We are printing this instructive article, an excerpt from the Kuntres Be'inyenei Yemei Chanukah U-ve'inyenei Chodesh Adar ViYemei HaPurim for the benefit it will, be'ezras Hashem, bring the public.
"`The Jews had light' (Esther 8:16) — light is Torah" (Megillah 16b). The Ramo in Orach Chaim (695:2), cited in the Kitzur Shulchan Oruch too (142:5), rules: "It is beneficial to engage somewhat in Torah before beginning the Purim meal. A source for this conduct is `The Jews had light,' about which the gemora (Megillah 16b) expounds that `light is Torah.' The Ramo (Darchei Moshe) cites in the name of the Mahari Berin that "it is a mitzvah to engage in Torah before the meal. It guards a person for anything wrong happening during the meal." In addition, see the introduction of the Or Chodosh of the Maharal of Prague and what the Maharal writes on the posuk "and Mordechai went out from the presence of the king" (Esther 8:15).
The Yesod VeShoresh HoAvodah (Sha'ar HaMefakeid, chap. 6) wrote: "Chazal darshen on the posuk `The Jews had light' that `light is Torah.' Rashi explains (ibid.) that Haman had decreed that the Jews should not engage in Torah, as the Midrash Shocher Tov (Tehillim chap. 22) writes: `Haman stopped Yisroel from studying two Toros — the Written and Oral Torah.' From this we see today's great obligation for all knowledgeable Jews to study our Torah and take pleasure in its study. One should voice out loud and inwardly reflect about the great thanks he should offer our Creator, who shattered the plans of the non-Jews and nullified the designs of the cunning — Haman the persecutor [of the Jews] — who decreed for us, the holy nation, not to engage in studying our holy and pure Torah. [Studying Torah on Purim] is mentioned in Orach Chaim (698 in the Ramo), but I advice people not even to budge from the beis midrash after Shacharis until they have studied Torah. At home there are disturbances because of the great amount of things to take care of during the day . . . and in addition one should be careful to study Torah when he eats."
The Mateh Moshe (section 1012) and the Shloh wrote: "We rejoice when we remember the miracles Hashem did for our fathers, and we praise His great name that in every generation He does miraculous chesed with us. We are pleased to study Torah, as it is written, "The statutes of Hashem are right, rejoicing the heart" (Tehillim 19:8). And before any simchah we perambulate with the simchah of the Torah, as Chazal expound `The Jews had light' — light is Torah and simchah — meaning that after Torah study we can rejoice." The Shloh also mentions that the Maharil would write teshuvos on Purim to those who asked him halachic questions. This was not instead of simchah on Purim, since both Torah and simchah have their place on Purim. (See also the Ma'agalei Tzedek on Megillah at the end of section 30 what he wrote about this point.)
We can conclude from all this that on Purim there is a special obligation to study Torah, besides the usually mitzvah of studying Torah on every day and at every opportunity. The reason for this is as mentioned in the Megillah: "`The Jews had light' — light is Torah." Chazal are teaching us that studying Torah on Purim is a part of remembering the miracle, since the gezeiroh of Homon not to study any Torah was annulled.
According to the above we can explain what the Binyan Olam (chap. 16) writes in the name of the Chido (Leiv Dovid, ch. 29): "I think it beyond doubt that if all of Yisroel would behave on this day, on which the seed of Amolek was destroyed and the wicked Homon fell, with kedushah and simchah consecrated to Heaven, and for the rest of the day would engage in studying Torah, each person according to his capability, with the reward of doing so we would be redeemed permanently and the remembrance of Amolek would be wiped out. This is because on this day a great calamity began to descend on the offspring of Amolek, and if the Jews had not exerted themselves in Torah and mitzvos on this day they themselves would have suffered terribly . . .."
This can perhaps be explained as follows: the radiance emerging from the days of Purim is caused by the destruction of Amolek's might. The redemption is dependent upon wiping out Amolek, as Chazal teach us, "[Hashem's] name is not complete and His `throne' is not complete until Amolek is uprooted" (Tanchuma Ki Teisei, ch. 11). So that the same radiance of Purim and the other yomim tovim will annually return, a Jew must properly fulfill the mitzvos affecting that radiance. We see this theme too in the Or HaChaim (Bereishis 2:3) about Shabbos, and so the Kedushas Levi has written about Shavuos: "On every year when we are fulfilling the mitzvos of the chag . . . a great brilliance awakens upon us, such as our fathers experienced . . . and similarly we too, their children's children, when we fulfill the mitzvos of the chag, obtain the same brilliance that our fathers then had. Through fulfilling the mitzvos we awaken this brilliance."
