Preparations
Not Missing the Benefits of the Day:
The Bais Avrohom of Slonim zy’a explained the great sanctity of Purim with a moshol: In olden times, a major fair would be held once a year. All types of merchandise was sold at the fair at discount prices, and merchants would come from far and wide to make their purchases. They would buy large quantities of goods at cheap prices, and sell it over the course of the year at a profit. On the sidelines, musicians would play their instruments and sing songs, and they put down plates beside them for passersby to throw in a coin or two.
One year, a villager came to the fair for the first time. He brought along a sum of money to purchase merchandise that he would sell during the year. When he got to the fair, he heard very nice music playing. He enjoyed the music so much that he stood next to the musicians and listened for hours. When it got dark, he realized that he hadn’t bought anything. He ran to the dealers to ask what they had to sell, but they all told him the same thing, ‘You are too late. Everything is sold already. Where were you all day? You wasted your time all day, so you get nothing!’
The nimshol is that Purim is a ‘fair’ for Hashem. Hashem makes this fair once a year, and, on this day, He opens all of the gates of Shomayim in order to provide hashpa’os of all kinds to whomever asks. A wise person will take advantage of this day and purchase the ‘merchandise’ he needs – both in terms of ruchnius and in terms of gashmius. Therefore, one must be careful not to be like that foolish villager. Make sure not to spend all your time enjoying the music and the revelry, and, at the end of the day, to be left with no merchandise.
The Benefits are in Accordance With the Preparations:
The way to ensure that one takes advantage of the benefits of Purim is to properly prepare for the great day. The pasuk states (Esther 1:21): ‘And the king did like the words of Memuchin.’ The Bais Aharon of Karlin zy’a explains that every time the word ‘the king’ is used in the Megillah, it is a reference to Hashem. Accordingly, the pasuk can be understood to be saying that ‘the King does’ – Hashem provides goodness and hashpa’os on this day – according to ‘Memuchin’ – according to the way one prepares (hachanos) for the day.