{"id":24310,"date":"2012-03-06T01:54:00","date_gmt":"2012-03-06T01:54:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.ou.org\/life\/?p=24310"},"modified":"2016-12-02T07:42:37","modified_gmt":"2016-12-02T12:42:37","slug":"one-community-unity-command-drunk-purim-eliyahu-safran","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.ou.org\/life\/inspiration\/one-community-unity-command-drunk-purim-eliyahu-safran\/","title":{"rendered":"We Are One: Community, Unity, and the Command, \u201cBe Drunk on Purim\u201d"},"content":{"rendered":"

Rava said: It is one’s duty levasumei, to be intoxicated on Purim until one cannot tell the difference between arur Haman (cursed be Haman) and baruch Mordechai (blessed be Mordechai). – \u00a0Megillah 7b<\/em><\/p>\n

There is no merit to drunkenness. \u00a0Drunkenness, which so often devolves into shameful and inappropriate behavior, is completely at odds with all that it means to live a Jewish life. \u00a0\u00a0How could it be then, that our rabbis (Chazal) who were always so vigilant about encouraging decent and respectful behavior during every moment of our lives would simply remove all boundaries and limits so that one can become so intoxicated on Purim that he cannot tell the difference between arur<\/em> Haman and barukh<\/em> Mordechai?<\/p>\n

No matter how we interpret this injunction, I cannot imagine that it was Chazal\u2019s intent for Purim to become the showcase for drunkenness and vulgarity. \u00a0If that had been Chazal\u2019s intent, they would never have compared Purim to Yom Kippur. \u00a0Biur Halacha agrees, forewarning that this obligation did not in any way mean for a Jew to become so intoxicated that he becomes \u201clowly\u201d and debased in the joy of the holiday. \u00a0\u00a0To engage in frivolity, demeaning and foolish behavior is the antithesis of what halacha, Jewish law, asks of us on Purim, or any other day. \u00a0How can simchah, happiness, be consistent with irrational, drunken behavior? \u00a0Simchah is a state where we and our souls are uplifted through sanctity, not vulgarity, through the reflection of how high we can reach, not how low we can sink.<\/p>\n

But, if indeed the injunction to become so intoxicated that one is incapable of telling the difference between cursing Haman and blessing Mordechai, then what could Chazal have expected of us?<\/p>\n

There are those who suggest what is meant is that one should drink to the point of being unable to calculate the gematria <\/em>(numerical value) of the expressions arur<\/em> Haman and baruch<\/em> Mordechai (each sharing the numerical value of 502). Another suggestion is that one should drink only to the point of not being able to recall which came first; the curse on Haman or Mordechai’s rise to be Achashverosh’s viceroy.<\/p>\n

Regardless of the \u201cextent\u201d of one\u2019s drunkenness, one must also ask what possible benefit there is to blurring the ability to distinguish between villain and hero.<\/p>\n

It is this question that affords us the wisest perspective to evaluate the injunction to Purim intoxication. \u00a0For the inability to distinguish between villain and hero speaks most profoundly to the importance in the Jewish community to take away distinctions, for there to be genuine equality to and respect for every member of the community.<\/p>\n

Just as G-d is One, so too is the Jewish people. \u00a0True happiness for Jews is only possible when there is unity. Absent an embrace of our unity, we will always be diminished by festering anger, angst, and anxiety. We know we should constantly rededicate ourselves to our sacred, nobler natures, yet we too often fall victim to our baser inclinations. As a result, pettiness, jealousy, misunderstanding and disrespect too often define our dealings with our fellows.<\/p>\n

There is no greater blessing for Jews than unity, and no greater curse than discord. And yet, despite the clear blessing of unity, we seem so often to be defined by our divisions rather than our common purpose. There is hardly a corner among Jews where acrimony, negativism, and hatred don\u2019t reign supreme; barely a place where we don\u2019t hear Jews defaming others\u2019 spiritual leaders, opinions, and writings! Such factionalism and feuding can lead only to disaster.<\/p>\n

How timely then, that Purim, with its joy and lessons of community, is before us! How good it is that the ultimate purpose and focus of this, the happiest of Jewish holidays, and of its central source, Megilat Esther, is to create and reinforce unity and harmony among Jews! How good it is that Purim teaches me to embrace the community I share not only with those I consider friends but also with those far distant who come \u201cstretching out their hand\u201d asking for my understanding and generosity.<\/p>\n

For on Purim we must reach out to one another; all who \u201cstretch out their hand\u201d must be responded to. If only for this one, marvelous day, we must get beyond our stubborn refusal to acknowledge others who are \u201cnot like us.\u201d If only for this one day, we must reach out to anyone and everyone in the Jewish community.<\/p>\n

