need, one might think, rightfully, so why should I go to work? Why should I go to work? Let me stay home! If Hashem wants to give me, He gives it to me anyway. If He want to give me, so He'll give me whether I work or not. And if He doesn't want to give me, I could work from today till tomorrow, nothing is going to happen, I ain't getting it anyway. So why not stay home? The truth is, it makes a lot of sense. The only reason that we don't do that, because Hashem doesn't want that. The pasuk says: וברכך ה' אלקיך בכל אשר תעשה. Hashem will bless you in everything that you do. Hashem said, I want you to do. He created the world, He put us here, He created nature, He gives us everything that He wants, and He commanded us, and you should know that I want you to work. But we have to remember that ברכת ה' היא תעשיר, that it's the breath, blessing of Hashem that makes you rich. He wants us to do both opposites. That's what Hashem really wants. Hashem wants us to, on one hand, work naturally, whatever a person is supposed to do to make his living, you're supposed to go to the business, you're supposed to whatever your job is, like every other human being. And at the same time, He wants us to remember that it's not the work that we do that gives us everything, but it's Hashem. Hashem just wants us, wants it to be this way, exactly why there are all kinds of reasons, but let's not get into that, but what He wants is that His blessing that He gives us should go through the levush, we call it, should go through the garment of nature. In truth, we are beyond nature. We, Jews especially, are beyond nature. Just like in the desert, the Jews were supported by miracles, outright miracles. They had the man from heaven, which is not natural, the water came from a rock, which is not natural, they were protected from a cloud, which is not natural, everything was outright supernatural. We, too, now are supernatural. We are given everything by Hashem supernaturally, beyond nature, because we are not limited to nature. We are connected, let's put it this way, using a little bit of Chassidut and Kabbalah, we are connected to Shem Havayah. ברא אלוקים את השמים ואת הארץ. In the beginning, Elokim, Hashem, created heaven and earth. Which name did He use? Elokim. But by the Jews, since we have a neshama, we are connected to Shem Havayah. And the difference between Havayah and Elokim, we always learn in Chassidut, everyone knows that, Elokim is the gematria, equals hateva, which is the nature. Elokim refers to Hashem the way He is in the nature. Havayah, which is made up of three words, היה, הוה ויהיה, past, present, and future, all in one word, which is not natural. Naturally, you can't have past, present, and future together. That's beyond nature. We Jews are connected to Havayah. בנים אתם להויה אלוקיכם, we are banim, children, to Havayah. And therefore, we are beyond nature. So in truth, in truth, if everything would be the way it seems to be, we wouldn't have to work and nature wouldn't mean anything to us. We would just sit, and Hashem would drop everything down. So that's the truth. But Hashem wants it that we should do everything naturally, and it's the nature that will be the levush, the nature will be the garment through which make which is like a kli, like a vessel, where to receive the blessing of Hashem. So that the truth, we can't give nature its importance, make it important. Important is Hashem and the way He gives it to us, but nature is not important. We have to do it because we just have to do it, Hashem wants us to do it. If somebody would give the importance to the nature, it's a mashal, an example that the Rebbe gave, a parable. Imagine if somebody would work on sewing many, many wallets for himself to hold a lot of money, and not do anything to get the money to put into it. So what did you do? You made a lot of wallets, a lot of kelim where to hold the money, but you didn't do anything to get the money. Same thing, you're doing a lot in nature, which is only a vessel to hold the berachah of Hashem, but you didn't do anything for the berachah of Hashem. So really, we, from our side, have to remember that the truth is we are beyond nature. We can't give nature importance, make it as an important thing. It's a secondary thing, but it's only because Hashem wants. The moment we give importance to nature, what happens is we're turning away from the truth, and then we lose that special privilege of being beyond nature, because we are turning away from it ourselves. We are turning our head away from something that is ours, and then we fall under the trap of falling back into nature. And that's exactly what happened at the time of Achashverosh. The Jews, what they did was they showed, by having pleasure in joining the party of Achashverosh instead of feeling bad about it, thinking to themselves, \"In truth, Hashem is the one that gives us protection, and really we're not under the control of the goyim, not under the king of the country, nothing, Hashem. But Hashem wants us to behave through nature, so it has to go through the official channels, the natural channels. We have to go through the king, and the king is there, and the king has a police department, and the king, so we have to go through that way, but really that's not important.\" There is a הלכה, הלכה, הוי מתפלל בשלומה של מלכות, we always have to daven for the peace, for the welfare of the government, because after all, they protect us, and we have to appreciate what they do, because naturally, this is the way to do it. Just like you have to go to work, same thing. But just like a person shouldn't think that his work is what counts, but realize that it's the berachah from Hashem, and this is just a kli, the same thing here. They should have realized that we really shouldn't go to Achashverosh, we don't need him. Naturally, he's the king, so let's go. But when they started enjoying the fact that they were invited, because, \"Oh, he's the king, and he's inviting us, and he's making, giving us this special privilege,\" Hashem said, \"Okay, that means that you're dropping your special privilege of being beyond nature. Go ahead.