Purim and Yom Kippur: Tefillah and Achdus as the Essence of Both Days

Transcript

This Torah class is brought to you by TorahAnytime.com. As we approach Purim, the requests of giving shiurim on the inyanei of Purim should be more than one shiur. So we kovea two shiurim. We'll begin with the famous maimer that everyone knows, and that is Purim and Yom Kippurim, that they're connected, that Purim and Yom Kippurim, there's a kesher between the two. Not only that, but actually Yom Kippurim is like Purim. It's Yom Ki-Purim. The mekor of this is a Zohar in Tikkunei Zohar. The Gra brings it as well. Shlah speaks about it. Purim and Yom Kippur. And I'm sure over the years you heard different pshatim to explain, to fataytch, why is Purim and Yom Kippur the zelbe tag? It's the same day, and if anything, more Purim is even greater because it's Yom Ki-Purim, that Yom Kippur is like Purim, not Purim is like Yom Kippur, but actually Yom Kippur is like Purim. There's a concept of mi nitlah b'mi. When you want to say something is like something, so you say the smaller thing is like the bigger thing. So when you say, Yom Kippurim, Yom Kippur is like, oh, so Purim is even greater. And many pshatim people have heard over the years. I'd like to discuss an interesting mahalach. It's not really mine. Reb Yerucham in Daas Chochmah U'Mussar speaks about it. But I begin with, let's understand what is the essence of Yom Kippur. We all know that Yom Kippur, it's mechilah, it's a yom of teshuvah. In many sefarim that's gebracht, that that's the connection between Purim and Yom Kippur, they're days of teshuvah. I'd like to point out two other similarities, two other nekudos that Yom Kippur and Purim have the same mahus, the same toichen, the mahus of the day. The first thing is we know on Yom Kippur we daven. It's a yom tefillah. We spend our full 24, me'es la'es, the entire Yom Kippur is tefillah, medavening to medavening. It's a day of tefillah. We also know— That Purim, excuse me, that Yom Kippurim is a day of achdus. It's a day she'ein bo kinah v'lo sachrus. We say it in the Yotzros. It's a day where Klal Yisrael comes together, because the Am Hashem, without pirud, and that's why there's an inyan of mechilah, v'nislach l'chol adas Yisrael. Adas Yisrael, when they join together, eidah, l'chol adas Yisrael, there's slicha. The Ribono Shel Olam is mechaper. And that's why it's the day where we work so hard on reestablishing the achdus. How about Purim? Does Purim have these two nekudos like Yom Kippur? Is it a Yom Tefillah? I'd like to read you something ... The p'sak ... from the geonim. It's brought in sefer Rabbeinu ...

Something achidush nifla. In the Mesechta, the Rabbanim goyin, all the geonim came together, yalufim, mikol yeshiva, u'mevakshim rachamim harbeh, v'noiflim al pneihem. They made tefilas hapayim on Purim. Chidush nifla, haflah, mamash haflah פלא. Tachnun, mitgezogt tachnun, tefilas hapayim. Ay, vos fregt a kasha: there's no nefilas apayim on Yontif, she'eino domeh Purim l'chol hamoed, l'Chanukah. Purim is different, different, shebekulan anoimrim es haHallel. All Yom Tovim we say Hallel. Zeh yom asah Hashem nagilah, so you have to be happy, zeh hayom asah Hashem nagilah. V'ilu b'Purim ein omrim oso. We don't say Hallel. The Gemara already discusses the shailah: why don't we say Hallel on Purim? And the Gemara gives two terutzim. One is, akati avdei Achashverosh anan. We didn't fully redeem ourselves from the story of Purim. And the second Gemara is, kriasah zui Hallelah, that the reading of the Megillah itself is in place of the Hallel. There's an interesting Meiri. The Meiri is mechadesh that according to this— If someone didn't read the Megillah, is a mechuyiv zagen Hallel. He's mechuyiv to say the Hallel. Since kriasa zu hilula, so if a person won't have the kriyah, who's azagen Hallel? So Reb Saadya Gaon says, ba'amrim