Q: Now that Purim is over, what are we supposed to think?
A: Ahh, the age old question: What will be left after Purim? What packages are we taking with us after Purim? On Purim, over here, we sang “Ah gantz yahr freilich” and we added in the words “Ah gantz yahr Purim.” Because the wise man uses his Purim, he puts his mind to all the lessons of Purim, and the day of Purim makes his whole year freilich. His whole year becomes a Purim. Not only ah gantz yahr freilich, but all your life becomes Purimdik.
And one of the biggest simchos is the recognition that Hakadosh Baruch Hu is ֹוּמַﬠ ב≈הֹו‡ ל≈‡ָר¿ׂ ̆ƒי. That’s the second yesod, the second foundation, of the whole Torah. The first yesod is ı∆רָ‡ָה ̇≈‡¿ו םƒיַמָּׁ ַ̆ה ̇≈‡ יםƒ ֹ̃ל¡‡ ‡ָרָּב ̇יƒׁ ̆‡≈ר¿ּב – that Hashem made the world. „ֹמוֲﬠַי¿ו הָּוƒˆ ‡ּהו ,יƒה∆יַו רַמָ‡ ‡ּהו – The whole world is nothing but the dvar Hashem. That’s the first yesod of the Torah. And the second yesod, right on the heels of the first one, is ב≈הֹו‡ ל≈‡ָר¿ׂ ̆ƒי ֹוּמַﬠ – that Hashem loves His people. The whole Torah, the whole Tanach talks only about Amo Yisroel. And that’s a great happiness when you know that Hakadosh Baruch Hu is thinking about you. Not about the Am Yisroel in general – He’s thinking about you! You see this man sitting here? Hakadosh Baruch Hu is thinking about him. Hakadosh Baruch Hu says, “That’s My son!” Hakadosh Baruch Hu loves us more than parents love their children. The love that a mother has for her children is nothing compared to the way Hashem loves each one of us.
And since Hashem loves us so much, that’s the happiness in life. There’s no happiness like that. The greatest simcha is that Hakadosh Baruch Hu is ל≈‡ָר¿ׂ ̆ƒי ֹוּמַﬠ ב≈הֹו‡. That’s the true simcha, and that simcha remains all year round. And that’s the lesson that you study all day on Purim and then you take it with you all year long.
So let’s think about that for a minute before we say goodbye to Purim. Hashem is looking at us right now, and He’s thinking, “Ah, I have nachas from you, My children. I love you My tyierah kinderlach.”
From the last moments of the Rav’s Purim Mesibah – March 23, 1997