On Purim, we give gifts. The mitzvah of mishloach manot<\/em>, that each person give a friend two varieties of food as a present, is based on the pasuk, \u201cU\u2019mishloach manot ish l\u2019reiyhu<\/em>.” Many commentaries observe that this custom comes to us in direct remembrance of the unity that defined the Jewish people in Shushan, when disaster loomed darkly on the horizon.<\/p>\n

If indeed, the deepest purpose of Purim is to \u201ccreate and reinforce unity and harmony among Jews\u201d as evidenced by mishloach manot, how good is it that Purim teaches us to embrace not only those who are friends but also those who are distant from us?<\/p>\n

Anyone can embrace those who are similar. \u00a0It is much more challenging and meaningful to share the Purim seuda with those who are different. \u00a0Yes, even those who are as different to one another as Haman is to Mordechai! \u00a0Certainly if the command is to be unable to distinguish between these two, one must see past any differences that exist within the community so that we all embrace unity.<\/p>\n

Ad d\u2019lo yada<\/em>! Until you can’t distinguish!<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Chazal\u2019s intent was not to encourage drunkenness but to facilitate a bond and love between Jews. Stop labeling your \u201cfriends\u201d as Mordechai and your \u201cenemies\u201d as Haman! On Purim, we are to become intoxicated\u2026 not with wine but with love for our fellow Jew. We are to forget our ill will toward those who are not \u2018just like us\u201d and embrace them as fellow Jews. On Purim, we are called on to eliminate the animosity (arur<\/span><\/em> Haman) we have for fellow Jews, and to simultaneously free ourselves of the jealousy (barukh<\/span><\/em> Mordechai) we feel for those who have achieved what we have not. On Purim we are challenged to transform the Hamans in our lives into Mordechais, just as we are commanded in Torah that precedence be given to one\u2019s enemy in the law of unburdening an overladen donkey. \u201cIt is preferable to force one\u2019s evil inclination [to not hate a fellow Jew].\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

It benefits one\u2019s character to help one\u2019s enemy ahead of assisting a friend. As Novorodok teaches, \u201cIn place of resentment (hakpada<\/span><\/em>), one should bestow favors (hatavah<\/span><\/em>).” When someone slights you, respond with a favor, not anger (tachas hakpada \u2013 hatava<\/span><\/em>)! This is indeed, ad d\u2019lo yada<\/span><\/em>. Hamans and Mordechais become interchangeable.<\/span><\/p>\n

Becoming intoxicated on wine is easy. As we know only too well, any fool can do it. Isn\u2019t the greater challenge to become intoxicated with love and compassion? Does not this \u201cintoxication\u201d speak more powerfully to what it means to be a Jew in a Jewish community?<\/span><\/p>\n

I have always loved the comment that speaks of all the wealthy Jews being somewhat resentful of Haman not for his evil but because he was the reason that they must give endless tzedakah on Purim! They cry out “arur<\/span><\/em> Haman” for it was he who caused for them to have to “shell out” without limit on Purim. And the paupers who can benefit on Purim more than any other day of the year? How they bless and extol baruch Mordechai. No one has ever brought about such a feast for them as good old Mordechai.<\/span><\/p>\n

The one resents, the other extols out of resentment. Neither is right for they both focus on their differences rather than their similarities. So Chazal suggested that on this day that \u201cone is obligated to become intoxicated\u201d with Purim joy so great that it blots out any association or identification to which of these two groups one belongs \u2013 those who have, and those who have not.<\/span><\/p>\n

On Purim, we belong neither to those who berate Haman or who extol Mordechai. On Purim, we are equal in our life mission to uplift and respect every Jew, without regard to his status or station in life.<\/span><\/p>\n

For myself, I consider myself fortunate indeed, as I never saw my father drink more than a small \u201cglaizel schnapps<\/span><\/em>\u201d!<\/span><\/p>\n

\n

Spread the Purim love with the Our Way Purim Power Point Program. It presents the Megillah in a way that includes members of the community with hearing loss, visual impairment, attention deficits, autism, learning disabilities, and so much more.<\/span><\/em><\/p>\n

Rabbi Dr. Eliyahu Safran serves as OU Kosher\u2019s vice president of communications and marketing.<\/span><\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The challenge to become intoxicated with love and compassion.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":363,"featured_media":24313,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[85,139],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-24310","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-inspiration","category-purim-4-parshiyot"],"yoast_head":"\nCommunity, Unity, and the Command, \u201cBe Drunk on Purim\u201d - OU Life<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"The challenge to become intoxicated with love and compassion. 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