Which Masks Should We Remove on Purim?

Which masks do we need to remove on Purim, or even before Purim?

We need to remove the mask of anger, the mask of exhaustion, the mask of pressure and stress, and instead place upon ourselves a mask of joy. Even when it is hard to feel joyful, when we hear about painful events around us or experience personal challenges, we still try to choose joy.

It sounds artificial to put on a mask of happiness, doesn’t it? The Hebrew word “artificial” comes from the word melachah, which means work. This world is a world of action, labor, burden, and repair. Call it by any name, as long as we internalize it.

Plowing the Heart

The melachah of plowing teaches us to plow the soil deeply. The soil is dust, and sadness has its roots in dust. We must turn over the sadness again and again, breaking it into clumps, lifting sparks of joy from within ourselves.

We can then plant seeds of truth, seeds of love, seeds of compassion, and seeds of forgiveness. In time, we will harvest the fruits. The first fruit is personal emotional health. The second is love for others. The third is humility, and the fourth is acceptance.

We gather all the fruits together, thresh them, and scatter them into the air of our homes, our cities, our land, and our world. And when a spoiled fruit appears, like pride, we sort carefully, grind the bad fruits into fine dust, and dance with the joy of mitzvot. We knead our spirit with love of Hashem and bake a beautiful fruit cake for the Shabbat Queen, or for a new bride, or for a tired mother after birth, or for a beloved child, or a dear mother, or a kind neighbor.

The main thing is giving. What is mishloach manot if not love placed into every decorated basket?

A Daily Mishloach Manot to the Creator

On Purim we have the mitzvah of mishloach manot. In truth however, this mitzvah exists all year long between me and my Creator.

Every day I prepare a new mishloach manot for Hashem.
“Father, look how I clean my personal Temple in honor of Shabbat.”
“Father, look how I feed our shared children that You entrusted to me.”
“Father, see how I overcome and forgive within my heart, how I belong entirely to You.”

Hashem also sends us daily gifts: a portion of strength, patience, comfort. Sometimes, within the concealment of our times, He reveals Himself, and so we have our own Megillat Esther, a revelation hidden within concealment every day.

He gives me the eyes to see and understand. There is a reason to live. There is purpose, and there is eternity.

The Hidden Holiness of Daily Work

Did you think I forgot my promise about the Shabbat work? Not at all. I made a calculation of the regular things I usually do.

An average of three children, multiplied by five baths a week, equals fifteen baths a week, sixty baths a month. An average of twelve diaper changes a day equals eighty four diapers a week. Nail trimming thirty times per child, just for hands.

Surely within all these actions are echoes of the melachot: cutting, combing, dyeing, weaving, smoothing. And after all the actions, hearts are drawn closer.

How does this connect to Purim? Joy. I am so happy that everything I mentioned is an essential part of my life.

(Based on the teachings of Rabbi Pinkus)

Purim: A Festival of Renewal

Purim is a joyful holiday of revival. On Purim, a decree of total destruction was issued against the Jewish people. In Heaven the decree was sealed, not with blood but with clay. Moshe Rabbeinu stood in Heaven and prayed, while Mordechai the righteous stood on earth and prayed.

You may ask: what is the difference between blood and clay? Both are seals from Hashem.

If the decree had been sealed “in blood,” it would mean that the blood of Israel had already been spilled. Even if it had not yet occurred in reality, in Heaven it would already be considered complete, and the decree could no longer be reversed. But if it was sealed only “in clay,” Hashem had not yet established a new reality, and through prayer it was still possible to awaken Divine mercy and overturn the decree.

If God forbid, in our own time a difficult decree has been sealed, how do we emerge from the “clay” of spiritual confusion? By leaving behind our own inner “Hellenism,” our distancing from holiness.

The Root of the Decree

What caused the anger in the Purim story? The Jewish people ate at Achashverosh’s feast. The food itself was kosher, but the inner essence of the act led to the decree. Their enjoyment of that feast represented a deviation from the path they were used to. They stepped into the “greater world.” Everything may have been technically permitted, but the pleasure they took expressed a subtle disconnection from Hashem.

When a person is bound to Hashem through love, there are things they simply do not do, even if technically allowed. Hashem said, “You did not necessarily sin, but you disconnected from Me. From now on, I have no involvement with you.”

Awakening Divine Mercy

The Jewish people needed a repentance that could transform worlds. Mordechai gathered the pure children of Israel, those who had never tasted sin, and the nation fasted for three days and nights. The purpose of that fast was to awaken Heavenly mercy, the deepest compassion reserved for children of a family, like the infinite love of a father for his child.

“From You I will flee to You.” When you fear Hashem, you run. And where do you run? To Him.

We must awaken the attribute of mercy to stand against strict judgment. Just as the power of judgment comes from Hashem, so too the power of mercy comes from Hashem, our Father in Heaven. Such mercy had never been revealed to Israel before, and that extraordinary kindness is revealed anew every year on Purim.

May these mercies be revealed again this Purim. May we have eyes that see, ears that hear, and hearts that understand that everything is temporary. In just a moment, everything can turn completely for the good.