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| Rabbi Stuart Federow |
The reason why we drink on Purim is not to celebrate a death, even the death of someone who was evil. In light of all that is said at the drowning of the Egyptians in the Sea of Reeds, how Gd silenced the angels for celebrating their deaths, we dont celebrate anyone's death, even though we must fight against those who would destroy us.
Why do we drink on Purim? To commemorate the feasts put on by Esther for both Achashveros and Haman (boo, hiss!) because wine was used to a good end.
It states in the Book of Esther:
Esther 5:6 "And the king said unto Esther at the banquet of wine, What is thy petition? and it shall be granted thee: and what is thy request? even to the half of the kingdom it shall be performed."
and
Esther 7:2-4 "2 And the king said again unto Esther on the second day at the banquet of wine, What is thy petition, queen Esther? and it shall be granted thee: and what is thy request? and it shall be performed, even to the half of the kingdom. 3 Then Esther the queen answered and said, If I have found favour in thy sight, O king, and if it please the king, let my life be given me at my petition, and my people at my request: 4 For we are sold, I and my people, to be destroyed, to be slain, and to perish. But if we had been sold for bondmen and bondwomen, I had held my tongue, although the enemy could not countervail the king's damage."
In other words, the miracle of the saving of the lives of the Jewish people involved the fact that they were drinking wine. And so we commemorate that by also drinking.
So, why do we also drink until we do not know ("until we do not know" = Ad lo yada) the difference between 'Curse Haman (boo, hiss!)' and 'Bless Mordechai?' That is part of the melodrama of the story. "Wine gladdens the heart of man," as we are told in Psalm 104:15, and for the Holiday of Purim, there should be no holding back in celebrating, and sometimes some people need to be loosened up to allow themselves to feel joy. The Bible and the rabbis also condemned the abuse of alcohol, but twice a year, on the heels of the very cold winters in earliest Spring with Purim, and after a month of the most solemn days of the year, with Simchat Torah, they ordained drinking to let off steam. Sometimes our Joys must be unbridled, and the wine is an aid to that end.
However, for the sake of Pikuach Nefesh, saving of life, one does not even touch the alcohol if there is the threat to one's health, be it physical, mental, spiritual, or emotional. The rabbis debated whether or not the rabbi who said that we should get that drunk was misunderstood, and some concluded that he was, indeed, misunderstood. We are not to drink to excess, or to abuse the alcohol, but rather we are to use it only so that our joy should be unbridled.
Have a Happy Purim!
Rabbi Stuart Federow
