Why, at a minimum, must one give mishloach manos to one person and matanos l’evyonim to two people? One of the main themes of Purim is the fostering of friendship, unity, and love amongst Bnei Yisrael, because the Purim salvation came about when we joined together in repentance following Haman’s evil decree. The death sentence was significantly the result of our lack of unity, as evidenced by Haman’s accusations to Achashveirosh: “יֶשְׁנוֹ עַם-אֶחָד מְפֻזָּר וּמְפֹרָד-there is one nation [the Jews] that is splintered and scattered” (Esther 3:8). On Purim, we want to attain total achdus, unity, within Klal Yisrael, and the mitzvos of mishloach manos and matanos l’evyonim address how to foster such unity. A person receiving a gift, when he is the only one receiving that gift, will feel much more special and loved than if the gift was given to others as well. This is how giving only one person mishloach manos fosters achdus. On the other hand, those people receiving matanos l’evyonimare just happy to receive the gift altogether. Their happiness is not diminished if many others receive the same gift as well.
(HaRav Shimshon Dovid Pinkus)
These are excerpts from the sefer Inside Purim, which contains additional answers to the above questions and much more. With haskamos from HaRav Shmuel Kamenetsky, Harav Shlomo Eliyahu Miller, HaRav Noach Isaac Oelbaum, and HaRav Yisrael Reisman,, Inside Purim contains a collection of over 200 fascinating divrei Torah in a short, quick pick-up, and easy to read and remember format, and is a great place to find an exciting Purim vort to say over to family and friends. Inside Purim has been published in both English and French, and is available at Jewish Bookstores, and at www.feldheim.com. To contact the author, email: [email protected].
