Purim - 032 Understanding The Mitzvos Of Purim

Haman’s Agenda

Esther sent a letter to Mordechai, “Fast for me three days, day and night.” The Tosafos explain that Hashem does not cause pain to tzaddikim for more than three days; Esther was aware of this and thus she made the fast for three days, so that Hashem would take them out of their suffering.

Chazal explain that one of the ways we see this is that the prophet Yonah was swallowed by the fish for three days [so that he should do teshuvah], and then he was spit out, because Hashem did not want this tzaddik to suffer for more than three days. So too, Esther knew that Hashem would not cause any tzaddikim to suffer for more than three days.

The Sages state that Haman was excited because he knew that the mazal (the astrological sign of the month) of the month of Adar is fish, and fish swallow each other, so he thought that it would be the month when he could ‘swallow’ the Jewish people.

To understand this deeper, Haman descends from Amalek, who is compared by our Sages to a dog. Elsewhere, the Gemara says that a dog does not excrete its food until three days; thus, a dog/Amalek is connected with the number “three.” There is another place in the Gemara where it says that there are three creatures which do not see the sun: a fetus in its mother, a fish, and a dog. From here we see of a connecton between fish and dogs.

[The connection is as follows]. Haman, the “dog”, thought that he could have the same power of a “fish” which can swallow other “fish.” This was why Haman thought that he would be able to swallow us and destroy us in the month of “fish” (Adar).What Haman didn’t realize was that fish are blessed with pru u’rvu, they can give birth and multiply in quick succession, thus the month of the “fish”, Adar, was ultimately for our good mazal.

The fetus of a dog takes 50 days to be born, and parallel to this was Haman’s downfall; he is compared to a ‘dog’, thus he was hung on a pole that was 50 amos high.

The Depth Behind Hachanah/Preparing

Hashem had told Yonah to ‘prepare’ to go to Ninveh: “Vayohmen es Yonah,” “And He prepared Yonah.” The word “vayohmen” is rooted in the word “Haman”. Thus, “preparing” is associated with “Haman”, a hint to how Haman ‘prepared’ to destroy us.

We find in several places that ‘preparing’, hachanah, is the power that our enemies use to fight us with, as well as having other connotations of evil. For example, Esav, Amalek, and Haman all ‘prepared’ themselves to fight the Jewish people.

These forces of evil (Esav/Amalek/Haman) use the power of ‘preparation’, to prepare to destroy the Jewish people. Thus, they are all countered through ‘preparation’ as well. We find that Yaakov Avinu ‘prepared’ to fight with Esav through three things: gifts, prayer, and preparing for war. There were three aspects involved in his preparation for war with Esav: 1) He drew close to him (gifts); 2) He made sure to also keep a distance at the same time (prayer); and 3) He also made a compromise between these two levels, by preparing for war.

We find that this holy kind of ‘preparation’ which fights evil ‘preparation’ is also associated with the number “three”. Esther wanted ‘three’ days of fasting and ‘preparation’, as the Megillah says, which was needed to counter Haman, who is from Amalek, who fights through means of preparation to destroy us. We also find that she did ‘three’ things to prepare to fight Haman, just as Yaakov Avinu did: She ‘drew him close’ through inviting Haman to the meal, she prayed and fasted at the same time, and she was also prepared to fight a war with him.

Was it these three methods of preparation that saved us, though? It seems, from a superficial understanding, that it did. But there was more to it. [As the Megillah records, Achashveirosh left the room when he was angry and confused at Esther for acting favorable to Haman, and when he came back, he saw Haman with Esther on the couch, and he grew enraged at Haman for acting improper with her. His servant, who was called] “Memuchan” was told to hang Haman for this crime. So it was really Memuchan who erased Haman from our midst. It was Charvonah who suggested hanging Haman, but it was Memuchan who had already prepared the gallows. This is hinted to by the fact that the gallows were already ‘memuchan’, ‘prepared’, from beforehand. (There is an argument in the Gemara if Charvonah is the same person as Memuchan or not, but either way, the interpretation here can be understood.)

We find that the concept of preparation (hachanah) is when two dissimiliar things are prepared. When you prepare two things that are similar, they are already prepared, since they are similar. You only do hachanah (preparation)when you are preparing two things that are not similar to each other and you have to get them ready.

