The Chasam Sofer zt'l writes in the name of the Shev Yaakov that whoever studies Torah on Purim night (between the two megillah readings) is guaranteed to be a ben Olam HaBa. It is also an auspicious time for tefillah. Today, many batei midrashim offer minyanim either on Purim night or early Purim morning to recite Tehillim.
Someone set his alarm for five o'clock to awaken early and to learn but slept right through the alarm. But then, the fire alarm went off, which awoke him. It turned out that the fire alarm was activated as a thoughtless Purim joke, but the lesson is that if you want to do a good deed, Hashem will help you.
Yungerleit from Lakewood put out the following letter:
"Every year, before Purim, we hear about the concept of לו נותנים יד הפושט כל, that whatever a person requests on Purim, he receives. We thought it was a nice vort, but didn't take it literally. But one year, we gathered, a group of yungerleit; each of us had a serious problem in our personal lives. We decided that this year, we would invest in tefillah on Purim. We awoke early and said the entire Tehillim, and then we davened a long and passionate Shacharis. Two weeks after Purim, all of us had our salvation. We all experienced yeshuos gedolos."
We are saying beautiful ideas, but it is up to the individual to act on them.
Lubavitcher chassidim sat at a farbrengen, and when it was over, an elderly chasid tried to stand up from his wheelchair. Someone ran over and asked, "Do you need some help? Do you want to get somewhere?" He replied, "No. It is just that after a good farbrengen, where we discussed improving our avodas Hashem, I knew that I couldn’t be the same as before. That's why I wanted to get up, to show that I am ready to move in the right direction."
A bachur in one of the best yeshivos in Eretz Yisrael wasn't behaving as a yeshiva bachur should (he likely wasn’t even putting on tefillin in the morning), and the directors of the yeshiva felt they had no choice but to expel him. However, due to the details and circumstances of this case, sending him out of the yeshiva was impossible. And then came Purim. The bachur stuck his head into the aron kodesh, cried, and davened to Hashem – and a miracle happened. He became like a new person. Less than a year later, he made a siyum on Mishnayos Zeraim from what he studied in his free time (between sedarim). He became the top bachur of the yeshiva. Such is the power of tefillah on Purim!
The Sfas Emes writes that Purim is a time for mahapeichos, revolutionary change (הוא ונהפך). This is what happened to Haman. He started at a very low level, rose to the highest level, fell again, and was hung. It is a time when things turn around. Mahapeichos can happen to you, too, in a good way.
As a bachur, I was once in the Belzer beis medresh in Bnei Brak on Purim night. Some people there were learning, others said Tehillim, but a group of bachurim just sat around shmoozing and wasting time. The person in charge of the bachurim suggested they say Tehillim on this holy night. I don't remember what the others did, but one bachur from a rabbinic and prestigious family took out a Tehillim and said the entire Tehillim with a lot of kavanah. Since then, everything turned around for him. His family was concerned that he wouldn’t do a good shidduch because he wasn't learning well, but soon after Purim, he found a perfect shidduch, better than all his brothers, who were talmidei chachamim. Today, he is a respected talmid chacham in Bnei Brak. This is because everything can turn around with tefillos – especially on Purim.
Once, in Europe, in the era of the Baal Shem Tov zy'a, there was a drought, and everyone davened for rain, but the heavens remained sealed. The Baal Shem Tov's students asked their great rebbe to daven for rain. The Baal Shem Tov zt'l replied, "I can't annul this decree, but I know someone who can. He's an alcoholic. If you catch him at a sober moment, and he davens for rain, it will come."
The Baal Shem Tov's students traveled to the city where this alcoholic lived and waited for an opportunity to speak to him. This wasn't as easy as it sounds because this man would drink early in the morning, and there was no one to talk to after that. Finally, one day, they caught him the moment he awoke, and as he put out his hand to take the bottle, they stopped him and asked him to daven for rain. The man replied, "Don't you see that I'm an alcoholic? Why are you asking me to daven for you? You are great scholars. You should daven." The students told him, "No, we need you to daven for rain. The Baal Shem Tov said it is in your hands." The man raised his hands and davened, and it began to rain immediately.
When the students returned to the Baal Shem Tov, the Baal Shem Tov told them, “As you saw, this man isn't the greatest tzaddik. I will tell you how he received the power of tefillah."
