Rabbotai, I want to touch on a point that connects Purim to Yom Kippur. It is well known that Purim is the greatest day of the year after – or perhaps before – Yom Kippur. As the Arizal writes: The day of Yom Kippur depends on Purim – for יוֹם הַכִּפּוּרִים means פּוּרִים-יוֹם כְּ – a day like Purim. Purim is the higher of the two days.
What do we have on Purim? Costumes. I want to pause here on a very interesting point. Achashveirosh made his feast for one hundred and eighty days – corresponding to the years of Yitzchak Avinu, who lived one hundred and eighty years. I want to follow one thread from this. Where was Purim born? The first Purim in the Torah – where did it take place? At the moment Yitzchak Avinu called to Eisav on the night of Pesach and said: “I do not know the day of my death – go, hunt for me, and I will bless you.” Rivkah overheard this and called Yaakov over and said: “Go bring me two choice goats.” Why choice goats? Chazal say in the Midrash: Good for you and good for your children – good for you, through them you receive the brachot; good for your children, through them will come the atonement of Yom Kippur, with one goat for Hashem and one goat for Azazel. The two goats of Yom Kippur trace back to this very moment.
Yaakov was afraid, however, that his father would feel him, and he’d be seen as a deceiver, bringing upon himself a curse instead of bracha. Rivkah said: “Upon me be your curse,” and she dressed Yaakov in the garments of Eisav and placed the skins of the goats on his hands and on the smooth part of his neck, for Eisav was hairy. Yaakov did not want to wear this, but his mother, Rivkah despite him being 63 years old! She had to dress him because he refused to deceive his father and was terrified. She said: “Stand still, I'll dress you.”
She dressed him and he went to his father, bringing two choice goats – one for the Korban Pesach and one for the Korban Chagigah – along with wine brought by an angel from Gan Eden, and Matzot. What's missing from the Seder in this picture? The Korban Pesach is there, the Matzot are there, the four cups are there – what's missing? Marror. But there’s no need for bitter herbs, as when Eisav is in the house, genuine marror is already present!
Yaakov approached his father and said: אָ נֹכִ י עֵ שָׂ ו בְּ כֹרֶ ך – I am Eisav, your firstborn,” and then came Yitzchak Avinu’s famous response: הַקּוֹל קוֹל יַעֲקֹב וְהַיָּדַיִם יְדֵי עֵשָׂו – The voice is the voice of Yaakov but the hands are the hands of Eisav. “You speak like Yaakov but your hands feel like Eisav! Who are you?” And so, the first disguise in history was Yaakov Avinu's. He was the first person who ever dressed up and that is where Purim was born, and through that disguise the brachot were received. Rivkah told him: “Good for you and good for your children – you receive the brachot, and from these two goats Yom Kippur will also come.” Thus, the foundation of both Purim and Yom Kippur was laid at the moment Yaakov received the brachot from Yitzchak in the disguise of Eisav.
The commentators ask why Rivkah did this. The Targum Onklos says she received a prophecy that the brachot belong to Yaakov. But if that is the case, why was a disguise necessary at all? Simply go to Yitzchak and tell him so! The commentators answer beautifully: if Yitzchak blesses Yaakov as Yaakov – i.e., as himself – the brachot apply to those who are אִישׁ תָּם יֹשֵׁב אֹהָלִים – wholesome men who dwell in tents. Rivkah wanted the brachot to apply to all of Yisrael, and how do most of Yisrael look? The look like Eisav on the outside, but their inner face is Yaakov Avinu!
They don't appear in shul every week, but on Yom Kippur they come in droves. I was in Tel Aviv many years ago for Shabbat Shuvah, at a shul with four or five hundred seats. On Shabbat Teshuvah – there were forty people present. I asked the gabbai where everyone was, and he said they’ll all be there on Yom Kippur, the room will be full. He started showing me where this one sits and that one too, but these were empty seats and I thought he might be tricking me. So, on Yom Kippur I went back to see for myself – packed beyond capacity! Outdoor awnings erected, every plastic Keter chair available brought in, cardboard boxes of kippot set out along with fabric shoes from El Al business class. Kol Nidre started and sitting next to me was a young man from Peru with a striking appearance מֵהֹדּוּ וְעַד כּוּשׁ. He had come to Israel for the holidays, saw a sign for Yom Kippur, and walked in. I helped him follow along, and the whole time I thought to myself: “Look at this beauty. Ribbono Shel Olma, look at Your people, Bnei Yisrael! All year – forty people. Now – five or six hundred!” Good for you and good for your children – the brachot reach even those dressed in the garb of Eisav, whose inner face is Yaakov Avinu.
There is a shared essence between Purim and Yom Kippur. On Purim, all the masqueraders come out and all the masks are present. On Yom Kippur, all the masqueraders reveal themselves and the masks come off. All year long a person wears a mask and costume, and on Yom Kippur you discover who he really is. That is the connecting point between Purim and Yom Kippur.