Gaon, they say that me'eidei d'gazach, mai taima shenigal Yisrael mimisah l'chayim. So therefore we still don't say tachnun, v'onu tzrichim l'rachamim sheyiga'aleinu b'achronah k'varishonah. We still need to daven. We're still not fully free yet. We're still in galus. And since we're still in galus, muz men davenen. Hanoivim muz davenen. Tefilas apayim, achidush nifla, rabosai. Let me see how that works. Imagine about tefillah, we'll start saying tachnun on Purim. They'd attack him like they would attack Haman, mamash, you'd think that. On the remez is, Rabamim Gaon's a klal: mizak nefilas apayim on Purim because it's a yom tefillah, yom bakashas rachamim. So you have to say tachnun. You have to say tachnun. I'd like to read to you from the sefer Sgulas Yisrael, that all the meforshim, the later Acharonim, they all quote it, in siman samech-vav. Mikubal migdolei tzaddikim, d'sgulah b'Purim l'hashkim baboker. To wake up early. You ever see on Yom Kippur people wake up early, they come to shul, they start davening early. Purim also, segulah b'Purim l'hashkim baboker, l'harbos b'tefillah u'vbakashah lifnei Hashem yisbarach. More davening, l'harbos b'tefillah, al kol davar, on everything. Hein al banei, chayei u'mezonei, v'hein al sh'ar dvarim. Anything a person needs, Purim is the zman davening for, davening, Yom tefillah. And that's how he explains, kach Purim hu k'ein Yom HaKippurim. That's how he explains it's like Yom Kippur. And I told you the essence, the mahus of the day of Yom Kippur is tefillah. So too Purim. And it's Yom Kippurim because Purim is also a day of tefillah. K'ein Yom HaKippurim sheYom tefillah, kach Purim hu Yom ratzon me'od, chalei lamos, hein b'simchah uv'ratzon.

The רמזו זה ממשכז מגילת אסתר. מהיום מואילן נזכור ונעשה בכל דור ודור. כלומר, בכל דור ודור ביום הזה נזכור ונעשה. וכל מה שישאל, ישמע לו מבוקשך. Anything you ask for, you get. Tzadik HaKohen, Chiddushei Soferim speaks: כל הפושט יד. Moisn לו. You stick out your hand, you get it. Referring to davening too. Everybody walks around and they use the Chazal to get a quarter from an usher. פושט יד. They would only know that הכנסת נוצמתא ביניש לעלם. כל הפושט יד, whatever you request, נויסן לו. That gebracht in sefarim, the note doesn't say, whatever you daven for you get. It should say, whatever you daven for, מי כל הפושט יד. So they say a meidige chiddush: even if you don't mamish daven, mamish just פושט יד. What is a פושט יד? A פושט יד means he sticks his hand out, and you understand yourself that he wants something. That gebracht, that that's how gevaldik is pshat, כל הפושט יד, in inyan of tefillah. The emes is it's a Chazal. The emes is it's a Chazal. The Medrash says, איש יהודי היה בשושן הבירה, שמו מרדכי. Ben Yoir ben Shimi ben Kish, ish Yemini. So the Chazal say that every word in the pasuk is a reference to the tefillah. Ben Kish, he knocked on the doors of, hikish, he knocked on the doors of tefillah. Ben Shimi, sheHaKadosh Baruch Hu shama tefilosai. Every word. Zei mahus, matzches geven davenen. Un der Chasam Sofer says, because the yesod of Purim was tefilas, tefilas, tefilas, tefilas Mordechai. HaKadosh Baruch Hu isaveh, the Ribono Shel Olam was waiting for Mordechai HaTzadik to go and daven. So here we have a clear yesod, and the truth is we could bring many rayos to it, that part of Purim is tefillah. Avodas hayom, avodah. What is the avodah of Purim? Is tefillah. I want to show you two interesting Gemaras on Beis. Tzvei interesantne Gemaras, yeah. Everyone probably learned Megillah daf beis. I don't know how far you get, but daf beis usually people already covered. And in daf beis, the Gemara has a shailah on the Mishnah: How do you know that Megillah is nikras b'yud alef, b'yud beis, b'yud gimmel, b'yud daled? So many days. So many days. So the Gemara darshens it from pesukim: zmaneihem, zmaneihem, zmaneihem. B'kitzer, the