Purim
14 Adar 5769
March 10, 2009
Daf Yomi: Bava Kama 72
Guest Author:
Rabbi Chaim Wasserman
Young Israel Council of Rabbis in Israel
Chanukah as well as Purim have become, in our times, dangerous moments in the calendar for us Jews. Dangerous, I say, because of certain unintended consequences that have erupted as a result of the manner in which we celebrate them. What a cruel irony when both of these times of the year were intended to be the height of festivities and joy for all of us.
Let me explain by starting with Purim.
The ownership of automobiles – one and more than one - in virtually every family, has given young people access to a vehicle that can be used to go from their yeshivah neighborhoods to as many choice, densely populated areas where they can make the rounds.
The following appeared in an internet list in Passaic, New Jersey (PassaicJews.com) where I resided for nearly four decades. It reads:
“AN APPEAL TO B'NEI YESHIVA AND BA'ALEI BATIM TO ELIMINATE DANGEROUS ‘SHIKRUS’ ON PURIM.
“Each year, we are unfortunately reminded of the dangers resulting from drinking on Purim, aside from the potential of chillul HaShem; teenagers spending Purim in the hospital and car accidents directly related to drinking on Purim. Please do not distribute any kind of alcoholic beverages to groups who come visiting your home.”
Then, in time for Purim, there are also the advertisements published in the Jewish media and sponsored by Hatzoloh wherein they show a photograph of a group of their volunteers rolling a young fellow into one of their ambulances.
These two items result in great part from two factors that I and others, who for years dealt with the abuse of alcohol by young ones in the frum community, have come to realize. Mobility and a nearly limitless supply of quality hard liquors converge to create the Purim problem.
The drinking starts at the finest of yeshivot, in the presence and with the participation of roshei yeshivah, and from there it continues on with visits to local homes and then on to other communities. The young ones will come in the name of collecting on behalf of their yeshivah or another worthy cause. Home owners and host families, as tradition dictates, will welcome all who come to their door, decide on what they will contribute, and then share a LeChayim! The pattern continues over and over until someone gets into some serious trouble: physical distress that may need hospitalization, or even worse.
Based on your experiences and observations, you, the reader of these shared lines, may quickly conclude that I have grossly overstated the case. To this I respond: Were your assertions accurate, then why the advertisements and Internet announcements that have been repeated in the last several years the week before Purim.
But host families throughout our communities are not entirely to blame. I say this because the drinking of hard liquor and limitless quantities of beer begins more often than note in the yeshivah’s Purim Chagigah, the home of a rebbi, or upon visiting some rosh yeshivah. The drinking proceeds with a blind eye towards what both two supreme authorities have written about this: drunkenness as a result of hard liquor on Purim is not what the halachah intended. (See Aroch haShulchan 695:5 and Mishnah Berurah 695: se’if katan 5).
Concerning this problem of alcohol abuse, I know of no other qualified expert on the subject that Rabbi Dr Abraham Twerski, MD, whose psychiatric specialty has been substance abuse. He published a letter several years ago in which he stated:
“Purim is soon upon us, and many people drink to excess because of the mistaken notion that there is a "mitzvah" to get drunk on Purim. Rabbi Shneur Zalman, in his Shulchan Aruch (529), says, "It is impossible to serve HaShem either in levity or drunkenness." One of the final authorities on halachah, the Chafetz Chaim, in Mishnah Berurah (695), states clearly that the proper thing to do is not to drink to intoxication, but rather to drink just a bit more than is customary (which would be a glass or two of wine), and go to sleep. This is the proper way to fulfill “not distinguishing between ‘cursed be Haman’ and ‘blessed be Mordechai’.”
“There is certainly no justification for drinking anything but wine….Let us use good judgment on Purim. We should set a model for our children by not drinking to excess and by supervising adolescents so that they do not drink. We can all enjoy a safe, respectable Purim.”
And then there is Chanukah.
I would be remiss to leave out the fact that when Chanukah candles are kindled there is always a high degree of danger that uncontrolled fires will occur as a result. In my years, I live with the knowledge of a five-year old child being burned to death when parents for a moment left the front room of the house and did not see that this young one lingered behind. In recent years an entire home was burned to the ground when somehow the candles were lit and with no one at home the flames destroyed the entire home.
Here is a bit of a story that appeared in New York’s Daily News about a Chanukah disaster nearly four decades ago:
A long-retired Brooklyn firefighter who is battling cancer was reunited Monday with a woman whose life he saved from a raging inferno 38 years ago. Inside the same Borough Park home rebuilt from the ashes of the blaze, Arthur McKee, 75, wept as he met with Zlata Flam, 42, now the mother of eleven and a grandmother.
‘I was so happy to find out she was okay,’ said McKee, who retired from Ladder Co. 148 and now resides in Florida. ‘I often wondered what happened to her.’
"You were like a red ball. I thought you were dead," McKee, who's battling prostate cancer, told Flam through tears.
"I didn't even know how bad I was until now," said Flam, explaining that her parents seldom discussed the tragedy, which claimed the life of her sister Mindy, age 7.