In the name of the kadmonim is written on the posuk "These days shall be remembered and kept throughout every generation" (Esther 9:28) that through their "being remembered" they are "kept." Since studying Torah on the days of Purim is a fundamental part of remembering the miracle, through studying Torah these day are "remembered," and therefore they are "being kept" and the brilliance of those days returns. The main brilliance is the destruction of Amolek's power, and therefore Yisroel through studying Torah on this day can bring the redeemer to Zion through annulling and wiping out Amolek.
It can be added that actually Torah study during the whole year is the root of the war against Amolek. The main war of Amolek is to separate between what the mind understands and the feelings of the heart and the body, since Amolek's aim is that man should not progress from the state of "know therefore this day" (Devorim 4:39) to reach "and consider it in your heart." The Shem MiShmuel writes: "The klipah of Amolek lies like a stone on the heart and does not allow divrei Torah enter into the heart." This is because man's essence is mainly his heart. The Ramchal has written (Daas Tevunos chap. 54): "It is insufficient that Hashem's uniqueness is clarified to us completely. Our heart must also be aware of this knowledge. It must firmly stir our hearts, leaving no doubts. This is what we have been commanded, `Know therefore this day and consider it in your heart.'" The Ramchal writes in Derech Eitz Chaim: "Grasping the truth strengthens the neshomoh and keeps the yetzer further away . . . but if this knowledge were broader and pressed on people's hearts, they would never sin."
Indeed we pray to reach such a state through studying Torah — "May He open our hearts through His Torah." That is the advised way of succeeding in stimulating our heart. HaRav Shmuel Rozovsky, the Rosh Yeshiva of Ponovezh, once explained that we daven "May He open our hearts through His Torah" and not "to His Torah." This tefillah does not mean that we are praying for Him to open our hearts to understand the Torah. It really means that through the Torah our hearts will be opened. Devoting efforts to Torah study opens the heart, as Chazal write, that Torah study is the external key to yiras shomayim. Without the Torah the heart is closed and as hard as a "heart of stone" — "And I will take away the stony heart out of your flesh and I will give you a heart of flesh" (Yechezkel 36:26). See the Ralbag's commentary on the posuk in parshas Vayechi (Bereishis 49:24) "From the shepherd, the Stone of Yisroel" — the Ralbag explains that only through the Torah can we chisel an impression on the heart and open it so concepts of the mind will enter and influence it. This is hinted in what R' Akiva said, that in the posuk "The water wears away the stones" (Iyov 14:19), "water means Torah." Water can carve even into a heart of stone and open it.
See also the Or HaChaim (Shemos 6:9), who wrote, "`But they did not hearken to Moshe because of shortness of ruach and hard work' — perhaps [this means that] they did not hearken because they were not bnei Torah, since Torah broadens a man's heart." The Avos DeR' Nosson (6:2) writes about R' Akiva: "He was once standing near a well and asked who had hewn a certain stone. [A bystander] said to him: `The water that continuously falls on it,' since `The water wears the stones.' R' Akiva immediately made a kal vachomer for himself: If something soft can etch into something hard, divrei Torah, that are as hard as iron, can surely etch itself into my flesh-and-blood heart. He at once returned to study Torah." Divrei Torah hew into a person's heart. See the Kovetz Igros of Maran the Chazon Ish (3:151), who wrote: "We do not have anything set, explained, and orderly that will teach us the proper way to open the heart . . . except for toiling over the Oral Torah's logic. Examining the Torah intensely and exerting oneself over it is the only, and the total, cure for all the nefesh's maladies."
