The Hidden Light of Purim (Adapted from the Torah of Rav Yitzchok Hutner, zt”l, Pachad Yitzchok, Purim Maamar 34)
By Eliakim Willner
Eliakim Willner is author
of an English volume of Pachad Yitzchok Maamorim, and of “Nesivos Olam – Nesiv
HaTorah: An Appreciation of Torah Study”, a translation with commentary of a
work by the Maharal of Prague, both published by Artscroll/Mesorah. A
translation of the Maharal’s Nesiv HaAvodah awaits publication, along with many
additional Maamorim.
We can best understand
this Medrash by way of a parable. Two individuals are ordered to
recognize people in the darkness of night. One of them lit a candle and
examined the faces of the people in its light in order to recognize them. The
second individual had no candle, but since he was nonetheless obligated to
recognize the people, he trained himself to recognize them by the differences
in their voices.
Insofar as clarity and
accuracy are concerned, the first individual had an advantage over the second
since visual recognition is more certain than auditory recognition. On the
other hand, the second individual had an advantage over the first in that he fine-tuned
his sense of hearing with respect to distinguishing human voices. The
individual who used a candle lacks the ability to accurately distinguish people
using his sense of hearing. Thus, once morning dawns the first individual will
extinguish his candle since it is useless in the light of day. The
candle-driven recognition abilities that he strove to achieve at night are now
redundant. As for the second individual, true, he too is now able to visually
recognize people, but the fine-tuned auditory recognition abilities that he
strove to achieve at night will remain with him forever.
In a leap year we read the Megilla in the second Adar month, in order to juxtapose the redemption that took place on Purim with the Egyptian redemption, which took place in Nissan. The deliberate juxtaposition of Purim with Pesach teaches us that there is a comparison to be made between the two redemptions.
It is important for us to
realize that just as the Egyptian redemption is marked by a divine declaration
of Anochi, “I”, as in “I am Hashem, your G-d, Who took you out of
the land of Egypt”, so too is the Purim redemption marked with its own Anochi
declaration: “And I will surely hide, hastair astair…”. (The Gemara
points to this phrase as an oblique reference to Purim: “Where is there
a reference to Esther in the Torah? It is in the verse, ‘And I will surely
hide, hastair, astair’” Devarim 31:18). The Anochi in both cases
signals Hashem’s active involvement in both redemptions, albeit, as we will
explain, in different ways
The significance of this
fact is that there are two ways for the Jewish nation to recognize the Anochi,
the “I”; the presence of Hashem as mastermind of events – either the
Egyptian redemption way, or the Purim redemption way. Referring back to our
earlier parable, the Jewish nation recognizing the Anochi in the
Egyptian redemption way is comparable to the individual who recognizes others
with the aid of a candle, a tool that provides light. The open miracles of the
Egyptian redemption “illuminate” Hashem’s active involvement, as it were.
The Jewish nation
recognizing the Anochi via a hidden and oblique redemption – the Purim
way – on the other hand, is akin to the individual who recognizes people using
a self-developed means of perception which enables him to bypass the sense of
sight. There were no open miracles during the Purim redemption. Hashem’s
involvement could only be discerned by “reading between the lines” of what
appeared to be ordinary, natural events.
Let us expand our parable.
When the day dawns brightly, and the sun rises in all its glory; that is to say
– switching to the nimshal –
when, at the time of our final redemption, the light of Hashem’s glory will be
orders of magnitude greater than the brightness of the sun, the earlier open
miracles – the “tools” that the Jewish nation had to rely on previously in
order to perceive the Anochi, the presence of Hashem as mastermind of
events – will automatically become superfluous.
This is because the Anochi
– the presence of Hashem as mastermind of all events – will permeate every
aspect of existence after the final redemption, causing the miracles of the
Egyptian exodus, in comparison, to pale into relative insignificance, just as
the lesser light of a candle pales into insignificance in comparison to the
light of the sun.
The miracles of the
Egyptian exodus are akin to the candle of the parable. Just as a candle
illuminates only its immediate vicinity, so do the Egyptian exodus miracles
expose the hand of Hashem only in the events of the miracles themselves. The
light of the much brighter sun is akin to the miracles of the final redemption,
but in both cases our perception of Hashem’s active involvement does not extend
beyond what the light illuminates; it does not extend to what appears to be
“natural” everyday events. Both lights remain external tools for perceiving the
involvement of Hashem.
All this is true about the
holidays that are centered around the Egyptian redemption. It does not apply to
the Purim redemption, in the context of which the Jewish nation taught
itself to recognize Anochi – the presence of Hashem as mastermind of
events – even during darkness; during hiddenness. This “sixth sense” of
perception persists in the soul of the nation whether it is light or dark, just
as, in the parable, the individual who taught himself to distinguish people by
the sounds of their voices had no need for an illuminating tool at all in order
to identify people. With our “Purim sense” we do not need to rely on the
extraordinary light of the ultimate redemption to recognize Hashem as the
mastermind of all events. No external “tools” in the form of open miracles are
necessary.
That is why “even at a
time when all the other holidays will be annulled, Purim will not be
annulled, as the verse assures us: ‘…and their memory shall not cease from
their descendants’”.
Supercharging the Mind with Ad D’lo’Yada
In summary, there are two
ways in which a person can be divinely enlightened. The first – the Egyptian
redemption way – can be expressed using
the verse-phrase, “Hashem enlightens me” (Micha 7:8). The second first –
the Purim redemption way – can be
expressed using the more expanded verse-phrase, “…although I will sit in
darkness, Hashem enlightens me”.
Purim’s
distinction is the enlightenment that “glows” even in the darkness. And just as
the energy that guides a person even in the midst of darkness is more potent
than ordinary light, so too are the intuitive insights that emerge in the
below-the-level of consciousness glow of Purim especially cherished.
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