This week's parsha deals with the manufacture of the priestly garments, described (Sh'mot 39:1 ) as "bigdei srad", garments for service (Onkelos). The Talmud (Yoma 72) translates "srad" as "survival": without the priestly garments, the Jews would have been totally annihilated, with not one survivor.
Now, the Purim story certainly is one of Jewish survival, and the bigdei kehuna (priestly garments) are featured prominently on Purim. King Achashverosh wanted to show off, flaunting his "kavod v'tiferet" (Esther 1:4 ), honor and glory, the very words used in our parsha for the bigdei kehuna (Sh'mot 28:2 ). Indeed, the Gemara (Megilah 12a) says that Achashverosh donned the bigdei kohen gadol.
As Rebbe Nachman of Breslov explains, these robes symbolize hod, the unique grandeur of every Jew. The Kohen Gadol, a true ohev shalom and unifier of all the individual hods of all Jews, thus represents all of Jewry. Indeed, on a Yom K'Purim, on a day like Purim, Yom Kippur, the High Priest represents us all and ensures our survival by "breaking our sins (kippur avon)" by his service in the Temple. And finally, Mordechai himself fulfills this role, ensuring Jewish survival (saving the world's Jews) by uniting the Jews ("leich knos et kol hayehudim"; Esther 4:16); and then he "left the king's presence clad in royal garments.... " (Esther 8:16)
One aside: on Purim meshulash of 1994, Rabbi Aviner of Beit El mentioned many ways that Yom Kippur is a day "like Purim". One was that on Yom Kippur we dress in white, the kittel, the garment of angels, and also the garment of the regular priest. And angels don't fight among themselves. This unity of Purim is what allowed another Matan Torah on Purim (and Yom Kippur was a day of Matan Torah, as the united Jews in the desert received the second Tablets). And dress plays a big role every year on Purim, as Jews young and old dress up in all kinds of costumes. Certainly, the costumes and revelry, the parties, the shalach manot and the matanot l'evyonim (gifts to the poor) all have the goal of Jewish unity. And survival.
This Purim we especially need this spirit, this "leich k'nos et kol hayehudim". Israel is threatened by a political party, Kadima, whose sole raison d'etre is to dislocate , impoverish and demonize 250,000 Jews. And among us Zionist settlers, there is trouble: one hears shouts of "reshaim, eirev rav" to describe Leftists. In answer, I would like to quote Rabbi Tau: "From this name-calling we will gain nothing. Our task has always been, and still is , to enlighten them, all of them.
The Gemara (Pesachim 49b) says that amei ha'aretz, unenlightened Jews, hate Torah Jews even more than Gentile anti-Semites hate them. Rabbi Akiva, before he learned Torah, hated Torah Jews so much that he " was ready to bite them as a donkey does, down to the bone." (Ketuvot 62b;Tosafot). But when he learned Torah and became Rabbi Akiva, he taught all Jews, and showed them the hod of each Talmid Chacham and Jew.
And so, this generation seems like Akiva, before he learned, but it will yet be Rabbi Akiva , gadol b'Yisrael. With all its perverted ideas and culture, there are men who, in truth and innocence, are willing to lay down their lives for nation and land, yet "these messianists, these students of Rav Kook", they want to bite them with the bite of a donkey, breaking bones. But from this, can grow a Rabbi Akiva. And so will grow".
May we all have a happy, freilechen Purim.
Now, the Purim story certainly is one of Jewish survival, and the bigdei kehuna (priestly garments) are featured prominently on Purim. King Achashverosh wanted to show off, flaunting his "kavod v'tiferet" (Esther 1:4 ), honor and glory, the very words used in our parsha for the bigdei kehuna (Sh'mot 28:2 ). Indeed, the Gemara (Megilah 12a) says that Achashverosh donned the bigdei kohen gadol.
As Rebbe Nachman of Breslov explains, these robes symbolize hod, the unique grandeur of every Jew. The Kohen Gadol, a true ohev shalom and unifier of all the individual hods of all Jews, thus represents all of Jewry. Indeed, on a Yom K'Purim, on a day like Purim, Yom Kippur, the High Priest represents us all and ensures our survival by "breaking our sins (kippur avon)" by his service in the Temple. And finally, Mordechai himself fulfills this role, ensuring Jewish survival (saving the world's Jews) by uniting the Jews ("leich knos et kol hayehudim"; Esther 4:16); and then he "left the king's presence clad in royal garments.... " (Esther 8:16)
One aside: on Purim meshulash of 1994, Rabbi Aviner of Beit El mentioned many ways that Yom Kippur is a day "like Purim". One was that on Yom Kippur we dress in white, the kittel, the garment of angels, and also the garment of the regular priest. And angels don't fight among themselves. This unity of Purim is what allowed another Matan Torah on Purim (and Yom Kippur was a day of Matan Torah, as the united Jews in the desert received the second Tablets). And dress plays a big role every year on Purim, as Jews young and old dress up in all kinds of costumes. Certainly, the costumes and revelry, the parties, the shalach manot and the matanot l'evyonim (gifts to the poor) all have the goal of Jewish unity. And survival.
This Purim we especially need this spirit, this "leich k'nos et kol hayehudim". Israel is threatened by a political party, Kadima, whose sole raison d'etre is to dislocate , impoverish and demonize 250,000 Jews. And among us Zionist settlers, there is trouble: one hears shouts of "reshaim, eirev rav" to describe Leftists. In answer, I would like to quote Rabbi Tau: "From this name-calling we will gain nothing. Our task has always been, and still is , to enlighten them, all of them.
The Gemara (Pesachim 49b) says that amei ha'aretz, unenlightened Jews, hate Torah Jews even more than Gentile anti-Semites hate them. Rabbi Akiva, before he learned Torah, hated Torah Jews so much that he " was ready to bite them as a donkey does, down to the bone." (Ketuvot 62b;Tosafot). But when he learned Torah and became Rabbi Akiva, he taught all Jews, and showed them the hod of each Talmid Chacham and Jew.
And so, this generation seems like Akiva, before he learned, but it will yet be Rabbi Akiva , gadol b'Yisrael. With all its perverted ideas and culture, there are men who, in truth and innocence, are willing to lay down their lives for nation and land, yet "these messianists, these students of Rav Kook", they want to bite them with the bite of a donkey, breaking bones. But from this, can grow a Rabbi Akiva. And so will grow".
May we all have a happy, freilechen Purim.