Gemara says that there's one day we don't have a pasuk for, and that's the 13th. Zogt the Gemara, so where do you know that you can read the Megillah on the 13th? And the Gemara, Yud-gimmel, amar Rabbi Yehoshua ben Rabbi Yitzchak, Yud-gimmel, zman kehila lakol hi. Lo tzarich lebuyei. You don't need a pasuk. Zman kehila, they came together, b'tzavta. They came together on Yud-gimmel. So Rashi, where did they come together on Yud-gimmel? What? It's a Rashi, the milchamah. Since they came together to fight the milchamah, niskansu lilachem, and the neis happened, so Yud-gimmel, there's no need a pasuk. Azoi zogt Rashi. There was a ruach. Hilchos Megillah, siman shin samech ches, zogt the Aruch. It doesn't mean milchamah. Zman kehila means taanis Esther. Mitgekumen tzu zamen. Lesoif, they came together, niskansu yachad, nisasfu yachad.

Tainis. B'tefillah. B'tainis and tefillah. So you have the famous kasha, good, ... what's with tainis, with ...? It's a famous kasha. Kal vachomer, he ate by night, they didn't eat by night. Okay, it's a famous kasha, okay, good, good. You want halachah shiur on how Taanis Esther was allowed during Pesach? It's an ... Huh? It says, niskansu. What, they made a taanis. It says they went, they made a taanis the day of the milchamah. But the chiddush, yelt, yelt, yelt, ... shlosha yamim, shlosha yamim. So you hear? Niskansu. They came together b'tefillah, and not that dafka shekein pasuk. Yelt, yelt, ... the ... raya. Part of the yesod of the nes of Purim was the tefillah. I want to show you something even more. I want the eilem to remember the Gemaras, to get the Gemara. The Gemara says, you’re chayiv to read the Megillah by yom u’valaylah. How do we know? So the Gemara brings two pesukim. Zogt the Gemara, daf daled: chayav adam ... Megillah ... by yom, shene’emar, ‘L’maan yed’u doroseichem ki basukkos hoshavti ...’ ... ‘Yomam v’lo sanah, v’laylah v’lo domiyah li.’ I call out to you. ‘Laylah v’lo domiyah li.’ And then the Gemara gives a second pasuk. Only because Megillah בלילה, a little further down in the Gemara, and the Gemara says, שנאמר, נו, למען יזמרך כבוד, ולא ידום; ה' אלקי לעולם אודך. So the first pasuk, gabei say, is a lot different than the second pasuk, although we need two pesukim, right? Pashtafn tzvei pesukim; it's for two pesukim in the Gemaras. Notice that the second pasuk is, למען יזמרך כבוד; ה' אלקי לעולם אודך. Praise You. Remember, Megillah is about praise, Hallel. What about the other pshat in the Gemara, that the reason why we don't say Hallel on Purim is, אכתי עבדי אחשוורוש אנן? We're still in golus. Concept: we're still in golus, not free. So that we have the other pasuk, rabosai. What's the pasuk? אליך אקרא, אקרא; I daven to You, I call to You, Ribono Shel Olam. לילה ולא דומיה לי, תפילה, תפילה, תפילה. So the two pshatim parallel to these two pshatim. Remember we said, אכתי עבדי אחשוורוש, says the Baal HaMaor, that you need to make a Yom Tefillah out of it because of אכתי עבדי אחשוורוש אנן. So what's the pasuk? Nu, yedalach, what's the pasuk? Nu. Halakai ekra, I call you. I daven tefillah, tefillah, tefillah, tefillah. Tzaveisai, we have a yesod that a part of the Megillah is Hallel, but there's also tefillah, tefillah. Purim, it's about tefillah. You don't need a pasuk for Yud-Gimmel. Why not? According to the Arzerua, zman tefillah lakol hi, and maybe that's takke the two pshatim also. According to the pshat that they gathered together for milchamah, so the reading of the Megillah is Hallel. It's the other pshat in the Gemara. Rashi goes with this, that it's about Hallel. We went, ikanes, boi naaseh, Rashi. Or the pshat is, yom tefillah, they came together. Mimeila, we read the Megillah on Yud-Gimmel, for they came together for tefillah, so it's Elai ekra yomam, v'laylah... Okay, gutte teirah, gut. Sheinah teirah, shein. L'maaseh, let's discuss the second...