An old Daily News article describes [McKee’s] heroics and recounts the early morning blaze on the first night of Chanukah. Cradling the limp and lifeless Zlata in his arms, McKee resuscitated the girl after pulling her from a smoke-filled bedroom….”
It seems to me that no menorah ought to be kindled unless it is enclosed in a fish tank or in one of the glass enclosures that are readily available in many Judaica shops. Communities where these things are not available (as in New York’s Flatbush, Boro Park, Williamsburg, Monsey and elsewhere) ought to organize campaigns to import them through a cooperative venture of neighborhood shuls.
There is one final point that needs to be mentioned. The g’mara declares “sakanah sha’anei!” One must treat a situation in which danger exists with greater stringency than other things that are simply forbidden (Chullin 9b).
The danger factors of the manner in which we observe both Purim and Chanukah must be reevaluated and the greatest degree of care must be exercised to prevent any such dangers in future celebrations.
Purim Sameach!
* * * * *
Purim 5769
The Purple Dot
by Rabbi Mordechai Rhine
Young Israel of Cherry Hill
The Sanctuary was built in a most particular way. Each metal and fabric was designated for a specific purpose. Noteworthy is the way dyes were used to color the curtains and garments used in the Sanctuary. For example, red represented physical life. Esav, the epitome of physical existence, is described as "the red one". Blue, on the other hand, represented the spiritual. We find, for example, that Ticheiles, the special dye that was used on tzitzis, was blue and was meant to remind us of the Divine.
Most fascinating, however, was the use of purple, which is considered the color of royalty and noble existence. Purple results when blue and red are blended correctly. In Jewish literature, purple represents the proper blend of the physical and spiritual so that one's life becomes noble and sanctified.
A number of years ago I was teaching a kabbalah series in the JCC, and a gentleman approached me with a question. He said that he lived a life without observance, and whenever he wanted to experience spirituality he would join a meditation group for a few days. There he would experience spirituality, as he fasted and meditated on the top of a mountain.
During his most recent episode with this group, he meditated and experienced the presence of a "purple dot". He told this to his mentor, and his mentor instructed him to disregard the purple dot because it is merely a distraction. He, however, felt that that there was great significance to the dot. He felt that the dot was somehow a message from Heaven, and he wanted me to interpret it.
I told him that while I was honored to be thought of as an interpreter for Far East Meditation, it doesn't take much to realize what the message might be. Purple represents the correct blend of physical and spiritual. In Judaism we do not advocate living a "red" life focused on the physical, and then suddenly switching to a "blue" life focused on spirituality. Instead we strive to incorporate religion in our daily lives. Living a life devoid of observance, and then spending a few days fasting and meditating, is a behavior that is refuted by the message of "the purple dot".
As Jews, we go through the year trying to maintain our balance between the physical and spiritual. Holidays are highlights in this quest for balance, as they infuse us with strength in a specific area, and focus strongly on either the physical or spiritual.
Take Chanukah and Purim for example. Chanukah is considered a spiritual victory. The Syrian-Greeks wanted the Jews to stop practicing Judaism. Had the Jews stopped observing Judaism, they would not have been in physical danger. The victory of Chanukah is seen as a spiritual salvation.
Purim, in contrast, commemorates a salvation of the physical. Haman's plan was to kill the Jews, regardless of whether or not they were observant.
In many ways Chanukah and Purim complement one another. Without the spiritual, what meaning would life have? Without the physical, life simply wouldn't be.
You may have observed that there are two spinning items that are closely associated with these two holidays. On Chanukah we spin the dreidel; on Purim we spin the grager. Did you ever notice that these two items are used in opposite ways? The dreidel is spun from the top, while the grager is spun from the bottom.
I believe that there is a precious message in the use of the dreidel and the grager. Traditionally, we refer to spirituality as the "higher" part of our existence, while the physical is referred to as the "lower" or mundane component. On Chanukah our physical existence was intact, it was the spiritual that was threatened. G-d interceded and granted success regarding that "higher" part. When we spin the dreidel we spin it from its top, as we are introducing the missing energy to the higher part.
On Purim, in contrast, the attack was focused on our physical existence. G-d interceded by introducing salvation regarding the "lower" part. The grager symbolizes this. The grager is activated when we introduce energy to its lower part.
In the course of life, you may never experience "Purple Dot Meditation", but you will have plenty of opportunities to experience the holidays of Chanukah and Purim. Go ahead; blend the physical and spiritual into your daily life. May the red and blue produce nobility in your life that will be with you the whole year through.
With best wishes for a Good Shabbos and a Happy Purim,
Rabbi Mordechai Rhine
Young Israel of Cherry Hill
www.yicherryhill.org
Torah Links of Cherry Hill
www.teach613.org
908-770-9072
Rabbi Mordechai Rhine |
Rabbi Rhine, originally of Monsey, NY, holds semicha from Rabbi Berel Wein, and studied in Lakewood as a Talmid of Rabbi Shmuel Meir Katz. His energetic leadership provides the Cherry Hill community with dynamic Torah classes and sound spiritual guidance. His love of Jewish law complemented by his warm and caring personality has made him a spiritual leader for the Cherry Hill Jewish community. |
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