L’chaim
On Purim the sounds of the “L’chaim-to life” will reverberate throughout the Jewish world. The Rebbe once explained that the word chaim is in the plural form because life is only worthy of its name if it is a life that is shared with others.
Haman wanted to destroy the Jewish nation arguing to Achashveirosh that they are a fragmented people. Why would they deserve the opposite of chaim just because they are a discordant nation? Of course, our question is not about Haman but about the Almighty who allowed this decree to hover over their heads for almost a year.
When the Jewish people are divided they no longer enjoy the deeper dimension of chaim, life in the plural. By having this decree in effect, G-d wished to alert the Jewish people about the importance of unity as the source of true life.
Indeed, one of the reasons we send Shallach Manos/food gifts to our friends and Matanos l’evyonim/gifts to the poor is to refute Haman’s accusation. These gifts demonstrate that the Jewish people are one people who feel each other’s pain and celebrate each other’s joyous events.
Let it be known that in the spirit of Purim the entire Jewish world stands in solidarity with our brethren in Israel, and especially the Fogel family whose lives were so brutally destroyed by the Amaleks and Hamans of our generation. May Hashem avenge their blood. Unfortunately, since the writing of this essay, there have many other brutal murders of Jews in Israel by these modern day Hamans.
In the upcoming Holiday of Purim, we should show the Hamans of the world that we are one people. When we lift our cups of wine to say L’Chaim on Purim, we have in mind, as the Chabad Rebbeim-Leaders would say, “L’Chaim with all of its interpretations.” Included in those interpretations is certainly the one about true life; life that is permeated with Ahavas [love of] and Achdus [Unity] of Yisrael-Israel].
In these last moments of Galus, we lift our cups of wine and say to the Almighty, “L’Chaim.” We want to see the end of the suffering of our/Your people. Bring us life in all of its meanings, particularly the new dimension of life we will enjoy with the imminent redemption through our righteous Redeemer, Amen!
L”Chaim!
SLEEPLESS IN SHUSHAN
The turning point in the story of Purim comes with the opening verse of Chapter Six in the Book of Esther: “That night, the king’s sleep was disturbed…” Achashveirosh’s sleepless night set in motion a series of events that led to Mordechai’s rise, Haman’s downfall, and the salvation of the people of Israel. Thus it is customary that in the public reading of the Book of Esther on Purim the reader raises his voice when he comes to this verse to indicate that this point marks the beginning of the miracle of Purim.
The Torah is more than a chronicler of events and a legislator of laws. Within the external meaning of its verses lie layer upon layer of significance, describing the essence of the human soul, of creation and reality, and of G-d’s relationship with our existence.
In the words of Nachmanides, the Torah discusses the ephemeral reality and alludes to the supernal reality. The same is true of the events recounted in the Book of Esther: in the supernal version, King Achashveirosh is the King Who “the End and Beginning are His,” [since his name contains the key letters of the Hebrew words for beginning (Reishis) and end (Acharis)] and Esther is His bride, the people of Israel.
The state of Galus (exile), in which G-d’s chosen people are subject to alien powers and exposed to danger and persecution in which the righteous suffer and the wicked prevail is a state of sleep of the supernal King.
Physical sleep brings about a distortion of the bond between body and soul and a topsyturvy state of affairs within the human being: the sleeper’s higher faculties, such as his intellect and sensory tools, are fuzzy and incoherent, while his lower faculties are unaffected; some of them (e.g., the digestive system) even function better during sleep.
Sleep is thus the metaphor for a state of affairs in which the connection between the Soul of the World and the body of creation is likewise distorted. G-d grants existence and life to His creations in a manner that is much like the soul/body relationship during sleep: the good inherent in man is unfocused and obscured, while the baser elements of man and humanity flourish.
But that night, the King’s sleep was disturbed. That night the Almighty woke from His slumber restored His true priorities vis-a-vis the various components of creation.
From a discourse delivered by the Rebbe on Purim 5743 (1983)
From the book Light from the Future: Purim by Rabbi Heschel Greenberg, published by the Jewish Discovery Center.