Chelek of Yom Kippur. So there's a part of Yom Kippur which is a Yom Tefillah, and so too is Purim. And I read you from the Sefas Yisrael that that's the pshat: Purim is like Yom Kippur, tefillah. He also said there's another essence, another yesod to Yom Kippur, and that is achdus of Klal Yisrael. Notice, miskansim, they come together, right? We spoke about the inyan of Yom, zman kehilah, that they came together. I saw Reb Yerucham, in Chelek Aleph, siman chaf-hei, the ganze shtickel of Reb Yerucham is based on this: Yom Kippur is like Purim. And he says, a chidush, a sheinah deher, meiredik. He says Yom Kippur is still not tavos. Nu, so you don't fight on Yom Kippur. What do you want to fight about on Yom Kippur? Miztachten shul, there's no food, there's nothing. So what's your shaylah, that they don't do aveiros on Yom Kippur? Hmm? Ki she'omdim kol hayom... page ayin gimmel, zogt Reb Yerucham, Ki she'omdim kol hayom b'veis hamedrash v'oskim b'tefillah kedushah, ein ze pele. What's the big pele? Im einam chot'im. Question is, let's see what happens when they go out and they open the stores the next day. Ooh. Av yenasu liftoach chanuyoseihem, v'la'asok b'masa u'matan, v'sham lo... and that there shouldn't be kinah v'sachrus? And that's Purim. Purim is—this is not shul. The takkitel, the ester, the—no! The shteitel, the shikshalachmones. And Yidden would never say, Ah, look at the shalachmones he sent me. It's not as big as the shalachmones—they would never say a thing like that, right? Huh? No, they don't say that. Chas v'shalom. It's a yom of simcha. They shteig, dude. I want to read to you one line of Reb Yerucham, which is beautiful. Zogt Reb Yerucham: U'be'emes, kol echad yachol lachzor es me'atzmoi, that the mishloach manos hu mekabel to'eles yoser mishar ha'aveiros. Meklapt a chalkeit on Yom Kippur. Zogt Reb Yerucham, everyone could feel this, yeah? Reb Yerucham meant on that everyone could feel it. What do they feel? That the shalachmones is more than the aveirah, hu mekabel to'eles yoser me'asher me'aveirah. V'halavai sheha'aveirah lo ya'avor grusho ad motzaei Yom Kippur. We're hoping that the aveirah doesn't wear off by the time Yom Kippur wears off. Azoy zogt Reb Yerucham. Reb Yerucham knew it, farshtanen. And who was he talking to? The mirror. He was talking to the Gedolei Yisrael, the Mir. Halavai toyahl chait shouldn't wear off by the time Yom Kippur comes—that ends. By the time Yom Kippur ends, yeah? Aval the mishloach manos efsher sheyashpia alav al meshech shanim rabos. One shalach manos could have, yeah. For years, a tayeles for years. Okay. I want to tell you a sharf vort for the Chasam Sofer. Want to hear a sharf vort? Vayakhel. We just read the parsha Vayakhel. Vayakhel Moshe es kol adas Yisrael. Rashi says, L'macharas Yom HaKippurim. Says the Chasam Sofer, because on Yom Kippur you don't need Vayakhel. The trick is, l'macharas Yom HaKippurim. Let's see the next day what happens. Vayakhel, to bring everyone together. Moshe Rabbeinu wanted—Vayom Kippur, we know he wants together. The chiddush is Vayakhel, l'macharas Yom HaKippurim. Now, rabosai, so we've learned what Yom Kippur—it's a Yom tefillah, and it is a Yom of achdus. We also learned that Purim is a Yom tefillah and a Yom of achdus. And the Kedushas Levi says that the achdus, chelek, are the dos is...

