The word “ish” – a man, in the aforementioned pasuk: ומשלוח מנות איש לרעהו – “Sending portions a man to his friend”, seems superfluous?
In the spirit of Purim, we can explain with the following moshul [parable]:
An apikores [heretic] who bore a grudge against the town Rabbi, for vehemently ridiculing and denouncing him, decided that Purim would be an opportune time to get even with him. To fulfill the mitzvah of mishlo’ach manos, he bought a few pounds of chopped liver which he molded into the form of a chazer, put it on a platter, and sent it to the Rabbi. When the Rabbi received it, he took a portrait of himself, put it on a platter, and sent it to “his friend” with the following explanation:
“For a long time, I have been bothered with an extra word in the Megillah. When mishlo’ach manos is mentioned in the Megillah, we are told: משלוח מנות איש לרעהו — “sending portions, a man to his friend”. I always wondered, it would have been sufficient to say:משלוח מנות לרעהו - “sending portions to a friend”, without the extra word ‘ish’?
After receiving your thoughtful package, my question was answered. The Megillah is saying, the portions being sent should consist of ‘ish’ — the type of person you are. Obviously, you fulfilled the mitzvah accurately and sent me a description of yourself. To reciprocate, enclosed is my picture so you may have a vivid description of me.”
