Parshas Tetzaveh - Zachor & Purim: Why is Purim Greater than Yom Kippur?

Mishenichnas Adar Marbim Bisimcha. Meaning, the Hebrew month of Adar brings with it increased joy! Rabbi Eliyohu Dessler (1892-1953) in his magnum opus Michtav Mei’eliyohu grapples with the understanding of this Talmudic dictum. What is so joyous about the entire month of Adar?

Additionally, the great mystic Rabbi Isaac Luria (Arizal) – (1534-1572) taught us that the Day of Atonement is referred in the Torah as being Yom HaKippurim. The word Kippurim is an amalgamation of the word Purim and the letter “ki” which means similar to. The implication being that Yom Kippur is merely a shadow of the holiday of Purim. In fact, Rabbi Luria maintains that the spiritual heights attainable on Purim are much greater than that of Yom Kippur! Between the two of us, people are totally drunk on Purim and it looks like one big Carnival of Venice (lihavdil!). How could Purim possibly be a holier day than Yom Kippur?

In order to address these questions, let us first understand the events of Yom Kippur and those of Purim. Yom Kippur was etched into history as the day we received the second tablets. Those tablets signified G-d’s forgiveness for the sin of the Golden Calf, and it finalized the giving of the Torah at Sinai. There was only one catch. The original acceptance of the Torah at Sinai was considered coerced, because the Jewish Nation had such a clear recognition of the Divine Presence, it was as though their free will was stripped from them (Maharal). It was considered an acceptance out of awe and fear. On Purim the Jewish Nation once again accepted the Torah. This time however there was no fanfare and pomp. The Jewish Nation simply loved G-d, and they accepted the Torah out of complete love for G-d.

Accordingly, Yom Kippur is the age old holiday of Jewish guilt. If you ask a once-a-year Jew why he attends shul on Yom Kippur, his likely answer will be, “Just in case there is a G-d, and that G-d actually runs the world, I don’t want G-d to send me to purgatory. I therefore make the tremendous sacrifice of attending synagogue, and the torture that I am subjected to in synagogue will be my personal hell on earth.” There you have it, typical Jewish guilt. Another common form of Jewish guilt is invoking the Holocaust. “Why shouldn’t I intermarry?” “Because you are personally perpetuating the Holocaust,” this young teenager who never observed anything Jewish in his life is told. Heard that before?! You reckon that such a response will surely convince this kid to celebrate his being Jewish! Not quite. Most people upon hearing such a line will not want to have anything to do with Judaism. So what is the proper perspective? The answer to all of this Jewish guilt is the holiday of Purim!

Prim erases all the guilt. Purim demonstrates how fun Judaism really is. We don’t talk about the past. We look forward to an exciting and enjoyable future as celebrating Jews.

We now have an understanding of the significance of Purim. Purim is the day of celebration for accepting the Torah out of love. No more guilt and fear. Just focus on loving G-d. Connecting to our Judaism in a positive and loving way will take us to much greater spiritual summits than all of that guilt. Yom Kippur is essential, but once we reached that level, Purim takes us to the apex. And Purim is not just one day in isolation. Beginning with the month of Adar we build up to the level of accepting the Torah out of love for G-d.

So how do we celebrate Purim? By spreading the love! Give gifts to others, and presents to the needy. Invite those once-a-day (or not even) Jews to your Purim party. The entire focus is having the greatest enjoyment as a Jew. After all, that’s what being Jewish is all about!