Every Jewish holiday requires some preparation. For Chanukah, one must buy oil. For Sukkos, one must build a sukkah. For Pesach, well, I’m not even going to try describing what one must do for Pesach. What about Purim? What is the buzz that one hears around town as Purim approaches? In my neighborhood (and I assume most cities in the world), the buzz is all about two things: costumes and mishloach manos. All the children (and many adults) are fretting about what they are going to dress up as, and every family is working on some sort of a “theme” for their mishloach manos packages.
If these two ideas are so central to the holiday, we should invest a little bit of time to discover what their significance is and how they connect to Purim.
Let’s start with costumes. Why do we dress up on Purim? It is not a halacha or a mitzvah. From where did this custom originate? The Gemara in Chullin (131b) is often quoted to explain this tradition. “From where can one find an allusion to Esther [and the Purim story] in the [5 books of the] Torah? As it says (Deuteronomy 31:18) ‘I will surely have concealed My face (hasteir astir panai) on that day.’ ” This Talmudic passage is explaining that the name “Esther” is cognate with the Hebrew word for “hidden – hasteir.” Indeed, throughout the Purim saga, G-d performed no open miracles and only saved His people through hidden, natural means. It seems that the custom of wearing masks (or dressing up – i.e., masquerading) stems from a form of Imitatio Dei – copying the ways of G-d. If Purim is the time that Hashem hid His face, then Purim is the time that we too should hide our faces.
But this needs explanation. What do we gain by imitating Hashem in this fashion? If we were imitating kind acts that Hashem does (“As He dresses the unclothed, you dress the unclothed. As He visits the sick, you visit the sick,” Sotah 14a), then it would be clear what we gain. If we were recreating a miraculous event to instill G-d’s might inside of us (dwelling in a sukkah, lighting a menorah or eating matzah), then that too would be logical. But what can we gain from recreating something as negative as G-d’s absence? Would it not be more appropriate to celebrate the deliverance rather than the sickness that preceded it?
Now let’s move on to the mitzvah of mishloach manos. Everyone enjoys giving gifts. The Torah even endorses it. Is there any better expression of V’ahavta l’reyacha kamocha than this? But why did our Sages see fit to institute such an expression of love specifically on Purim? What is it about Purim that necessitates working on unity?
In order to answer these questions, we need to understand the concept of hester panim. What does it mean that G-d will “hide His face”? Does Hashem ever go away and not pay attention to us? Heaven forbid! Hashem is our loving Father and He never takes His eyes off of us for a moment. However, sometimes He’s concealed. That means that He is there, we just can’t see Him. We know that Hashem is benevolent, but sometimes it seems as if our lives are being controlled by something more harsh. If only we could recognize that whenever we see that harsh countenance, it is coming from a benevolent source!
Perhaps now we can answer our first question. The custom of masquerading on Purim comes not from an imitation of Hashem’s concealment on Purim, but rather from the recognition that the travails of Purim were only the results of a mask. During the era of Mordechai and Esther, we experienced one of those rare moments in time when we were able to discern that behind all the hardships was a loving Father orchestrating everything solely for our benefit. We were able to realize that the harsh countenance we perceived was not Hashem’s true face, but was just a mask. This idea can explain why masks are truly something to celebrate.
Now let’s move on to answer the second question. The Zohar teaches, “Yisroel V’Oraysa V’Kudsha Brich Hu chad hu.” This extremely esoteric idea means that there is a special connection between Hashem and the Jewish People in which qualities found in one will naturally be found in the other.
Why is it so important to work on unity between our fellow Jews on Purim? Because unity amongst Jews creates unity Above. Sometimes we have difficulty perceiving that everything is coming from our benevolent Father. Sometimes things don’t look so good. If everything coming from the One above was perceived in a unified fashion, we wouldn’t have this problem. So on Purim we go about giving gifts. This increases love, brotherhood, and unity below. And when there is unity below, there is a ripple effect which (in some inscrutable and abstruse way) causes unity above.
I think that by now we should have a clearer picture of what Purim is all about. In galus, Hashem is often concealed. “I will surely have concealed My face on that day.” But there are incidents which occur once in a while (like the Purim story) which teach us that hardships are only a mask, not Hashem’s true face. We must focus on that. The next step is to remove the problem that engendered the dual perception in the first place. Through mishloach manos (and matanos l’evyonim), we spread love and unity, which, hopefully, allows us to realize that everything is indeed from His loving hand. May we merit succeeding in these endeavors. Have a meaningful Purim.