From Purim till Yom Kippur. I want to tell you something interesting. The whole mahus of tefillah is to be meached Klal Yisrael. One of the powers, one of the yesodos, one of the tachlis of tefillah is to be meached Klal Yisrael. This, rabosai, is mefurash in a Magen Avraham that quotes an Arizal. Magen Avraham, the Shulchan Aruch quotes the Arizal in siman mem-vav, that before a person gets up to daven, he should be mekabel on himself the mitzvah of v'ahavta l'reacha kamocha. It says straight in halacha. It's a halacha, rabosai: v'ahavta l'reacha kamocha. I saw something interesting. Beis Kelem is all the vaadim that the Alter had with the talmidim, and in one of the vaadim he comes there and he tells them to work on the inyan of v'ahavta l'reacha kamocha and b'ikar during davening. And he says, I give you advice that before davening is a lernen mussar about v'ahavta l'reacha kamocha. So he says, the Alter from Kelem advised the talmidim. It's a sefer Beis Kelem. It's a sefer Beis Kelem of all the vaadim of Kelem, page shin-gimmel. Mizalkenen, onkum, he says, stam zogin, I'm mekabel on myself v'ahavta l'reacha kamocha. It has to be real. It has to be l'maaseh. It has to taka be the v'ahavta l'reacha kamocha. So before davening, he's up there, he's learning in mussar. He talks about the Sefer Tomer Devorah, which talks about the inyan of bein adam l'chaveiro extensively. There's another interesting halacha, rabosai. There's a halacha in Hilchos Tefillah that before davening, or some chassidishe olam does it during davening, they give tzedakah. Put down the Shulchan Aruch. Tzedek l'fanav yehalech. So what's the reason for it? So pashut, the pshat is the zechus of tzedakah. I always understood that if you want the Ribono Shel Olam to give you tzedakah, heh, kal vachomer, yeah, you want that. You want when you daven you should get tzedakah, kal vachomer, yeah. So mimeila, what do you have to do? Give tzedakah. Whoever gives tzedakah, the Ribono Shel Olam pays him back with tzedakah. Okay. I'd like to read to you, rabosai, an interesting Kitzur Shulchan Aruch. Kitzur Shulchan Aruch, siman yud-beis, se'if beis. Tov litein tzedakah kodem ha-tefillah, shene'emar, Ani b'tzedek echeze panecha. Gam yekabel olav kodem kol tefillah mitzvos v'ahavta l'reacha kamocha. Put it together: to give tzedakah and to mechaven v'ahavta l'reacha kamocha. V'ye'ehav es kol echad miYisrael k'nafsho, ki im chas v'shalom yesh pirud levavos Yisrael l'matah, because if, chas v'shalom, there's a separation of levavos here, azai gam l'maalah. Einy sachdus. Avali sachdus b'gufeihem shlemata. If here they're b'achdus, goyrim the sachdus d'veykus of sein l'maalah. Al yedei zeh, nu, tefiloseihem misachdos, that the tefilos come together as one. And so the inyan of yichud, to put everything together, to put the olam, the klal together, is because tefilah needs to be, for lack of a better terming, a joint effort. It has to be b'achdus. I'd like to say a gevaldige pshat in the Megillah and leave you with this raya. Shein, shaine pshat. Ready? So we have now that Purim is about tefilah, and Purim is about achdus. And part of achdus is to give tzedakah. Purim, we give mishloach manos, and we give also matanos la'evyonim. It's all so. Okay? So we have all the inyanim, all the inyanim.

