GOOD MORNING! Purim is coming up this week! Purim is the holiday that reminds us that God runs the world behind the scenes. (" 'Coincidence' is just God's way of staying anonymous.") Nowhere in the Megillas Esther is the name of God mentioned, though there is a tradition that every time the words "the King" are used it also refers to the Almighty.

Megillas Esther is a book full of suspense and intrigue with a very satisfying ending - the Jewish people are saved from destruction! I highly recommend Turnabout - it has an English translation of the Megillah (literally: scroll) as well as a rendition of the Purim story incorporating the commentary of the Malbim (available at your local Jewish bookstore, at JudaicaEnterprises.com or by calling toll-free to 877-758-3242).

Purim is celebrated Saturday night, February 27th, through all day Sunday (except in those places noted below). It is preceded by the Fast of Esther on Thursday, February 25th (usually the fast is the day preceding Purim; however, one only fasts on Shabbat when Yom Kippur occurs on Shabbat) commemorating the three day Fast of Esther and the Jewish people before she approached King Ahashverosh with her request.

A great book elucidating Purim is Rabbi Shimon Apisdorf's The One Hour Purim Primer - Everything a family needs to understand, celebrate and enjoy Purim (available at your local Jewish bookstore, at JudaicaEnterprises.com or by calling toll-free to 877-758-3242). One thing that Rabbi Apisdorf wrote, greatly impacted me: If a family is a "twice a year to synagogue" family, then he "votes for Purim and Simchas Torah (when everyone dances around celebrating the completion and beginning of reading the Torah)." Our kids should see and be a part of the joy of being Jewish!

Purim comes from the word "pur" in Persian which means "lots" - as in, "Haman cast lots for the most 'auspicious' date to kill the Jews." The date fell on the 13th of Adar. The events of that date were turned around from a day of destruction to a day of victory and joy. We celebrate Purim on the 14th of Adar for "they gained relief on the fourteenth, which they made a day of feasting and gladness" (Megillas Esther 9:17).

In very few places - most notably in Jerusalem - Purim is celebrated the following day, the 15th day of Adar. The Sages declared that all cities which were walled cities at the time of Joshua should celebrate Purim the following day. This is to commemorate the extra day which King Ahashverosh granted Esther to allow the Jews of Shushan (the capital of Persia, which, by the way, was a walled city) to deal with their enemies. In Shushan they gained relief on the fifteenth. The holiday is called Shushan Purim in those locales.

There are two ways in which to try to destroy the Jewish people -physically and spiritually. Our enemies have attempted both. Chanukah is the celebration over those who have tried and failed to culturally assimilate us (the Greeks and Western Culture); Purim is the celebration over those who have tried and failed to physically destroy us (the Persians, ad nauseam).

Why do we masquerade with costumes and masks on Purim? As mentioned above, nowhere in the Megillas Esther does God's name appear. If one so desires, he can see the whole Purim story as a chain of coincidences totally devoid of Divine Providence. Just as we hide behind masks, but our essence is still there, so too God has "hidden His face" behind the forces of history, but is still there guiding history.

Why do we make noise every time Haman's name is mentioned in the Megillah? The answer: Haman was an Amalekite, from that people which embodies evil and which the Torah commands us to obliterate. By blotting out Haman's name we are symbolically wiping out the Amalekites and evil.

The holiday is celebrated by hearing the Megillah Saturday night and Sunday morning. During the day only, we fulfill three mitzvot: 1) Matanot L'evyonim - giving gifts or money to at least two poor people. (While it is good to give locally, one can fulfill the mitzvot by giving at http://www.KerenYandY.com for the poor Jews of Jerusalem) 2) Mishloach Manot, the "sending of portions," giving at least two ready-to-eat foods to a minimum of one person. One should send via a messenger. (You can order Kosher Purim baskets from: Rabbi Chaim Casper's Surf Florist of Miami Beach 305-865-0433 or SurfFlorist@juno.com) and 3) Seudah, a festive meal.

During the meal we are commanded to drink wine until we don't know the difference between "Blessed is Mordechai" and "Cursed is Haman." (It is best fulfilled by drinking a little and taking a nap - one doesn't know the difference between them while sleeping...) One should NOT drink to excess. The mitzva is about connecting to the Almighty - and sloppy drunks are lousy at spirituality. Drinking can be dangerous. The mitzva is only at the meal and should be well-controlled and minimized.

Why are we instructed to drink this amount? In a certain sense, Purim is greater than Yom Kippur. On Yom Kippur we fast and it is easy for our soul to have dominance over the body. Purim is the epitome of integrating the physical and the spiritual towards realizing that the Almighty loves us. The only thing that stands between you and the Almighty - is you. The wine and the spirit of the day help us get beyond the barrier - to realize that everything comes from the Almighty for our good! We may perceive things that happen to us as "bad" though ultimately they benefit us either physically and/or spiritually.

The mitzvot of Mishloach Manot and giving gifts to the poor were prescribed to generate brotherly love between all Jews. When there is love and unity amongst us, our enemies cannot harm us! For more on Purim, go to: http://www.aish.com/holidays/purim/ . Enjoy "Lego Purim" - a short aish.com film unique retelling of the Purim story. Also, "Purim and Spain's Hidden Jews," Rabbi Ken Spiro's "Purim in Persia" from his Crash Course in Jewish History and Rabbi Shraga Simmons' "The ABC's of Purim."

For more on "Purim" go to ShabbatShalomAudio.com!

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Torah Portion of the Week
Tetzaveh

The Torah continues this week with the command to make for use in the Mishkan, the Portable Sanctuary - oil for the Menorah and clothes for the Cohanim, the Priests. It then gives instruction for the consecration of the Cohanim and the Outer Altar. The portion concludes with instructions for constructing the Incense Altar.

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Dvar Torah
based on Love Your Neighbor by Rabbi Zelig Pliskin

The Torah states:

"And it (the m'eel, a robe worn by the High Priest) shall be on Aharon for officiating; and its sound (from bells along the bottom) shall be heard when he goes into the sanctuary before the Lord, and when he comes out, that he will not die" (Exodus 28:35).

What lesson can we learn from the bells on the m'eel?

The m'eel was one of the eight garments of the High Priest. Whenever the High Priest would enter the Bait Hamikdosh (the Temple in Jerusalem on the Temple Mount), his presence would be announced by the jingling of the bells on his garment. Rabbi Yochanan learned from this the practice of always knocking on the door of his house before entering. Rabbi Akiva advised his son, Rabbi Yehoshua, "Don't enter your own house suddenly (that is, without knocking); all the more so, the house of your neighbor" (Talmud Bavli, Pesachim 112a).

Shabbat Shalom, Rabbi Kalman Packouz