The Baal Shem Tov told them the following story:
One day, this man, on his way to commit a severe aveirah, encountered a poor family thrown into a deep pit. The children were crying, and the parents looked forlorn; the pitiful sight roused his mercy. He asked them what had happened to them. "We couldn’t pay the rent, so our landlord put us here to die..." they cried. "How much money do you need?" They told him. It was the exact amount of money he had with him, which he took to perform his aveirah. It was a large sum. He overcame his yetzer hara and gave them all the money he had with him. This good deed created a commotion in heaven. His reward was that he would be granted the strength of tefillah. Whatever he asked for, Hashem would give him. The problem was that he might use his strength for negative matters; after all, he was very sinful. Therefore, it was decreed that he would become an alcoholic. This way, he wouldn’t be aware of his strength.
The Chidushei HaRim zt'l repeated this story to explain why Chazal gave us the mitzvah to drink on Purim. On Purim, everyone has the strength of tefillah. Whatever we request is granted. To conceal this great gift that Hashem gave us, Chazal decreed that people should drink. People get involved in that and forget about the tremendous power of tefillah they possess on that day.
Sometimes, people say, "But I don't feel anything." They are lax with their Tehillim or tefillos on Purim and Taanis Esther because they don't feel the kedushah of Purim (....as if everyone else does feel the kedushah!). To them we say, “It doesn't make a difference whether you feel it or not. It is a special time for tefillah. Take advantage of it!”
It can be compared to someone who enters an elevator, presses the button to reach the 100th floor, but refuses to exit the elevator when it stops. "You reached your floor; why don't you leave?" people ask. He replies, "It doesn’t feel like I climbed a hundred flights." "It doesn't matter whether you feel it or not; you are now on the hundredth floor. Get out!" The same goes for these holy days. It doesn't matter whether you feel the kedushah of these days or not. The fact is that you are now standing at this high place. Take advantage of these days and invest in tefillah!
Once, a chasid of Rebbe Moshe Razvadover zt'l went to Belz to be with Rebbe Yissachar Dov of Belz zt'l for yom tov. When he returned to Razvadov, he feared that his rebbe would be upset that he hadn't stayed with him for yom tov, so he apologized and said, "My feet were in Belz, but my heart was here in Razvadov." The Rebbe responded, "Next time, keep your feet in Razvadov, and your heart can be in Belz." For our topic, it doesn't matter what you feel in your heart. Regardless of what you feel, these are incredibly holy days. So, say Tehillim, and act according to the holiness of the time.
A person fell into the tracks at a subway station in New York. A train could come speeding down at any moment, and there would be nowhere to escape. People stared down in horror, not knowing what to do. A simple person jumped down, lifted the man off the tracks, and somehow carried him back to the platform, just moments before a train came speeding down the tracks. People rushed over to congratulate the hero, and the story made it into the news. People praised him. "You saved a person’s life! What a huge accomplishment!" "I didn't do it to save a life," he replied. "I knew that if this man got hit by a train and died, there would be a delay of several hours, and I would get to work late and forfeit forty dollars. So, I jumped in to save him." This person did the most extraordinary deed! He saved someone's life, but his intention was to earn forty dollars!
Let us ask ourselves if we don't make the same error. For example, a baalabuste is preparing and sending mishloach manos. She is doing a holy mitzvah. The rewards in both worlds are enormous. She is making a nachas ruach for Hashem! But if her primary intention is that the receiver should say, "Wow! This is a beautiful mishloach manos!" she is selling the most extraordinary deed for a petty compliment. Or if a yungerman studies for a test to get a bonus on his kollel paycheck, he is doing a great deed, but his intention is to gain a few dollars. Therefore, be wise and do mitzvos l'shmah.
For our present discussion, the nimshal is related to tefillah on Purim. You can ask for so much on Purim, and your tefillos will be answered. You can ask for so many salvations on Purim, so why settle for forty dollars? When you can gain a lot, don't settle for less.
A wealthy couple didn't have children. The husband asked his wife to go to Reb Meir of Premishlan zt'l for a brachah. The husband instructed his wife, "Tell the rebbe that if I must lose all my money to get this yeshuah, I agree to lose all my money, as long as we have a child." When she came to the rebbe, she stumbled on her words and accidentally said, "My husband says he agrees to remain with his money as long as he can have a child." Reb Meir laughed because he understood what she wanted to say. The rebbe said, "But you said it correctly. Hashem can do anything. Why can't you stay with your money and have a child?" and that is what occurred. Why not ask for a lot? Hashem can give it to you.