Perhaps in this way we can explain the posuk (Tehillim 119:70) "Their heart is gross like fat, whereas I delight in Your Torah." The gemora (Shabbos 31b) writes that "reshoim know that their way is headed towards death, but they have fat covering their flank." Rashi explains "their flank" to mean "their heart." Because of that spiritual fat they can never change, and they continue to sin despite their knowledge of its being wrong. Even after they do it, "reshoim are full of regrets" (cited in the Shevet Mussar in the name of Chazal) and that is because "their heart is gross like fat." The recommended advice for saving oneself in such a situation is "I delight in Your Torah" — engaging in Torah. Through studying Torah the heart is opened and perceptions of Torah enter the heart. Eventually that person gains a tangible feeling of yiras shomayim and will not sin. This is as we say in bircas hachodesh, "a life that will impress on us love of Torah and yiras shomayim." Yiras shomayim will enter us through love of Torah. It will be implanted deep in our souls with a palpable feeling and not only be an intellectual perception. "I delight in Your Torah" means that only through studying Torah, through toiling over it, can there be delight. In the Kovetz Igros of Maran the Chazon Ish it is written that only through toil and intensive study of Torah is the heart opened. He also wrote that all the segulos of the Torah can be acquired only by toiling over Torah. Only when the Torah is a "delight" can it open the heart. Now it is fully understandable why only toiling over the Torah is the basis of the war with Amolek, since it is the antithesis to the aim of Amolek — separating between the mind and the heart.
The Yerushalmi (Megillah 2:1) writes on the posuk "and their memory will not perish from among their seed" (Esther 9:28) that from here we see that [Chazal] declared a maseches about Purim. Remembering the miracle and the spiritual radiance that occurred during Purim is accomplished through learning Maseches Megillah, which contains the halochos of Purim that were laid down as a remembrance for the miracle. The Megillas Esther is insufficient to remember these days; the entire Maseches Megillah is needed. The Yerushalmi follows the school of thought that it expounds in Berochos (5:1), that someone who studies the reasoning and depth of the Talmud will not forget it quickly (see Pnei Moshe). Through deep understanding of divrei Torah one remembers the Torah better. "Give me understanding and I shall keep Your Torah, and I shall observe it with my whole heart" (Tehillim 119:34). The Ibn Ezra and the Seforno explain that "giving understanding" helps a person not to forget what he has learned.
When one has understood the Torah one does not quickly forget it. Chazal's promulgation of the learning of Maseches Megillah in order to remember the miracle completes the remembrance, since only in the gemora do Chazal explain in depth the halochos of Purim and their reasoning, and as mentioned, "someone who studies the reasoning and depth of the Talmud will not forget it quickly." [We can also explain that studying Maseches Megillah has another quality that induces remembering the miracle, since the kadmonim say that yiras shomayim helps one to remember his studies. "Yiras Hashem is his treasure" (Yeshaya 33:6), and a treasure is guarded so that nothing will be lost. (See also the Nefesh HaChaim, 4:84.) The Luach Dvar Yom BeYomo cites in the name of the kadmonim that although everything we study in the Torah generates yiras shomayim, there is a special quality in studying maseches Megillah that causes yiras shomayim. If this causes yiras shomayim it also has a special quality to aid remembering.]
It therefore seems that there is a special interest in studying Purim topics in Maseches Megillah, and Purim's halochos, in depth. As we cited above in the name of the kadmonim, through their "being remembered" they are "kept." The degree of how much of the day's radiance we will be zocheh to is dependent upon how much we "remember" this day. Since the Yerushalmi writes that "their memory will not perish from among their seed" refers to Maseches Megillah, therefore in order for these days to be "remembered" we must, evidently, delve into Maseches Megillah and its halochos. [This is besides the general halocho mentioned in the gemora (Megillah 4a), that Moshe Rabbenu promulgated the study of the halochos of each yom tov by am Yisroel. The Shem MiShmuel (parshas Nitzovim) cites in the name of his grandfather, R' Menachem Mendel of Kotsk that "the brilliance of each yom tov is found within the maseches relating to that yom tov. For instance, the spiritual brilliance of Pesach is in Maseches Pesochim, and the brilliance of Sukkos is in Maseches Sukkos." This can be inferred from the Ramchal, too, in Derech Hashem (4:6,8). It is therefore obvious that on every yom tov there is a special inyan to engage in the maseches pertaining to it.]