From the time that Adam sinned from the Eitz HaDaas (the Tree of Knowledge), man is no longer “muchan” (prepared) for good that he would have enjoyed in the Olam Haba (the Next World).  Instead, mankind is now muchan (prepared) for punishment [unless he turns himself in the other direction and he heads toward the good]. So we see that the term ‘hachanah’ (preparation) is a connotation for evil and punishment.

Before the sin, mankind would have gone into the “seudah of Olam HaBa” (the meal in the Next World), which has been prepared for Adam; [all he had to do was pass the test of the Eitz HaDaas, and then he would have gone straight into the seudah that was waiting for him].

This concept of the “seudah in Olam HaBa” is also called ‘mezuman l’chayei olam haba’ (designated for eternal life in the Next World) by Chazal. On a more specific and personal level, it is referring to someone who lives his life as if he is “mezuman” (already prepared) for Olam HaBa, so he does not need hachanah to prepare for the Next World; [he has the deep perspective of knowing that Olam HaBa is his real place, this he is above the level of ‘preparation’, because he already feels ‘prepared’].

So the higher level is mezuman, to already be prepared, whereas the lower level is hachanah, to prepare. Mezuman represents the level of Olam HaBa, which was already prepared for man and waiting for him, if only he wouldn’t have sinned. In contrast, the concept of hachanah/muchan, preparation, connotes a lack of already being prepared from beforehand.

The word memuchan (prepared) is also from the term. “muchan u’muzan l’pirayon” (prepared and designated for punishment), which is now the state of man ever since the sin of Adam. This was what Haman wanted to do to us: he was preparing to destroy us. In the end, his own downfall came about through ‘hachanah’ – Memuchan, who ‘prepared’ the gallows for him.

Chazal say that the fish that swallowed Yonah was “already prepared,”it was mezuman, “from the six days of creation”. We find that in the first six days of Creation, there were two stages – before the sin, and after the sin. Before the sin, man was “already prepared for Olam HaBa”; he was “mezuman” for the Next World. He would have gone into the seudah in Olam HaBa right away. After he ate from the Eitz HaDaas, the state of being mezuman l’Olam HaBa (designated for the Next World) was removed from him, and instead man is in a state where he is initially “memuchan” (“prepared”) for bad.

That is the concept behind “Haman” – to be memuchan (prepared) for a bad end. Haman represents the level of after the sin of Adam- to be muchan for bad, for pirayon/punishment. He ‘prepared’ to do bad to us, and in the end, he himself was muchan l’pirayon – he became “prepared” for his own end.

Deeper Understanding of Ad D’Lo Yoda: Being In The State of ‘Mezuman’ For Olam HaBa

Thus, now we can understand what is contained in the spiritual light that is here on the festival of Purim.

We have a mitzvah on Purim of “ad d’lo yoda”, to reach the level beyond our daas (human understanding).We find that the concept of daas is associated with hachanah/preparing, as we see from the possuk, “And you shall know today and place it in your heart” – we need to “prepare” our daas to settle in our heart, in order for our knowledge to internalize. It is also written, “For the inclination is evil from youth.” One needs to prepare his daas to internalize his knowledge of the truth into his heart, because ever since the sin of Adam, we need some kind of hachanah (preparation) in order to become holy.

On Purim, when “Haman” is destroyed, there was revealed a level in which we don’t need hachanah. We can reach the level of before the Original Sin - when we were already “memuchan u’mezuman l’chayei olam haba”, without even needing to make hachanah for it; because it was already prepared for us – “mezuman”.

The seudah we have on Purim is thus like the eternal seudah which we had been mezuman for, had Adam not sinned. Purim is called “Yemei mishteh v’simcha”, “days of festivity and joy”, the time in which we access the state of ad d’lo yoda – it is about leaving the state of post-sin and accessing our pre-sin state. It is not merely because the sin has been removed; it is more subtle - we are going back to our inner point we originate from, the level in which we do not need hachanah – because in essence, we are already “mezuman” for Olam HaBa.

Purim: Tasting The Future (The Next World)

All of our Yomim Tovim (festivals) are times to remember the exodus (zecher l’yetzias mitzraim). Purim, however, is beyond that level. It is something from another dimension entirely: it is a light of the future, shining onto the present.

Chazal say that on Purim, all of the past, present, and future are contained in this day. The other festivals we have are about remembering the past in the present (remembering the exodus), while Purim is about putting the future in the present.

This is what lies behind the seudah of Purim – it is about revealing the state of how we are ‘already’ prepared for the state of the Next World: mezuman, as opposed to memuchan/hachanah.

