Last week’s Geshmake Question:
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Geshmake Purim Question:
The holy day of Yom Kippur is also called “Yom Kippurim.” We learn that Yom Kippur is like Purim. In what way is Purim like Yom Kippur?
R’ Zechariah Wallerstein zt”l was once speaking at an Agudah convention and held up a Poland Spring water bottle, asking, “If someone wants to drink this, what blessing does one make?”
The room was quiet. Everyone said “shehakol.” He asked someone to smell it, and it was actually vinegar.
R’ Wallerstein said, “The halacha is that one does not make a blessing on vinegar, since one can’t eat it by itself.”
“I just fooled everyone. Everyone thought it was water because it said Poland Spring on the plastic. Don’t judge a book by its cover. Don’t judge a person by their looks; it’s just a cover. You can never tell what a person is going through or where they are in life.”
What’s the lesson? Don’t judge others by how they look!
If you want to judge others, do so with a good eye, think positively, it’s actually a mitzvah to do that.
Someone told the Lubavitcher Rebbe that he was bringing hidden who were far away from Yiddishkeit closer to Hashem. The Rebbe said, “We don’t know who is far and who is close. Don’t be so quick to judge others.”
This connects to Purim:
Some say that what a person dresses up as on Purim is who they really are inside. What one dresses up in, or when they choose not to dress up, can show what they feel about themselves.
In life, the Yetzer Hara “dresses up” people, making them think they are losers and nothing special.
However, there is so much spiritual light on Purim that every person can realize he may be dressed up as a clown, but that doesn’t say who he is.
You are not a clown, you are a holy soul brighter than any diamond in a crown.
Every Yid is a Jew, a precious soul. Don’t forget who you really are. You can wear a mask, but remember your true worth.
Kol Yisroel Areivim
Avrumi Duck answers: Because Purim is a happy day and we want to add simcha.
Sruli Klein answers: The whole Purim miracle was a hidden ness. So we hide ourselves to show the miracle was hidden.
Ariella Kreitler answers: In the Megillah, Hashem’s name is mentioned once openly. But Hashem is always there; hidden, we just don’t always see Him. So we also hide to remind us that Hashem is there, just hidden.
Why do we dress up on Purim?
Don’t Judge a Book by Its Cover.
Tzivi Goldstein answers: Purim was hafuch, so therefore we dress opposite of what we really are.
Yisroel Meir Roitberg answers: Purim is a time of unity. The main factor that destroys our unity is by our external differences. We judge each other based on their clothing. This hat means that type. This kippa means… colored shirt etc.
On Purim we dress up. When you see a clown for example no-one will say he’s a clown rather he’s dressed up.
In order not to judge anyone, the simple solution is to know that we are all just dressed up. Our clothing doesn’t define us. When we view every Jew as dressed up and not focusing on his exterior clothing ONLY, unity.
In yeshiva, a paper was hung up for bachurim who finished the yeshivas mesechta.
The asked the bachurim to write their names on it, in order to get honor at the siyum. R’ Sharon Krafman zt”l called over a certain bachur and said “I noticed you didn’t put your name on the list.”
“Yes, I didn’t finish it because it was too hard for me.” the bachur said.
Rabbi Krafman said, “You learned so well this year and gave it your all. Even if you didn’t finish, by studying so seriously, I saw that you inspired others. You deserve the same honor as those who finished. You worked hard and are still special.”
What’s the lesson? We live in a world where everyone feels we have to be perfect. But the truth is, only angels are perfect. We cannot always finish and accomplish perfection, but we have to do our best.
This Connects To Purim:
On Purim everything is “upside down.” That one thought was bad turned out to be all for the good. The tree that Haman built to hang Mordechai, which was bad, was used for Haman. It became “upside down.”
Chazal says that “in heaven it’s an upside-down world”: the person no one looked at, or thought was special, is very special in heaven. They look at things differently. It’s how hard you tried, the effort you put in.
On Purim, we get a view of what an upside-down world looks like. The person who looks like a clown can actually be a big tzaddik.
Upside-Down Life.
