Refua Shelema for David ben Zina.
Baruch Hashem, theCLD had the zechut (privilege) to remind everyone earlier today that tomorrow
morning (beginning 5:19am in NYC) the Fast
of Esther begins! Sidenote: people always tell each other: Why are you fasting if you don’t even know
the reason? This is a statement that shows a Jew has no knowledge about
Judaism. Sometimes we need to learn to push another Jew to connect to Hashem,
because today it is so easy to disconnect! Let the guy fast even if he doesn’t
know what its about! A fast will get him closer to Hashem (we will explain)!
If you were running a business and you know your competition
is doing something that leads him to succeed, will you reject to do it
yourself? Obviously not! Don’t be smart with Judaism, it won’t do you any good.
Today we are in a survival mode with staying spiritually strong and inspired
and you are pushing someone to stop?! You’re not a Rabbi to give people
direction for life, so relax.
Anyway, we will bring down the general reason for fasting
and the special reason why this fast
is part of our calendar forever. In the time of the Purim Story, Haman got
power to give permission for the entire world (as Achashverosh ruled the entire
world, see Megillah 11a) to slaughter every Jew they knew. There was no limit,
no boundary, you see a Jew, PLEASE GO KILL THEM! What do Esther and Mordechai
do? They decide to make all the Jews (even children) to fast for three days and
three nights (72 hours straight). After all, what did they have to lose?
They’re physical life was on the line.
24 hours into the fast: Esther goes to Achashverosh’s throne
and asks him to have a party, inviting the biggest enemy: Haman. Huh?! What is
going on here?
48 hours later: all the Jews (via Mordechai) find out that
their queen, their leader, their ONLY HOPE, is sitting down, laughing, relaxing
with the guy who wants to kill them! Wait. Wait. Wait. You, Queen Esther, just
told ALL OF US EVEN OUR CHILDREN, to fast for three freaking days and now
you’re clubbing with the king and Ahmadinejad?
Rav Shimshon Pinkus brings down the Gemara in Megillah that
says Esther went into Achashverosh because she didn’t want all the Jews to say “We have a queen in the palace” and then no
one will pray. At the point that Esther went to party with the killing
crew, Israel really were proud of their Jewish identity and connection to
Hashem because they were Jewish, not because they were the nation of the queen,
but because they were the children of
Hashem.
The reason we fast before Purim and fast in general is
because we suppress our physical attributes and enlighten and raise our
spiritual self. The Fast of Esther is to get us pumped for Purim, to get us to
a level where we say my body is in the
hands of Hashem and by letting my body suffer I am giving more space for me
Neshama (soul) to express itself. The fast tomorrow Be’ezrat Hashem is
supposed to wake us up to depend solely on Hashem’s power and control of the
world. B’H we should realize that all of the things that happen to us are
straight from Hashem.
May we have a meaningful fast.
Tzom Mo’il!
All
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Sponsor theCLD for the Ilui
Neshama (memory of) or Refua Shlema (the speedy recovery) of your loved one!
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Parashat Parah has the foundation of purity, of the kedusha that a person holds. Each Jew is
a vessel for Hashem’s Divine Presence to rest in. When is the core and essence
of the settling of The Divine Presence in the year? Its during the holiday of
Pesakh. This holiday is a few weeks away and I am sure we are all not ready for
the wave of holiness that is going to hit the world. Therefore, Hashem does Hessed (kindness) with us by giving us a
special Shabbat that includes the cleansing process of all tumah (impurity): this is this week’s Shabbat: Shabat Parah!
