As we approach the holiday of Purim we are commanded to be happy. If we look at all the holidays of the year there is a special commandment all year round, especially surrounding the holidays to be happy. If we look at each holiday, we say Chag Sameach, Happy Chanukah, and all of the holidays we wish each other happiness. What is this great commandment that we are constantly expressing, to be happy? How come on Shabbat each week we say, Good Shabbos, or Shabbat Shalom. That the Shabbat should be in peace, and harmony. On Shabbat we are commanded to rest, not to do work. Shabbat comes once a week and helps us stop our daily race for survival, for food, for existence. This, I would think is a great cause to celebrate and be happy. Each week as we sit by the Shabbat table, we are very happy. As we go to synagogue and pray, we are happy, and yet we are not commandment to be happy rather to observe and obey the Shabbat. To rest on Shabbat. And all around the other holidays, there’s a great commandment to be happy. Especially when the month of Adar and Purim come along. Then our joy is at its climax. On each of the holidays we are rejoicing a different great, open miracle the Almighty performed for the Jewish people.
On Sukkot we live in temporary homes outside, commemorating the great miracles Hashem did for us in the desert. Chanukah, we are happy for the great defeat the Maccabees had and for the great Menorah light for eight days despite only having enough oil for only one day. Purim we’re commanded to be happy since we were saved from Haman, and we are commanded to sing and dance the entire month, not only on the holiday itself. Passover we must be happy and rejoice since we were redeemed and saved from our exile. On Shavuot we are commanded to be happy since we received the Holy Torah which guards and guides our every move. Why on Purim are we commanded to be happy the whole month, not only on the holiday itself?
The festivities begin already at the beginning of the month, and the climax obviously comes in the middle of the month as we celebrate the holiday itself, why? All the rest of the holidays only on the holiday itself are we commend it to be happy. Mordechai and Queen Esther asked our sages to have the story of Purim written down for all generations. All of our holidays are written down and we remember and celebrate them every single year, there’s not a specific request that a specific holiday should be written down for generations. Why did Queen Esther have to specifically ask? Request the sages that this holiday should be remembered? I think that every other holiday has open miracles. Living in a sukkah for a week. No conditions, no matter what the weather, Hashem protected us in this sukkah with open miracles when we were in the desert that no harm should come to us. All the nations of the world that were presented with this commandment of the sukkah, kicked it away. They said this is not for us. The holiday of Chanukah. Open miracles of the defeat of the Maccabees over their enemies. And the flask of oil that lasted eight days, all these are great open miracles. On Passover. Great open miracles of the whole redemption from Egypt, all the plagues and the splitting of the sea. Not only on Passover, but every single Shabbat we remember this great exodus from Egypt, that Hashem saved us for eternity. On Shavuot we received the Holy Torah from the heavens. G-d spoke to us. We were all one. We were all healed. We all said yes, we want to obey and receive the Torah. We will listen to all you say to us, Hashem Almighty. Great of miracles. Yes, all the great open miracles are written down to remember forever how great and mighty is Hashem.
And Purim, not one great, open miracle. Everything happened naturally. Hashem’s name is not even written in the scroll once. And yet this is the month that we are commanded to be happy the whole month. To eat and drink and even get drunk. On this holiday more than any other holiday which had no great open miracles. This is because the biggest miracles can be performed when things are hidden. When things are not clear to the naked eye. When a Hashem in His infinite greatness can do the biggest miracles without any interference from any evil forces. When things are hidden no one can see. It is said that the world stands on 36 righteous people who hold up the world, and they are hidden tzaddikim. We don’t know who they are and they hold up the world. When something is hidden then there is less interference or even no interference from the yetzer hara since it is not known. During the holiday of Purim the Jews were saved from the worst decree ever. Here the Queen saved the entire nation. When we were saved from this horrible decree, it was all in a natural way. With no great open miracles. No ten plagues. No splitting of the sea. No angels flying in the night, killing every first born. We can understand how great this miracle is more than any. How Hashem orchestrated the whole thing without even being mentioned.
We are living in a generation when open miracles are not seen daily or at all. And yet our daily existence in this homeland is a natural miracle. Everything happens in natural ways. And the most unnatural thing, that the Jewish people are living in this little homeland and surrounded by wolves and enemies that want to kill us at every second that is the greatest miracle of all.
So when the holiday of Purim comes around and the month of Adar starts we receive all Your strength from this hidden holiday. Strength from what is not seen. Each person in their own home performs so many good deeds that no one sees. Charity that is hidden is greater than anything. The love we give to one another, the kindness that we show one another, these natural deeds are great miracles. This holiday and this month goes to show us our true power. For every generation we want to show what is hidden is supernatural. Things that we do that only Hashem sees. The things that we do that we don’t get praise for from humans but we receive reward and eternal joy. The natural hidden actions is what saved the entire nation. Only this holiday we are commanded to give charity. Give presents. Help the poor. Drink. Be happy. Celebrate. We are to celebrate what Esther gave us, the gift of naturally giving that no one sees. This is what she wanted to be written down for generations. An emphasis to write this down. To write of our power and our salvation, not with a big bang or great open miracles. Our power lies within the simple natural and hidden actions that we do. That we were saved. That we have the power and the ability of Queen Esther and Mordechai to always save the Jewish people. To always go beyond. It’s always Hashem fighting our battles. Even if we don’t see him. Even if we don’t feel His hands. Hashem is running the show, saving us every second. But we have to do our hidden actions. We have to do our natural actions. Throughout the day, throughout the year, throughout the holidays. To be good. To do good. For ourselves and for others. So let us rejoice. And see the hidden miracles in every little action that we do. Let’s see Hashem’s hand in our hands. And may this Purim be the biggest present we can get, let’s make others happy. And Hashem will make us extremely happy.
