Purim — Lots
Hebrew: פּוּרִים | When: 14 Adar (15 in walled cities)
Purim: The Highest Joy
The Talmud teaches that in the messianic era, all holidays will be abolished except Purim — and the Sages say Yom Kippur is called Yom K’Purim (a day like Purim). Purim therefore represents the highest spiritual level — the purest joy.
Hidden Miracle, Hidden God
The Book of Esther (Megillat Esther) is unique: God’s name does not appear even once. The miracle unfolds through apparent coincidences (Esther becomes queen “by chance,” Mordecai overhears the plot “by chance”). In Chabad: this represents the highest level of hashgacha pratis (Divine Providence) — not the supernatural intervention of the Red Sea, but the infinitely subtle orchestration of what appears to be natural events.
The Purim State: Above Reason
The Talmudic dictum “ad d’lo yada” — on Purim one should drink “until one doesn’t know” the difference between “blessed is Mordecai” and “cursed is Haman” — is read in Chabad not as license for irresponsibility but as an invitation to access the yechidah level that transcends all distinctions.
At the level of Yechidah, there is no “Mordecai” and “Haman” — there is only the Infinite Divine reality in which all apparent opposites are dissolved.
Mishloach Manot and Matanot LaEvyonim
Sending gifts to others (mishloach manot) and giving to the poor (matanot la’evyonim) are the primary practical mitzvot of Purim. Chabad: this is because Purim’s joy must be shared — a joy kept to oneself isn’t the full Purim joy. The giving creates the joy.
Sources
- Tanya, Iggeret HaKodesh
- Alter Rebbe, Torah Or — Purim discourses
- The Rebbe, extensive Purim teachings