Meaningful Moadim
  • Welcome to Meaningful Moadim
    • Index 2
    • Tu BiShevat - The New Year of the Trees >
      • Bearing Fruit
      • Lesson of the Trees
      • Pri Eitz Hadar
      • Tu BeShevat – A Day of Perceptible Belief
    • Mishenichnas Adar Marbim BeSimcha >
      • A Purim Thought
      • Mazal Adar Dagim - The Month of Adar is Symbolized by Fish
      • More on Mazel Adar Dagim
      • The First of "the Four Parshiyos" - Parshas Shekalim
      • The Month of Adar and Purim >
        • Holiday of Unity?
      • Why Megillas ESTHER?
      • Purim and Prayer >
        • Prayer in the Megillah
      • The Most Unhappiest Queen of them all
      • Purim and Charity
      • Making Purim Last Throughout the Year
      • Story: The Purim of Saragosa
      • KISLEV - Great Expectations >
        • What is Chanukah? >
          • The Name of the Holiday >
            • Chanukah: Renewal
            • Why is Shehechiyanu recited only on the first night of Chanukah?
            • Biblical Allusions
            • Another explanation of the name Chanukah
            • Ve-Al Hnissim, not Al Hanissim
            • Mai Chanukah?
            • Bais Shamai and Bais Hillel (2)
            • Mazal Kislev Keshes
            • Why didn't the Kohanim themselves defile the oil if everyone was tamei, ritually impure due to the war? >
              • Chanukah Always has a Shabbos >
                • Chanukah Always Falls our Around parshas Mikeitz
              • Tu B'shvat and Shabbos Shira
      • We blow the Shofar Throughout the Month of Elul
      • Shofar Throughout the Month of Elul
      • Reconnecting with our Father in Heaven
      • Month of Teves: Catastrophic Events
    • Chanukah: The Festival of Lights >
      • TAKING A MOMENT OUT FOR A CHANUKAH THOUGHT >
        • TAKING A MOMENT OUT FOR A CHANUKAH THOUGHT
      • Are we celebrating the victory over the Greeks or the Miracle of the Oil? >
        • Miracle Oil?
        • The Jewish People Are Above Nature
        • The Light of the Jewish Soul Glows on Chanukah
        • Chanukah: A Winter Festival
        • Chanukah: A War of Conflicting Philosophies >
          • Alexander The Great and The Jewish Sages
          • Uphold Good or Destroy Evil?
          • LeHashkicham Torasecha U’LeHa’aviram MeiChukei Retzonecha
        • Why was a holiday established specifically for the war that led to the Chanukah miracle?
        • U’Leamcha Yisrael Assisa Teshua Gedola U’furkan K’Hayom Hazeh…
      • Give the Gift of LIGHT!
      • Customs, Symbols & Observances >
        • More Reasons for Doughnuts on Chanukah
        • The Letters on the Dreidel
        • More Customs >
          • More About the Dreidel
          • More on Dreidel
          • Chanukah Gelt
          • The Lesson of "Chanukah Gelt"
          • L'Hodos U'LaHallel
        • More Symbolism >
          • Symbolism of Olive Oil
          • The Greeks vs. The Jews
          • The Little Jug that Traveled Through Time
        • The Custom to serve Dairy and Cheese Products on Chanukah
        • Tzedaka - Charity
      • The Shamash >
        • The Secret of the Shamash
      • Putting Away the Menorah?
      • Recommended Reading

A PuriM Thought

A Purim Thought

The Talmud says [Chulin 139b] that the Torah contains an allusion to Mordechai, found in an ingredient of the Ketores [Incense]. The words "Mor Dror" [Shmos 30:23] are translated into Aramaic as "Mor dechi."

This type of Talmudic passage obviously requires illumination. The Rabbis must be telling us something more than a mere play on words.

The commentaries tell us that the reason why the Jews were in such dire straits at the time of the Purim story is because they were not functioning as the Jewish people are supposed to function. Our single greatest strength is that of being a unified nation. When there is division and dissension, when there is baseless hatred, we lose one of our strongest attributes. We are no longer a Tzibbur [unified group of people]. We are merely a group of divisive individuals.

As a Tzibbur, even if there are those who are blemished among us, we can persevere. If, however, the light of justice is shined on each of us or any of us individually, we will not be able to endure. Our strength exists only as a Tzibbur.

Achashverosh posed the question to Haman - "How are you going to wipe out the Jews? No one has ever managed to successfully accomplish that goal." 