There is apparently another reason for increasing our study of Torah on Purim, since Purim is when we willingly accepted the Torah upon ourselves. See the Ramchal's Derech Hashem, where he wrote: "The significance of Purim is to radiate the light that shines on those days . . . and Purim is when the Jews were saved during the golus of Bovel, and when they again accepted the Torah upon themselves forever." Purim emits the brilliance of our self-willed kabolas HaTorah, which was performed through love. In order to awaken this radiance we must engage ourselves in Torah on this day and permeate ourselves with ahavas HaTorah.
Maran R' Yechezkel Weinstein was accustomed of saying that Chazal (Otzar HaMidrashim) write, "Whoever is greater than the other has a greater yetzer." This refers to someone who is a "great man" and also to a "great place" and a "great time." When a time is "great" the yetzer awakens especially to destroy the time's potential. This is particularly so regarding what is the essence of that day's radiance. We therefore see that especially on Purim, when there is a special significance to studying much Torah [when it does not disturb the mitzvah of simchah and the Purim meal], there is a great deal of bitul Torah, and we can hardly find one beis midrash where people are studying. Chazal (Yerushalmi at the end of Berochos) have written, "if you see a generation that has become weak in Torah, strengthen yourself and you will get the reward of them all." The baalei mussar explain that this does not mean only a "generation that has become weak in Torah" but also a time when people are weak in Torah. When someone engages in Torah study on a certain day when there is general negligence in Torah study, such as Purim and other days when there is a lack of diligence, someone who studies then receives everyone's reward. [Maran HaRav Yaakov Yisroel Kanievsky was accustomed to say that through studying Torah diligently during bein hazmanim a person can attain much more in Torah than in the middle of the zman. Perhaps this is because of the above reasoning, namely that someone who studies when others are delinquent in their study receives everyone's reward. The greatest reward for a ben Torah is understanding more and more Torah, and this is an example of "the reward of a mitzvah being a mitzvah" (Avos DeR' Nosson 25:4).]
Two reasons have been given for this:
1) When there is a general weakening in studying Torah it is even more difficult to study, as the Yerushalmi writes, "strengthen yourself" — we need to exert ourselves especially and therefore "according to the hardship involved, so is the reward" (Avos 5:22).
2) When there is such a situation all the Divine Assistance in the world is given to those individuals who are nonetheless studying Torah.
This is an opportunity to mention what Rabbenu Chaim of Volozhin wrote in Ruach Chaim on Avos: "If for one moment there were no divrei Torah being studied throughout the whole world, no one engaged in studying it or observing it, the heavens and earth would be turned to primeval desolation, as Chazal (Pesochim 68b) write on the posuk, `If not for My covenant day and night, I would not have appointed the ordinances of heaven and earth' (Yirmiyahu 33:25) — without Torah the heavens and the earth would not exist." In Nefesh HaChaim (4:25) Rabbenu Chaim added: "Even one Jew alone has much power; he can make all the worlds and the Creation in general endure through his engaging in and reflecting on the Torah for its own sake. How can a person's heart not be thrilled when he thinks and reflects about this tremendous matter? Fear will fall upon him, so that he will not be, cholila, negligent in continually engaging in the Holy Torah, when he thinks that perhaps, cholila, the whole world from one end to the other might be vacant of divrei Torah, and without his current study all the worlds would be destroyed immediately. This Torah and its reward is extremely great, beyond evaluation. This person takes the reward of everyone, since he is the one who has caused all the worlds to persist in existence."
There are two points made in the above:
1) This man receives the award of everyone, because of the principle taught us in the abovementioned Yerushalmi, that when others are weak in Torah study, if one person strengthens himself he receives everyone's reward.
2) He takes everyone's reward because he maintained the Creation's existence. This itself is a reason for such a great reward, since it was the will of Hashem that there should be a Creation and that the world should exist, and now they continue to exist only by this man's zechus. [It is general knowledge that R' Nochum Zeev of Biala, the father of the Avnei Nezer, told how Shomayim revealed to him that he will be zocheh to a great son because once on Purim of 5098 no one studied Torah in the whole world except for him. Through this he saved the whole world! He was therefore zocheh to a son who illuminated the eyes of the whole world.]