How can this be true, though, if it’s not here yet? The answer is that the essence of the celebration of Purim is not time-bound, and therefore it does not need hachanah. Purim is rather about a state of Olam HaBa that’s already here on this world, the higher dimension waiting for Adam had he not sinned. Thus, it is a state that doesn’t require hachanah (preparation), because we are already “there”(in a very deep sense). It reveals the future state in the present that man doesn’t need hachanah for holiness, because he is already “prepared” - since he is intrinsically pure, at his very essence.

The sin of Adam caused us not only to fall from our level of being mezuman for holiness, but to also become mezuman for bad things, for death, for evil. The miracle of Purim revealed to us, though, that we can return once again to the state of not being memuchan for a bad end; instead, we can reach the level in which we are mezuman for good and for holiness, intrinsically.

The ‘memuchan’ aspect in Haman is what prepared to destroy us. On Purim, we were saved from his aspect of memuchan, and instead we went back to being “memuchan” for Olam HaBa, already on this world – which is the level of “mezuman”,where we are “already” prepared for good,for the Next World. Thus, Purim is the point in our current time which can connect a person to the future, to Olam HaBa – even as one is amidst this world.

Purim: The State of Hashem’s Oneness

Purim also reveals that there are no ‘two sides’, and that there is really only one ‘side’ to Creation. In the current state we live in we deal with two ‘sides’ – the ‘side of good’ (holiness) vs. the ‘side of evil’ (impurity). In the future, there will be only ‘one’ side – nothing but Hashem. Purim is a resemblance of that level of the future.

Amalek comes to fight Hashem “in every generation”. The other nations can convert to the Jewish people, except for Amalek, who may never be allowed to convert, according to the Rambam and most Rishonim. With other nations, we can come to ‘appease’ them, by converting them. But Amalek cannot be converted, so it cannot be ‘appeased’ in any way. Amalek can only be defeated by one thing alone: we must go to war with them. There is a mitzvah in the Torah of milchemes Amalek, to go to war against Amalek, which we have until the end of time. We cannot be victorious against them with giving them gifts, or even with prayer – we can only win when we wage war against them.

To explain it with a more subtle approach, it is well-known Amalek represents the power of safek, doubt [‘Amalek’ has the same gematria in Hebrew as the word ‘safek’ (240)]. When there is a doubt, there are two sides. Amalek fights Hashem by creating safek\doubt in the world.

We find that Amalek gets its power from the number ‘three.’ We have three sides to time – past, present and future. That entire perspective is all due to Amalek, for it is always Amalek that creates three possibilities – two extremes (past and future), and the point in the middle (the present). Man is also three points – himself, his wife, and the Shechinah between them. So man is always in ‘three’ planes. The world stands on ‘three’ things [Torah, tefillah and gemilus chassadim], etc. There is always this recurring theme of the number ‘three’ when we are within This World. There were also ‘three’ forefathers.

Haman thought that in the month of Adar he can destroy us, because the mazal of Adar is fish, which gives birth in schools, which is at least ‘three’; Haman wanted to use the power of ‘three’ to destroy us – what is the depth behind this? It is because ‘three’ enables safek/doubt since all doubts have three possibilities: Option A, Option B, and the point in between them. The rule is, that whenever there are two endpoints, there is always a third point in between that connects them).

Thus, there is no person who can fight Amalek, since we all have safek in us, for we all have our doubts; safek empowers Amalek, so there is no human way to overcome Amalek. The only “One” who can defeat Amalek is Hashem, because only Hashem is called “One”, and His “oneness” will overpower the power of “three” which fuels Amalek’s power.

Esther realized she was facing the power of Amalek, whom Haman descends from and represents. She knew that Amalek’s power lies in using the power of “three”, thus she wanted to counter the “three” of Amalek by fasting for “three” days. [In doing so, she was able to defeat Haman/Amalek, and thus she revealed a degree of Hashem’s oneness within creation, which obliterates Amalek]. Ever since then, Purim has become a point in time in which it is revealed that there are no doubts, no “three” possibilities; that there is only “one” possibility: Hashem.

It is said^[1] that “Yom Kippur is as holy as Purim”. The connection between Yom Kippur and Purim is that they are both “one” day alone. Purim is all about the state of “oneness”. On Purim, past and future are all in the present in “one” moment. This is the state of man being mezuman for Olam HaBa. It reveals how all is “one” – the past, present, and future, are all in one.

