On Purim, we fulfill four mitzvos: we read the Megillah, we send food to friends, we give money to the poor and we hold a festive banquet. Let’s understand what makes these mitzvos tick.
It is emphasized on Purim that ונהפוך הוא – everything turned around to the opposite. This is a key point, and Yitzchak Avinu illustrates it.
Rivkah first saw Yitzchak when he went out to the field towards evening time, and Rivkah was astounded by his appearance. What was Yitzchak doing out in the field, and what was so astounding about his appearance?
The common explanation is that he went out to the field to pray the Minchah prayer. But there is another Midrash that says Yitzchak went for a walk in Gan Eden. And when Rivkah lifted up her eyes, she saw him come out of Gan Eden. Why did she lean downwards from the camel on which she was riding? Because when people come out of Gan Eden, their feet are up and their heads are down. Thus she leaned downward to see him from the right angle.
We are not going into here what took place between Yitzchak and Rivkah, but the point is that Yitzchak exemplified ונהפוך הוא, everything turned around to the opposite, because this is how a person exits Gan Eden. His feet are up and his head is down, the opposite of the regular position. Yitzchak’s very name alludes to this point. His name means “laughter.” When we understand what makes people laugh, we will see that his name is quite appropriate.
R. Akiva Laughs
R. Akiva was known to laugh.
Rabban Gamliel and R. Elazar ben Azaria and R. Yehoshua and R. Akiva entered the city of Rome and heard the sound of its multitudes from Potlialus to a distance of 120 mil. They started crying, but R. Akiva laughed.
They said to him, “Akiva, we are crying and you are laughing?!”
He answered, “And as for you, why are you crying?”
They replied, “Why shouldn’t we cry? The non-Jews serve idolatry... and dwell in security, peace and tranquility. And the [Temple, the] footstool of our G-d was burned by fire and became a den for wild animals. Shouldn’t we cry?”
He said to them, “This is why I am laughing. If this is how well those who anger Hashem are treated, surely it will be so with those who do His Will.”
Later on, the same Midrash tells another story about R. Akiva laughing.
Another time, they were ascending to Yerushalayim. When they got to Tzofim [from where they could see the ruins of Yerushalayim] they tore their clothes. Then they got to Har Habayis and saw a fox going out of the place of the Kodesh Kodoshim, and started crying. But R. Akiva laughed.
They said to him, “Akiva, you always surprise us. We are crying, and you are laughing?!”
He answered, “And as for you, why are you crying?”
They replied, “Why shouldn’t we cry? This is the place about which it written והזר הקרב יומת – “The stranger who draws close shall be put to death.” And a fox is coming out of it, fulfilling the verse על הר ציון ששמם שועלים הלכו בו – “For Mount Zion which is desolate; foxes walk about on it.”
He said to them, “That is why I am laughing....”
R. Akiva explains to them that a fox coming out of the place of the Kodesh Kodoshim is actually a consoling sight. The Midrash concludes by saying: They said to him as follows: “Akiva, you have consoled us. May you be consoled by greeting the harbinger [of the Geulah].”
Similarly, when R. Eliezer fell ill, everyone present cried, and R. Akiva laughed.
These are three occasions on which R. Akiva is noted to have laughed. Why is behind R. Akiva’s laughter?
Two Takes on Natural Events
The focal point of Purim, and the inner essence of all the holidays and in fact the entire Torah, is the relationship between Hakadosh Baruch Hu and the Jewish people. But there is a significant barrier to this relationship. It is nature.
Here’s a simple example that demonstrates the point. In front of every person’s nostrils there is a great gift. It is called air. Without air, a person would die. So why aren’t people all excited about this gift? Why aren’t we all yelling, “Thank you, Hashem, for air!!”
It’s because everyone has air, not just you and me. Hashem gives air to the entire world, and along with everyone else, we, too, get air. It’s natural. It’s the same when a person discovers in the morning that he has bread in his home. He doesn’t feel that it is such a special gift, because everyone else has bread, too. It’s natural.
It’s like someone entering a home and seeing a platter full of cookies on the table. There are two ways to relate to the platter of cookies. Maybe the host put out twenty cookies for twenty people, and the guest who just came in is one of them. But it could also be that the host put out a special cookie for this guest, and he added a lot of other cookies around it, so the guest won’t feel uncomfortable.
It’s exactly the same way when a person breathes air. Hakadosh Baruch Hu created a portion of air special for him, but He has a reason for wanting to hide the powerfulness of His chesed, so He adds a few hundred billion more portions of air around it. However, a person should know that this chesed of air was done specially for him.
Here’s another example. A person goes into the corner grocery and buys a carton of milk. How does he relate to this carton of milk? He probably thinks that Hakadosh Baruch Hu put 500 cartons of milk into the store for all the people who live in the area, and he happens to be one of them. But the truth is that Hakadosh Baruch Hu lovingly put a carton of milk in the store specifically for his family. Since we live in a world of darkness, Hakadosh Baruch Hu hid this act of kindness in the dark, by putting another 499 cartons of milk around it, so no one will notice what’s going on.
This is what Purim is all about. On Purim, we discover the truth about reality. We realize that we need to turn upside down our whole way of looking at natural events. ונהפוך הוא. If the person in the corner grocery thought until now that there are 500 cartons of milk lying there, on Purim he realizes that it’s not so. He should think, “There is one carton of milk here, which Hakadosh Baruch Hu lovingly prepared just for me.”
