Parshas
Tetzaveh,
Parshas Zachor, and Purim
Pur
Sight
By:
Daniel Listhaus
וְנָתַתָּ
אֶל חשֶׁן הַמִּשְׁפָּט אֶת הָאוּרִים
וְאֶת הַתֻּמִּים וְהָיוּ עַל לֵב אַהֲרֹן
בְּבֹאוֹ לִפְנֵי ה'
וְנָשָׂא
אַהֲרֹן אֶת מִשְׁפַּט בְּנֵי יִשְׂרָאֵל
עַל לִבּוֹ לִפְנֵי ה'
תָּמִיד
“Into
the Choshen
of Judgment shall you place the Urim
and the Tumim,
and they shall be on Aharon's heart when he comes before Hashem; and
Aharon's shall bear the judgment of the Children of Yisroel on his
heart before Hashem, constantly.”
-Tetzaveh
28:30
Rashi1
explains that the Urim V'tumim
was
in fact a script of Hashem's Explicit Name, which was placed inside
the folds of the Choshen.
The Choshen was
the special breastplate that the Kohen
Gadol alone
would wear securely on top of his Eiphod
(apron).
The Gemara2
describes
that on the face of the Choshen
were
twelve precious stones with words on them aligned in four rows of
three and when the Kohen Gadol
would
consult the Urim
V'tumim,
it would light up certain letters on the Choshen
with
an answer. The Urim V'tumim,
reflecting a direct message from Hashem Himself, is also referred to
as the K'reisi U'pleisi –
alluding to the fact that its message was clear and perfect.3
Despite
the incredible potential of the Urim
V'tumim to
communicate Hashem's ratzon
(will),
there were times in our history when the Kohen
Gadol has
misread the message. For example, the Gemara4
states that there are many halachos
(laws)
regarding tefillah (davening)
that we learn from the story of Channah davening in the Beis
Hamikdash for
a son. The passukim5
in
Navi describe
that while Channah was davening
only
her lips moved but her voice could not be heard. Eili,
who was the Kohen Gadol at
the time, witnessed this and asked the Urim
V'tumim if
Channah was drunk and needed to be removed from the Mishkan.
After all she was certainly acting like a drunkard moving her lips
randomly without speaking. With no surprise, the Urim
V'tumim returned
with a message containing the letters shin,
kaf,
reish,
and hey.
Which Eili read
simply as “שכרה”
-
meaning that she was indeed drunk. However, in reality the Urim
V'tumim was
trying to communicate “כשרה”
-
that she was “kosher”, so to speak. Eili
was
so sure, though, that he was seeing a drunk woman that he failed to
consider the other possibilities that the Urim
V'tumim may
have been trying to communicate.
This
is something that we do all the time. We often push our viewpoints
and perceptions into scenarios or others' thoughts and intentions,
and allow what is really uncertain to become factual in our own eyes.
Like Eili,
we permit the maybe's in our heads to become definitely's and become
closed minded to the bigger picture.
After
Hashem took us out of Mitzrayim,
it was clear to the world that Hashem was, is, and always will be the
only borei (Creator)
and manhig (Controller)
of
the world. However, right after Kriyas
Yam Suf
(splitting of the Red Sea) – the pinnacle of Hashem's miracles for
us – Amalek came
and attacked us. At a time of perfect clarity in the world, Amalek
challenged
B'nei Yisroel
and forced a sliver of doubt into the rest of the world. After all,
if it was possible to attack the B'nei
Yisroel then
maybe what they understood to be reality was in fact not. This is the
core of Amalek – doubt.6
Amalek lives
to bring doubt into the world and challenge the belief of Hashem's
day to day involvement in even the most mundane matters.
This
idea that Amalek
represents is so false and is exactly the opposite of everything we
as Jews stand for. This is the reason why each year we are commanded
to recall the event that occurred when we were leaving Mitzrayim
and
Amalek attacked
us, as well as remember that it is our duty to wipe out every remnant
of Amalek.
It
is of course no coincidence that we read Parshas Zachor
immediately before Purim, nor is it a coincidence that the arch-enemy
of the Jews during the Purim story was Haman, who was a direct
descendent of Amalek.
