Purim Seudah

Years ago, in Holland, the crops became infested with worms, and people feared there wouldn’t be anything to eat. The king declared a fast day. On a designated day, everyone had to pray and fast to be saved from this disaster. The problem was that the selected day for the fast was Purim.

The Jewish community asked the Maaseh Rokeach whether they should fast on Purim to appease the king or celebrate Purim like every year.

The Maaseh Rokeach replied, “No one should fast. Have festive meals like every year. Tell the storeowners to give meat and fish for free, and I will pay the stores...”

That Purim, the goyim were in their churches, praying and fasting, while lehavdil, the Jewish community were celebrating Purim as usual.

The day after Purim, the worms vanished.

The king of Holland summoned the Maaseh Rokeach and asked: “Why didn’t the Jewish community obey my decree? I heard you celebrated on the day I commanded everyone to fast and pray.”

The king was angry at the Jewish community but also respected them. He held the Maaseh Rokeiach in high esteem, and since the worms vanished, he supposed that the Yidden may have acted correctly, and they may have brought about the salvation.

The Maaseh Rokeach replied: “Everyone knows, אין פורעניות באה לעולם אלא בשביל ישראל - when punishment comes to the world, it is because of Bnei Yisroel. So, we understood that our sins are the root of the infestation and that the solution is when we do teshuvah and become more loyal to Hashem's commandments. The day you chose for a fast day was Purim, the day Hashem commands us to celebrate. Since we knew that the primary solution to this agricultural problem was to be loyal to Hashem’s decree, we had to celebrate Purim. That was the only way to bring about salvation.”

The king accepted his explanation. (This story is recorded in Divrei Shmuel).