Depth of The Four Mitzvos of Purim

Now we can understand the greater depth behind the mitzvos of Purim: (1) Mikra megillah – Reading the megillah, (2) Matanos l’evyonim (gifts to the poor), and (3) Mishloach manos (sending packages of food to fellow Jews).

All of these “three” mitzvos require daas (intention) to fulfill. We must intend to fulfill the mitzvah of mikra megillah when we hear the megillah; we must knowingly give matanos l’evyonim and we must knowingly give mishloach manos, or else we have not fulfilled these mitzvos.

But there is also a fourth mitzvah on Purim, which is above the other “three” – and it requires no daas, for it is beyond daas. It is the seudah of Purim, in which we have a mitzvah of “ad d’lo yoda” , to reach the point where we do not “know”.In the seudah of Purim, we can reveal the meaning of how Purim are days of “mishteh v’simcha” (joy and festivity).

We need both of these sets of mitzvos on Purim in order to erase Amalek. The first three mitzvos of Purim are here to erase Amalek, which fights us through the number ‘three’ (i.e. doubts), parallel to the ‘three’ ways of how Esther prepared to fight Haman.

But those three mitzvos alone are not enough to erase Amalek, for Amalek is equally powerful in its force of using “three.”  Only “one” can defeat it: the mitzvah of seudas Purim, which contains the state of ad d’lo yoda. That is what contains the final blow to Amalek, for it is all about the level beyond daas, the level of “oneness”, the level of Hashem revealing His oneness upon the world and obliterating Amalek for once and for all.

Thus, there are two parts of our avodah throughout Purim:  The first part of our avodah is on the level of “three”: the three mitzvos of mikra megillah, matanos l’evyonim, and mishloach manos. The second part of our avodah on Purim, ad d’lo yoda, is the higher level - the level of “one”.

The first three mitzvos are how we fight Amalek in the three different ways (that Esther fought Haman with, and how Yaakov fought Esav with). The “one” mitzvah of the seudas Purim reflects the awesome concept of how Hashem will fight and erase Amalek with His complete oneness.

The Secret of Purim: Revealing The Letter ‘Aleph’ In Hashem’s Name

Hashem Himself said, “I will erase Amalek”. Hashem also said, “ki Macho Emcheh”, “For I will surely erase [Amalek].” The word ‘emcheh’ begins with the letter aleph, a hint to the letter aleph of the commandment of “Anochi Hashem” (“I am Hashem”), which represents the time of the future in which Hashem’s oneness will be revealed, when His Name will be “one.”

Chazal say that secrets of the Torah should only be taught to one who is “chocham maivin m’daato”, “one who understands on his own.”^[2] Such a person is worthy that a sod (an inner secret) should become revealed to him. One needs three requirements: to possess chochmah [li. wisdom], binah [li. contemplation] and daas [lit. understanding].

The true definition of a sod, a “secret”, is when the secret is constant, where it always remains a secret. An example of a constant secret is a fetus, which is always hidden. A sod, a secret, is what begins to reveal the havayah (essence) of something. The root of a matter is always its sod/secret. The root of “chochmah” (wisdom) is called “ayin” (nothingness), as it is written, “Wisdom, where is it (m’ayin) found?”^[3] Thus, ayin (the nothingness) is the sod (secret) of chochmah (wisdom).

The Gemara says that man has three “partners” in his creation: his father, mother, and the Shechinah. The Shechinah which connects his parents together is really the “sod” (secret) in the creation each person. Thus, a “sod” is only told to one who is “chacham maivin m’daato”.

Chazal say that when “Wine enters, the sod (secret) comes out”^[4] – this is not referring to a sod\secret of “three”, but to the sod\secret of oneness, the sod\secret of Creation, which is not a oneness in the sense of connecting things together (that would be the level of ‘three’). Rather, it is a oneness in the sense where there is only Hashem in Creation. A hint to this is that the word “Charvonah” is from the word charuv, to destroy, alluding to how “Hashem destroys worlds and creates them” – a revelation of a point in time in which there is no world, and there is nothing but His Shechinah, where man has no mother and no father, and only the Shechinah. This is the depth of the verse, “For my father and my mother have abandoned me.”

Chazal state that Esther had no parents. Esther is from the word seiser, hidden. The inner meaning of this is that she represents the “seiser (the concealment) of the letter aleph”^[5] – the concept of the “oneness of Hashem which manifests in the hidden”. Chazal asked, “Esther min HaTorah minayin” – “Where is Esther alluded to in the Torah?” On a deeper level, this is also referring to a revelation of the hidden, inner point. We also find that “Esther would not reveal  her origin” - on a deeper level, this is because Esther represents the “seiser of the Aleph” in Hashem’s Name, the letter aleph in “Anochi Hashem” – the state of Hashem’s oneness which was before Creation.