The
Megillah7
tells
us that the Holiday is called Purim because of the “pur”
(lottery). The pur being
referred to is the one mentioned earlier in the Megillah,8
which Haman made in order to determine a day on which to kill
Mordechai and wipe out the Jewish people. It is hard to imagine the
discussion that took place when Mordechai and Esther were thinking of
a name for the Holiday. One would think that they would have named it
“Day of Miracle” or “Opposite Day” - something to capture the
eternal lesson of Purim. The role of the lottery in the Purim story
is so small and seemingly unimportant. Why name the Holiday Purim
because of the pur?
Additionally, why do we not recite Hallel
on
Purim? Certainly a day which was sealed by the king as a day
designated to kill all the Jews but turned out to be one which the
king gave us permission to wipe out our enemies, deserves the highest
of singing praised to Hashem. So why is Hallel
not
recited?
In
order to answer these questions, we must ask ourselves what the
purpose is of reading the Megillah
on
Puirm. Such a big deal is made over hearing every single word from
beginning to end. Why is it that this obligation was instituted –
something which we do not have to the same degree on any other
Holiday?
The
Megillah9
tells
us that Esther commanded the order of events to be written down into
the Megillah for
it to be commemorated each year. The Gemara10
asks why is it that we do not recite Hallel
on Purim? Rav Nachman answers that the reading of the Megillah
itself
is the Hallel.
The point of the Megillah is
to reflect on the whole story of Purim and realize that there is no
such thing as coincidence. As Rashi11
points out – the fact that Achashveirosh happened to have made a
party using the keilim
(vessels) of
the Beis HaMikdash,
that Vashti ended up being killed, and that Esther ended up queen
while Mordechai irritated Haman to the point that Haman had the
gallows prepared. All these events seemed normal and a logical series
of causes and effects which fate had decided. However, upon looking
back and stringing together the whole story, it becomes evident that
the events were really very much organized and were running on track
with the plan Hashem had in mind the whole time. Haman, representing
Amalek,
tried to prove to the world that there is no Hashem and that
everything that happens is in the hands of man or merely a
coincidence like a pur.
The Megillah,
however, is our Hallel that
we recite because it is megaleh
(reveals)
the big picture and declares that there is no such thing as
coincidence, rather everything that happens is a part of Hashem's
intricate plan for each individual.
Perhaps
this is the reason that Purim was given its name – to remember each
year the difference between our mentality and that of Amalek.
Amalek
tries to put doubt in everyone's minds and convince people that there
is no intelligent Being running the world, but rather everything that
happens is just mere coincidence. This is what they did when we left
Mitzrayim and
this is the perspective that Haman tried to push through during the
time of the Purim. Our job, however, is to counter this belief and
spend the time noticing how Hashem interacts with each and every one
of us on a personal level with a hashgacha
p'ratis and
guides, changes, and causes events to occur in order that we are each
delivered the perfect scenario which is meant for us.
There
is no doubt that even now we are constantly being challenged with the
mentality of Amalek.
There could be asteroids hitting earth which were somehow unnoticed
by all the satellites, there could be snowstorms where it is usually
hot, there could be earthquakes, tornadoes, hurricanes, and droughts,
and yet it is easy to write off each event as a mere coincidence or
sensible effect of some cause. However, by doing so we fall into the
trap of Amalek where
we allow the constant attack of maybe's become the definitely's in
our minds, and in turn we fail to be the proper receivers of the true
message that Hashem is trying to communicate to us.
Our
challenge is to walk away from Purim with this recognition and to
spend the time realizing that we each have our own Megillah.
The random sequence of events which often seem coincidental – the
places we happen to find ourselves in, the people we accidentally
meet, and the situations we by chance end up in – are all part of
our own Purim story. It is our job to zoom out and realize with a
clarity the hashgacha p'ratis
that
Hashem provides each of us.
May
Hashem help us fight against the doubt of Amalek
so
that we could read His messages clearly and recognize His role as
borei and
manhig.
1Shemos
28:30
2Yoma
73b
3Berachos
4a
4Berachos
31a-31b
5See
Shmuel Aleph 1:13-14 Channah
was the wife of Elkana and after being childless for many years she
went to the Mishkan to
daven for a son who she would be willing to give over completely to
work in the Mishkan.
Hashem answered her tefillah and
she became the proud mother of Shmuel HaNavi.
6It
is also pointed out that the gematriya (numerical
value) of Amalek is 240,
which is the same as the numerical value of Safek,
which means doubt.
7Esther
9:26
8Esther
3:7
9Esther
9:29, 0:32
10Megillah
14a
11Esther
9:26
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