The Short Vort
Good Morning!
Today is Shushan Purim 5779 and March 21, 2019
The Neilas Hachag
Another Purim has come and gone and I would like to express my personal feelings of this Purim, and specifically, I would like to share with you my feelings about last night’s three-time only klopping Megillah reading.
Remember, what I am about to write are my personal thoughts and impressions and nothing more.
The first thing which I felt was the magnitude and power of the Megillah.
I say this without hesitation and without embarrassment, however, last night’s reading of the Megillah was the most meaningful reading I ever heard in my life.
The Megillah is Torah.
The Rambam writes,
“All the books of the Prophets and all the Holy Writings will be nullified in the Messianic era, with the exception of the Book of Esther. It will continue to exist, as will the five books of the Torah and the halachos of the Oral Law, which will never be nullified.”
The Rambam equates only the book of Esther to the five books of Torah.
No other Sefer in the entire Tanach has the same status as the book of Esther.
It will last forever.
Now, I ask you, my friend, if you were learning a beautiful piece of Torah, be it from the five books of the Torah, be it from the Oral Law (Gemara).
In which scenario do you think the reading would be more meaningful and inspirational.
1.
If every four or five words 100 people around you started playing drums, banging on the floor or tooting horns, hooted, banged feet and expressed semi-improper sounds…
2.
or if you had the opportunity to totally concentrate on every word of Hashem’s Torah without having to keep thinking, “when is the next interruption?”
I can only speak for myself and I am speaking “
to you
” and not “
for you
”. However, for me, the choice was a no-brainer.
The privilege to hear the melodic tune of the Megillah without having to worry when the beautiful cadence will once again be interrupted with noises which interrupt my concentration and turn a spiritual experience into a karaoke show was pure ecstasy.
Last night the Megillah held me spellbound and sitting at the edge of my seat.
I was with Esther as she approached Achashveiros and I was with Mordechai when he pleaded with Esther to go to speak to the king.
I was riveted to my seat as I held my breath when Esther answers Achashveiros (after he asks her,
“Who is this and where is he, who dared to do this
?” -destroy Esther’s people),
"An adversary and an enemy, this evil Haman!"
How would Achashveiros react?
Whose side would he take?
The Megillah was alive for me and real.
The poetic and prophetic prose of the Megillah enchanted and inspired me last night more than any reading of the Megillah I can remember in over five decades.
And for me at least, the reason was simple.
I was able to concentrate on the Torah and not on the grogger.
Mind you I don’t write this to justify my position nor do I write it to ridicule or dismiss other beautiful time-honored traditions which many communities have.
Rather, tonight I am just sharing with you my dear readers, a page from my private diary.
The title page reads, “The night I finally heard Megillas Esther and loved it”.
Wishing you all a meaningful Shushan Purim,
“If Not Now, Then When?”- Hillel
Ron Yitzchok Eisenman, Rabbi, Congregation Ahavas Israel, Passaic, NJ