Of what? The achdus and the tefillah. Let me show you something interesting. Ready? Sisheviko. Ready for a beautiful pshat? You can give it over on Purim. You might be yotzei shalach manos with them. Ready? Listen to a gevaldige pshat. The Gemara says, Hamispalel ba'ad chaveiro, v'hu tzarich l'oso davar, v'hu eino. The Gemara, Bava Kamma, tzadi beis amud aleph. Hamispalel ba'ad chaveiro—what's v'hu tzarich l'oso davar? What does that mean, v'hu tzarich l'oso davar? The mefarshim say, it's famous, the Chamsofer speaks about it. V'hu tzarich—he needs as if it's his. He's not davening for yenem, bal yeneh davening. He has to daven, v'al eh davening. V'hu tzarich l'oso davar. What's yeneh had the problem, what he's missing, it's considered v'hu tzarich, of as ei davening. Dain is mine. I once said at a bar mitzvah, my son Pinchas's bar mitzvah, I got up and I said, Ich vinsh eich alemen on az ich zol zen simchas ba dir, un ihr zolt zen simchas ba mir. Ich vinsh eich on az ich zol zen simchas ba dir. V'hu tzarich l'oso davar. I remember, David Kviat was sitting there. Ah, he's hearing a gevaldige bracha, ah. He's very moved by the nekudah. Now, rabosai, you ready? Let me show you a peledike zach. Esther, we all know davened. Shteit a klal: shedaven noichach Beis HaMelech. So the Medrash says, what's noichach Beis HaMelech? Towards the Beis HaMelech, the Ribono Shel Olam's shtub, the Beis HaMikdash. The Kli Yakar says, because whenever it says haMelech, it means the Eibishter. What's the Beis HaMelech hapnimis? Rashi there is, she was mispallel Beis HaMelech hapnimis. So we all know the Ribono Shel Olam has bati gavroi, bati abroi, inner chambers, outer chambers. Bekitzur, she was mispallel. Yet she asks Klal Yisroel that Klal Yisroel should mekayem, v'tzumu alai, v'al tochlu v'al tishhtu shloshes yamim. Gam ani v'na'arosai atzum kein, v'chein avo el hamelech asher lo kadas. Abosai, together, let's be mechadesh, nu? Zug. V'tzumu. Does it say v'tzumu shloshes yamim? V'tzumu alai shloshes yamim. I was mechadesh this, yesh a meridige vort, heh? They needed a yeshuah. They didn't daven for yeshuah. Esther davened? Nein. They davened for the yeshuah, v'tzumu shloshes yamim. V'tzumu alai. Do it for me. And if you do it for me, ... נן התחילה. Ata dos, chaverai, is the pshat. Achdus means that we daven together. Nota dos is geven the yesod, the inyan from the tefillah fun Esther haYehudis. One second. You built ... just a Yerushalmi, right? Hera Yerushalmi. You think Yom Kippur, Kippurim is only in Torah? It's only in ...? I saw Reb Chaim Zonnenfeld had interesting minhagim on Purim, just as if it was Yom Kippur. I'll read it for you. He used to daven for the amud. It's in Reb Chaim Zonnenfeld's hanhagos u'psakim. He used to daven for the amud on Yom Kippur Mincha. So therefore on Purim too, he would daven for the amud, and he would say, Yom Kippur is ... Purim ... v'yichtaven. So meileh, davening, that was his tefillah.

Yeah, that was his davening. He was the baal tefillah for Mincha; he davened Mincha. Now, on the bottom, it clarifies that maybe the real reason why he did it was because most of the oilam was shikker, and he was afraid that a shikker can't daven, so he would go to the amud. So we're not really sure if that was a cover-up for that. This is klar. It says that his minhag was l'zamer es Kaddish d'iskabel b'nusach shel Yom Noraim. Purim he davened with the nusach of Yom Noraim, because Yom Kippur is like Purim. Az evi delzalben niggun. You want to try it? So we have an interesting thing. Imagine in our shul we're going to have the tefillas Apayim, we'll sing, and maybe we'll blow shofar, and im yirtzeh Hashem, the olam then, as Yom Kippur is kePurim. You've just experienced another Torah class, brought to you by TorahAnytime.com.