The sod (secret) of Purim which we reveal is therefore not the sod of how “there are three partners in man” - that would be the sod of Yom Kippur, which is about being cleansed from sin, which is compared to a mother cleaning off the dirt from her child. The deeper level than this is Purim, which is about oneness, where there is no father and no mother, but only Shechinah, as in the verse, “For my father and my mother have abandoned me.” No parents – just the Shechinah.

Purim is thus all about the “Aleph” in Hashem’s name, the oneness of Hashem which was here before creation, the level above daas (human comprehension). It is about the concept of revealing Ain Od Milvado, “There is nothing besides for Hashem”.

Purim: Above Daas

The lot of Purim which Haman casted fell out on the 7^th of Adar, the yahrtzeit of Moshe Rabbeinu. so Haman was thrilled since he took it as a sign that it will be the day of the demise of the Jewish people. Why was Haman wrong? The deeper understanding is as follows.

It is written about Moshe Rabbeinu, “No man knows of his burial place.” Moshe reached all 49 gates of understanding, the greatest level of daas (human comprehension), but the 50^th gate was not revealed to him, as the Ramban states. When Moshe took leave of the world, the 49 gates of understanding left with him, and then the 50^th gate was revealed. Moshe is on the level of daas, so he didn’t comprehend the 50^th gate, which is above daas.

Purim is all about what was not given to Moshe. {When we received the Torah from] Moshe, we were forced to accept the Torah, but on Purim, we accepted the Torah again with love, because of the miracles that took place. On Purim we reached the 50^th gate of understanding, which was not revealed to Moshe.

“On That Night, The Sleep of the King Was Disturbed”

Amalek is compared to a dog; Chazal state that a dog is pregnant for 50 days, thus, Amalek is connected with “50.” This refers to the “50^th Gate of Impurity”, the most depraved depths of evil possible, which is also the very power of Amalek. Haman’s agenda was to make us fall into this “50^th Gate of Impurity”, where we cannot be saved.

Haman thought that in the month of Adar he can destroy the Jewish people. But “on that night, the sleep of the king was disturbed” - Achashveirosh could not fall asleep at night; we know that in every place where it says “king” in the Megillah, it is really referring to Hashem.

So the deeper meaning of this possuk in the Megillah is that on “that night”, Hashem “remembered” that we possess the 50^th Gate of Holiness, the higher dimension deep inside us that is above any notion of sin – which is what ultimately saved us from destruction.

On “that night”, there was a revelation of the perspective that a fetus does not merely begin with the “rotten droplet” that it comes from. We always inherit sinful desires from parents who conceive a child, as is stated in the verse “In the iniquity of my father I was born, and in the sin of my mother I was conceived”). We also, come from the place of “ayin”, from “Aleph”, the Shaar HaNun of Ayin (the 50^th Gate of Holiness).^[6]

The 50^th Gate of Holiness: The Point (Within Us) That Is Above Sin

Chazal say that the fish do not see the sun – the inner meaning of this is tied with how “the face of Moshe is like the sun.” The fish represent the level that is “above” Moshe - above daas. So the “fish” of the month of Adar represent the power to be above daas, the 50^th Gate of Holiness, which saved us from Amalek.

It is written, “For my father and mother have abandoned me.” This is reflected in the fact that Esther had no parents. It represents the inner point that is above the possibility of sin, in which there are no sinful desires inherited from the parents. The reason why we sin is because we have inherited the sins of our parents (“In iniquity of my father I was born, and in the sin of my mother I was conceived”), and this is why “the inclination of man is evil from his youth”. But there is a higher point in us which his beyond sin.

Purim: Connecting To the Original (and Future) Purity

Chazal state^[7] that wine can have opposite effects: either it brings sadness (yelalah) to a person, or it brings happiness. When it is used for its higher use, it reveals the level that is above sin, which is above the level of being conceived from our human parents. The level of the “50th Gate of Holiness” saves us due to the inherent great holiness that it provides us with.

The light of Purim is essentially the light emanating from Hashem Himself, so to speak, in which there is no darkness, and no concealment (hester).

Chazal said, “Wine enters, secrets come out”^[8] – the secret of Purim revealed on Purim is that it reveals the inner point, in which there is no possibility of sin of the world was it was before the sin of Adam.