\" And then they fell into the trap of nature. That's all. Nothing, no punishment. We said before, the moment you fall into the trap a Jew is in the is in the category of nature, then you have to look how naturally things are. Naturally, certainly, at certain times, the Jews can't survive. So when they felt that way, and then Achashverosh appointed Haman as second in command, and Haman was a rasha, the Jews at that time naturally were in a position of like a one sheep amongst the 70 wolves, and that's when the decree came out. So here it comes out that the problem the Jews had at that time was forgetting that nature is only a vessel to the supernatural of Hashem that is really the truth. That's what they forgot. Therefore, when Hashem performed the miracle, what did He do? If Hashem would have performed a miracle like Chanukah, which means that it's completely beyond nature, then what it would have shown to them is that there is a level beyond nature, and then there is a level of nature. The two don't mix. So, you could be in nature, and that's also fine, then there is a different thing beyond nature. But Hashem wanted to show them is that the nature itself is really only a vessel to the beyond nature. How did He show that? By performing this miracle beyond nature through the vessels of nature. In other words, make it happen through natural events, which is nature, showing them, \"Don't you see? This nature, in truth, that in it is beyond nature. Because any person with a little bit of brains understands that this was a miracle.\" On the other hand, it was still natural, so the combination of nature and beyond nature is what Hashem wanted to show them. So we said before that Chanukah is a time when Hashem performed miracles completely. That's very good, and then when you have a miracle, you believe in God, truth. But still, you see miracles, that means in order to have miracles, nature has to be changed. Then when you have nature, you don't have miracles. There are two separate levels, two separate channels. But Hashem wanted to show the Jews that, \"Your mistake was that you thought there were two channels, so you decided to stick to the channel of nature. Hashem wanted to show there's no such thing as two channels. The channel of nature is really only a vessel to the concept of beyond nature, to the supernatural of Hashem. And therefore, you can't drop that.\" And that's why the miracle took place in such a way that it went through nature.

Then there's another interesting thing that we see in the miracle of Purim, which is connected to this idea. One of the parts, the role, things that took place, which led up to the miracle, was Esther's going to Achashverosh. When Mordechai sent her the message of the decree, because she hadn't heard about it, he said to her now, \"Please, go to Achashverosh, and plead for plead for your nation, for the Jews.\" What was her answer? \"You should know that it was 30 days already that I haven't been called to the king. He made a decree that anybody who comes without being called, without an invitation, dies right away, unless he sticks out his scepter, שרביט הזהב, and I'm afraid.\" So he said to her, \"Never mind, you have to go.\" So she she sent back a message saying, \"I'm ready to go.\" She didn't care. \"I'm going to do what I can, but please, see to gather all the Jews of Shushan, make sure that they fast for three days, pray and daven to Hashem, and fast for three days, day and night, don't eat. I will do the same. I will also fast. For three days, day and night, I will fast, praying to Hashem, so I should succeed in my mission. And that's how I'm going to go.\" Now, the question that comes up here is very simple. She, when she went to Achashverosh, hoping that he would give her stick out his scepter to her, obviously, she had to look beautiful. First of all, she hasn't been called to the king for 30 days. So, obviously, for some reason, he didn't really care about her so much at that time. Second of all, the decree was that if you're the king doesn't give you the שרביט הזהב, you'll die. So you have to really find grace in the eyes of the king in order for the king at that time to do that. So for that, you definitely had to look beautiful, the most beautiful possible way. Fasting, certainly fasting three days in a row doesn't do that. It doesn't do that. So then, why did she fast? Fasting did the complete opposite. Now one might say that the reason she fasted was because she wanted to daven to Hashem. Well, if she relied on Hashem, don't go to the king. Daven to Hashem, let her sit in shul all day and fast three days, ten days, as long as she wants, fast and daven and daven and daven. When she went to the king, it was because she wanted to do something not in the area of davening to Hashem. She wanted to do something naturally. Now, naturally, fasting will ruin her plans rather than help her. Why did she do that? The answer is very simple: she wanted to daven to Hashem, knowing that this is the most important part. Hashem is the one that's going to help, Hashem gives the berachot, everything comes from... We are beyond nature, it's not nature that's going to do it. But at the same time, she knew Hashem said everything has to go through natural channels. So she said, \"I have to go naturally, this is the best way to go about it, to go and visit the king.\" But because that is only secondary, it is only a levush, so she had to do her best, but it shouldn't contradict her davening to Hashem, which is the most important part. So she left her davening, and in order for her to daven to Hashem the best possible way would be through fasting the three days, but at the same time she had to do it naturally. Had nature been the most important part, then she couldn't fast. But because this is the most important part, she had, \"I'm fasting anyway and davening, but I'm going to do this too.