Why is there a mitzvah of mishloach manos and matanos l’evyonim on Purim?
Good question.
On Purim the first thing we’re celebrating is that we’re happy that Hashem saved us in the times of Achashveirosh. And we’re happy that He always will save us! That’s simchas Purim! Purim means that we are a nation forever, that we are still celebrating 2500 years after it happened. We have to be excited about that, excited that we're still around, that we’re the eternal people. We're forever and ever. ¿ךֹוּ̇ƒמּרו¿בַﬠַי ‡ֹל ה∆ּל≈‡ָה יםƒרּוּפַה י≈ימƒוםָﬠ¿רַּזƒמ ףּסוָי ‡ֹל םָר¿כƒז¿ו יםƒ„ּהוּיַה – There will always be a Purim among the Yehudim; the memory of Purim will never go away from us (Esther 9:28). Forever and ever there's going to be a Purim.
That's a tremendous statement because it means everything to us. It means that when you walk through the street and a goy says something to you, or maybe he’ll even spit at you or throw a rock, it means nothing at all because you know in your heart that you’re forever and he's going to go lost. He'll go lost; there's no question about it. That’s the underlying simcha, that no matter how much sinah there will be, we’re going to be forever. And so it’s a simcha of gratitude to Hakadosh Baruch Hu, ahavas Hashem.
But for that we could have just a day of happiness; a day of reading the Megillas Esther and eating and drinking and dancing and thanking Hakadosh Baruch Hu. But what’s this business of יםƒנֹיו¿ב∆‡ָלֹ̇נוַָּ̇מּוּהו≈ﬠ≈ר¿ל ׁ̆יƒ‡ֹ̇נוָמ ַחֹלו¿ׁ̆ƒמ – The sending of portions, every person to his fellow, and gifts to the poor (Esther 9:22)? What’s that have to do with Purim?
The answer is that there’s another purpose to Purim besides ahavas Hashem and that’s ahavas Yisroel. And the mitzvos of Purim are intended to encourage that. Chazal wanted us to make a special demonstration because יםƒ„¿מֹעו רֹו„ָו רֹוּ„ לָכ¿ּבּנו≈ֹ̇וּלַכ¿לּינו≈לָﬠ – the gentiles will always rise up against us. They’ll always slander us and hate us. And therefore our Sages wanted us to counteract that attitude of the world. And that’s one of the great functions of Purim: “I’m demonstrating that I love my fellow Jew. I’m giving you this as a demonstration of what’s in my heart.”
That's what Purim is for: הו≈ﬠ≈ר¿ל ׁ̆יƒ‡ – Each man to his friend. Who is your friend? Everybody should be your friend. On Purim when you send gifts, it's because you're making friendship, you’re increasing friendship. הו≈ﬠ≈ר¿ל ׁ̆יƒ‡ֹ̇נוָמ ַחֹלו¿ׁ̆ƒמ – We send gifts to our fellow Jews to show them it’s הו≈ﬠ≈ר; you’re my friend.
So let's say you’re going to bring shalach manos to a neighbor. So you go to his house and you see a little boy passing. You say, “Little boy, here's a quarter. I want you to take this shalach manos and give it to the people in the house.”
If you want to, you can go to the door yourself too, only that some say you should do it with a messenger, that it’s more chashuv, more important that way. You know, in the Gemara’s times when a man was mekadesh a girl so he used to send sivlonos, gifts. But he didn't go himself; he sent it by means of a shaliach. It makes the gift more important. A messenger comes with a basket of fruit or with a bag of diamonds, whatever he gave her. You’re showing that this person is so