Purim connects the present with the state of existence before the sin and with the state of Olam HaBa, in which we will partake of the “seudah of the Leviathan”. In the present time, we live in a world of sin; in the past, before the sin for of Adam, our souls lived in world before sin, and in the future, we will again live in a world in which there will be no sin. Purim is the point in the present connected to the holy past and the holy future, the times in which there is no possibility of sin.

Wine During the Year Vs. The Wine of Purim

Wine reveals the “sod”, the secret, of Purim, as follows.

“Wine”, yayin, is equal in gematria to the number 70. Beside Purim, during the rest of the year, we can only be at the level of “three partners in man” since we are tied to the level of our normal human constraints. During the rest of the year, the wine has an effect of “70” on us, which is at a lower level, because it is parallel to the 70 nations of the world that are headed by Amalek.

“70” also represents the concept of “preparation” because the word hachanah (preparation) contains the letters chof (equal to 20)) and the letter nun (equal to 50), which add up to 70.

But on Purim, the wine we drink is not coming to reveal “70”. Purim is all about oneness; it is revelation of the “Aleph” of Hashem, the oneness of Hashem. It is a level of yayin/wine which reveals the sod, the secret, of the “Aleph” – in other words, the recognition of the absolute oneness of the Creator. That is the true revelation that lies behind the wine on Purim.

The True Essence of Purim

Thus, the mitzvah on Purim of ad d’lo yoda is not just about becoming intoxicated so that we can come to reveal more divrei Torah. When one is intoxicated with wine, he can come to reveal a perception of the inner recognition, that there is a Creator, the Alupho shel Olam (the “Chief of the world”). To reveal more Torah alone is not the inner point of the wine on Purim.

Chazal state^[9], “The Blessed One, the Torah, and Yisrael are three ties that are bound to one another.”If drinking wine on Purim only causes a person to reveal more Torah - without a perception of recognizing Hashem – then his intoxication through the wine is still within the perspective of “Amalek”!

This is because Amalek fights us through using the power of “three”, so when a person thinks that the “three” concepts of Hashem, Torah, and Yisrael are all “three” separate concepts, and he does not realize how the three concepts are really all interconnected under the oneness of Hashem, he is subtly affected by the perspective of Amalek, which does not see oneness. A person with this perspective might even come to have more revelations of Torah on Purim, but he hasn’t reached the true depth of Purim yet, for he did not reveal a deeper recognition of Hashem on Purim. To him, the Torah and Hashem are separate matters [chas v’shalom] from each other.

The inner point of Purim is: ad d’lo yoda – to come to the point where “No thought can comprehend Him at all.”^[10] This is not the same thing as the sod (secret) known as “The Blessed One, Torah, and Yisrael are three ties that are bound to each other” - for that would still be within the perception of “three”, which is the lower perspective, the perspective that cannot be strong enough to withstand the doubts of Amalek. Rather, the inner point of Purim, which is “ad d’lo yoda”, is known as “the sod of echad” (the secret of oneness).

Of the first day in Creation, it is written, “And it was night and it was day, and it was one day”. On that “one day” of Creation, the first day, there was ohr, light. By Purim, there was orah, light – it was like the light of the first day. It is the ohr chadash (the “new light”) which will shine forth on Zion, in the future. It is the same ohr which Adam used to see from one end of the world to the other. It was the ohr which reveals echad, oneness.

Purim: Reaching the Source of the Torah

This is the inner meaning behind the interpretation of Chazal, “ohra, zu Torah”^[11] - that the light revealed on Purim refers to [the acceptance of the] Torah. It is this “ohra”, this revelation of spiritual light, which reveals the Yachid (the Individual) of the world, Hashem, Whom all understanding in Torah is derived frm. We must realize is that the source of all revelations in Torah is coming from the very “light of Hashem”, which empowers it.

Thus, Purim is not just a time in which there is more revelation of chochmah (wisdom) of Torah. It is rather to connect to the source that is above the chochmah, which is called “ayin” (nothingness) – the place of oneness (echad), the place of utter attachment (d’veykus muchlat) to Hashem. And from there, chochmah is drawn – for it is there that the very source of the chochmah is reached.

The inner point of all avodah is to reach the understanding of the verse, “The rock of my heart and my portion, is G-d.” It is the inner point which is hidden in the depths of the soul. There, a person can reach the inner recognition of the reality - of the Creator.