This Shabbos we discussed the upcoming holiday of Purim. We also had a Siyum and lunch in honor of Norm’s father Baruch Elyiahou. This was also in honor of Norm's son Bryan's birthday which is today (day after Shabbos). Also, On Shabbos was Harold Katz birthday, and I would like to thank him for reading, learning from, and enjoying these notes every week. It means a lot to me that you guys read and like the notes thank you for all the compliments!
Norm sponsored a Siyum in honor of his dad, in which we discussed some pages from tractate Megilla. This tractate discusses the holiday of Purim and the rules and procedures that must be followed when celebrating this holiday. We also discussed some of the laws and practices concerning the synagogue in general. For example, it is not proper to cut through the synagogue to get to another destination, or use the synagogue just to get out from the rain. It is important to remember the purpose of the shul, which is to learn, daven, and gather as a community.
Norm spoke about how his father passed on March 1, the same day of the solar year – March 1, that his son Bryan was born. His father passed away on March 1, 1982 and Bryan was born on March 1, 1996. Although March 1 does not seem like a date from the Jewish calender, Hashem may speak to us in whatever way we are most likely to notice at the time. Regardless if this is a coincidence or not, there is no question that our parents live on in us and in our children.
I have some thoughts from when my own father passed. My thoughts are that our parents live on physically in our genes. And our parents live on spiritually as we perform mitzvah and live a life of goodness and Torah that is inspired by our parents. Norm spoke about how his father valued Judaism. And Norm spoke about how is father would be proud of his family, and I would absolutely agree his father is proud, and that his father lives on both physically and spiritually.
This Shabbos we learned some more about the upcoming holiday of Purim, and discussed commentary on this holiday from Rav Revansal. We talked about how Purim is the holiest day of the year. When we first hear this it does not sound right. Isn't the holiest day Yom Kippur? It is true Yom Kippur is the day in which we abstain from the physical, and there are reasons why we do this on this day. However Judaism is not about abstinence, it is about embracing the physical but channeling what we are doing in the most spiritual way possible. Purim is the day in which we maximize our efforts to “elevate the sparks of kiddusha”. And Purim can be a lot more difficult than Yom Kippur, because it is a lot harder to lose track of why we are eating and drinking and having such a great time.
We discussed what caused the downfall of Haman. Haman was never satisfied with what he had and always wanted more. David shared what his dad shared at his wedding, to focus on wanting what we have rather than having what we want. David’s dad would also point out how Haman’s name was similar to a passage in the Torah from the Garden of Eden when there was an extreme focus on the forbidden tree. Haman was always focused on what he did not have. And Haman was a very very self-centered person in general. To Haman the entire world was all about him. And this is all what led to his downfall.
On Purim, the most important mitzvah is giving to the poor, because doing this is just the opposite of self-centeredness. Dave K pointed out that there are different ways that we can be poor. One example, is that we can be socially poor. Another way we can be poor is to lack the tools to deal with what our life is bringing us. I relate to ways of being poor other than financial. Perhaps we are all poor in certain areas.
Another important aspect of Purim we discussed is how Hashem remains hidden, but still plays a role. Yaki touched some more on the reasons why hashem remains hidden. If hashem were not hidden, this would take away our free will. We would be forced to believe in hashem. And we would be very tempted to rely on hashem, and not accomplish much ourselves. Back in the time that we left Egypt, we still had to use our free will. It may have seen like Hashem's presense was obvious with all the miracles taking place, but there was a tremendous temptation to worship idols. Yaki spoke about how hashem created the world so there are always alternatives. Today the temptation to worship idols is diminished, but there is still temptation to believe that we have higher powers other than Hashem.
We talked about how we are all born with this yearning for a higher power. But like everything else we are born with, such as hunger, sexual desires, etc. etc. we get to choose how we are going to channel these desires.
Finally, David spoke about how his father would ask and answer questions such as how do we know the others around us are not just robots and we are the only ones with feelings. We could ask each other if we are real, but we could always be programmed to rely. My father once said that we can never be 100% certain of anything. And I guess this is one of these things, but I am almost 100% certain you guys are for real and not programmed robots!
This is a summary of what we discussed. No Halachic rulings are intended or should be inferred.
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