​Haman responded, "This time it will be different because 'There exists a nation which is spread out and divided amongst us' [Esther 3:8]." Haman su
ggested that the Jewish people were very vulnerable at this juncture in their history because they were a divided and divisive people. They had lost their identity as a Tzibbur. There was back-stabbing. There was finger-pointing. There were people who participated in the infamous party of Achashverosh. They were less than they were supposed to be, and they were plagued by divisiveness. Therefore, Haman suggested, "They are ours to be had."

How did Mordechai react to Haman's evil designs? The antidote to this evil plan was "Go, gather all the Jews" [Esther 4:16]. If we can achieve unity and put away our dissension and divisiveness, then we will once again regain the powerful attribute of being the "Jewish People."

Who gave Mordechai the right to "Gather all the Jews"? After all, there were sinners in the nation. There were those who participated in Achashverosh's party.

Rav Yonason Eibshutz (1695-1764) wrote in his Yearos Devash that this explains the allusion to Mordechai. Our Rabbis tell us that the Incense contained Chelbanah. On its own, this ingredient was a terribly malodorous spice. However, when it was mixed with the rest of the spices in the Ketores, even the Chelbanah gave off a pleasing aroma.

The Rabbis are asking, "Where do we see the efficacy of Mordechai's proposal to gather all the Jews together, despite the fact that some were certainly sinners whose actions were not pleasing to G-d?" The answer is that this idea is alluded to by the ingredients of the Ketores, which begin with the ingredient "Mor Dror."
Rabbi Yissocher Frand
Proudly powered by Weebly
  • Welcome to Meaningful Moadim
    • Index 2
    • Tu BiShevat - The New Year of the Trees >
      • Bearing Fruit
      • Lesson of the Trees
      • Pri Eitz Hadar
      • Tu BeShevat – A Day of Perceptible Belief
    • Mishenichnas Adar Marbim BeSimcha >
      • A Purim Thought
      • Mazal Adar Dagim - The Month of Adar is Symbolized by Fish
      • More on Mazel Adar Dagim
      • The First of "the Four Parshiyos" - Parshas Shekalim
      • The Month of Adar and Purim >
        • Holiday of Unity?
      • Why Megillas ESTHER?
      • Purim and Prayer >
        • Prayer in the Megillah
      • The Most Unhappiest Queen of them all
      • Purim and Charity
      • Making Purim Last Throughout the Year
      • Story: The Purim of Saragosa
      • KISLEV - Great Expectations >
        • What is Chanukah? >
          • The Name of the Holiday >
            • Chanukah: Renewal
            • Why is Shehechiyanu recited only on the first night of Chanukah?
            • Biblical Allusions
            • Another explanation of the name Chanukah
            • Ve-Al Hnissim, not Al Hanissim
            • Mai Chanukah?
            • Bais Shamai and Bais Hillel (2)
            • Mazal Kislev Keshes
            • Why didn't the Kohanim themselves defile the oil if everyone was tamei, ritually impure due to the war? >
              • Chanukah Always has a Shabbos >
                • Chanukah Always Falls our Around parshas Mikeitz
              • Tu B'shvat and Shabbos Shira
      • We blow the Shofar Throughout the Month of Elul
      • Shofar Throughout the Month of Elul
      • Reconnecting with our Father in Heaven
      • Month of Teves: Catastrophic Events
    • Chanukah: The Festival of Lights >
      • TAKING A MOMENT OUT FOR A CHANUKAH THOUGHT >
        • TAKING A MOMENT OUT FOR A CHANUKAH THOUGHT
      • Are we celebrating the victory over the Greeks or the Miracle of the Oil? >
        • Miracle Oil?
        • The Jewish People Are Above Nature
        • The Light of the Jewish Soul Glows on Chanukah
        • Chanukah: A Winter Festival
        • Chanukah: A War of Conflicting Philosophies >
          • Alexander The Great and The Jewish Sages
          • Uphold Good or Destroy Evil?
          • LeHashkicham Torasecha U’LeHa’aviram MeiChukei Retzonecha
        • Why was a holiday established specifically for the war that led to the Chanukah miracle?
        • U’Leamcha Yisrael Assisa Teshua Gedola U’furkan K’Hayom Hazeh…
      • Give the Gift of LIGHT!
      • Customs, Symbols & Observances >
        • More Reasons for Doughnuts on Chanukah
        • The Letters on the Dreidel
        • More Customs >
          • More About the Dreidel
          • More on Dreidel
          • Chanukah Gelt
          • The Lesson of "Chanukah Gelt"
          • L'Hodos U'LaHallel
        • More Symbolism >
          • Symbolism of Olive Oil
          • The Greeks vs. The Jews
          • The Little Jug that Traveled Through Time
        • The Custom to serve Dairy and Cheese Products on Chanukah
        • Tzedaka - Charity
      • The Shamash >
        • The Secret of the Shamash
      • Putting Away the Menorah?
      • Recommended Reading