\" But really what she did here was she combined the two. The whole problem we said before was that the Jews, so to speak, didn't combine the two. Nature was like a separate entity to them. That doesn't mean they didn't believe in beyond nature, they could believe, but nature is nature, let's stick to nature. She wanted to show the the the way to go about it to Hashem is to show the opposite of what the mistake was. She was going to do something to bring the salvation. Obviously she had to do something which is the opposite of what brought what was the cause for the problem. The cause for the problem was that they separated the nature from beyond nature, putting themselves in the hand of nature. What she had to do was just the opposite: continue with nature, but show that that nature is really not an entity in itself, and nature is only an expression of what Hashem wants. Hashem wants us to do nature, that's all, not because we really believe that nature is going to do anything. And that's exactly what she did. She went naturally, she did everything naturally. I'm sure she got dressed in the most beautiful clothes, and put on the best makeup on her face, I can guarantee you that! She did that naturally, but at the same time not to minimize in the prayer to Hashem and the blessing that she expected from Hashem, because that's the most important part, and this would be the vessel in which this great blessing of Hashem beyond nature would come into. And that succeeded, because this showed Hashem, look, the Jews made that mistake, but this is what's happening now: they changed! Look at Esther, she represents all the Jews, and look what she did. And that's why Hashem said, good, I'll save them, and I'll save them the same way, that I'll save them through natural causes, but putting the beyond nature into the nature, and that's how we got the the the holiday of Purim. And to us, what this means that when it comes Purim, besides being very happy and drinking a lot of mashke and partying and sending shalach manot and being all, you know, and which is the right thing to do, but we also have to utilize the day that this is a day that we're able to reach the true recognition of how we're supposed to behave towards Hashem. And every day we're supposed to behave this way, to realize that our work is not really important. We have to work, we have to go to do everything naturally, but this is only a vessel. We do that every day, but it's not always as easy. Purim, which is the day of that miracle, it's easier to feel that way. So on Purim, we're supposed to meditate, contemplate on this idea of how we behave towards Hashem, of how our understanding of what Hashem does, how our understanding is, and on Purim it's much easier to succeed and to accomplish. That's why it said on Purim, going back to what I said in the beginning, a person supposed to drink a lot and eat a lot, not like in Yom Kippur even though it's like in Yom Kippur, and at the same time in the eating and drinking, we have to feel the godliness, the nature and the beyond nature. In Yom Kippur, in order to feel this high level of godliness, what we have to do is stay away from gashmiyut, stay away from physical things, because after all, it's hard being involved with physical things and reaching this high, lofty, godly, spiritual level. In Yom Kippur it's hard, but Purim it's not. Purim we reach the same high, spiritual, godly level, but it's connected with food, and it's brought down into the food that we eat and drink and enjoy the physical food, and we're able to recognize in that food that this is all only an expression of Hashem's will that we do it, and not that we have the pleasure from the food. And this is a a lesson in in in our life constantly. In everything, whenever we get involved in any gashmiyut, the pleasure has to be in the spiritual part of it. The physical part is supposed to be a secondary thing. Just like I want to just finish with a story, just like when it comes to another level which is similar, but this just sheds light on this. I heard a story of somebody who was in a concentration camp and he asked one of the rabbis there, who was there too, is he allowed to eat a certain non-kosher, obviously, food, like a certain chicken, non-kosher chicken, treifah chicken. Whatever it was already, but desperately sure they are allowed to eat it. But the rabbi said, \"Is there any question that you're allowed to eat it? We know that when a person's life depends on it, you're allowed to do everything except those three aveirot, you're allowed to do every aveirah.\" He said, \"Sure you're allowed to eat it.\" But he said to him, \"I ask you just one thing: don't suck the bone. Don't enjoy it. I mean you have to eat it, but don't take the bones and, you know, you can smash it, chew the bone, and you suck it, that could show that you enjoy it. You have to eat it, you have to eat it. But realize that this is something that you nevertheless have to do, but not enjoy it.\" So that, an extreme, we're talking about non-kosher food in a situation where you're allowed to eat it. The same thing is when it's kosher, and you're allowed to eat it or allowed to do certain things. Enjoy the fact that this is the will of Hashem. That's the level to reach. And the physical part, that is a secondary part. And the power, the strength to do that we take from Purim. And from Purim, we take it throughout the whole year, that we're able to behave that way a whole year. Yes. Why is the color green associated with Esther? And is there also a direction, east, that's associated with how it was recorded? The color green. The truth is, I must tell you, I don't know if that means green. I know what you're referring to. The Gemara says, אסתר ירקרקת היתה. Esther, ירוק in Hebrew is green. Esther was green. אלא שחוט של חסד משוך עליה, there was a a certain grace that she had. I'll tell you the truth, the way I understand it, ירוק doesn't mean only green. ירוק in Hebrew could mean green, blue, yellow. Could mean she was blonde. אסתר ירקרקת היתה. But what it does mean, that's that's not a real pshat. But what it does mean, the expression of green is when someone is pale. You say, \"Oh this person\", I know in Yiddish they say, \"Oh he looks so green\", pale. Well, the Gemara means to say she was pale, that means she wasn't really so beautiful, but she had a certain grace, a certain חן she had, that, and that's what caught everyone's eye. Not only refinement, the Gemara says חן. חן, any other word for חן but grace? Charm. A certain charm that she had, but that she was, that's what the Gemara means. Yes. She asked to go to the king, but she would never again be able to go back to the king because before she was allowed back to Mordechai, her husband, but if she went on her own, she could never go back. The Gemara says that. Till then it was by force, this she went on her own. True. Yeah. You told me that one day... Okay. Thank you. A good...