A Purim Katan Sicha

The Rebbe says:

1. The Ba’al Haturim (the code of Jewish law written by Rabbi Yakov ben Asher) and the Shulchan Aruch (the code of Jewish law composed by Rabbi Yosef Karo) both end off the section of “Orach Chayim – The way of life” with the Halachos (laws) of Purim Katan.

2. We could explain simply that the code of Jewish law ends off with the Halochos of Purim Katan because it is written in accordance with the yearly cycle; first the Halochos of Rosh Chodesh (sanctifying the New Moon), then the Halochos of Pesach (Passover)….then the Halochos of Succos (Succot), Chanukah (Hanukah), and finally, Purim. In other words, beginning from Rosh Chodesh Nissan (the New Month of Nissan), which is actually the first Mitzvah (commandment) that the Jewish people were given, Purim is the end of the year.

3. The Rebbe now stresses that even the mere order of how the code of Jewish law is set up must be of special significance:

Everything in the Torah is exactly precise, especially if it correlates with worldly matters where everything is by Divine Providence (Hashgacha Pratis) and happens by Divine intent. Therefore, if the Torah’s laws are set up by our Sages in a specific way, this must be teaching us a lesson.

What is the lesson we can learn from the fact that the Halochos of Purim Katan are the very last Halochos of the code of Jewish law?

4. The Rebbe now begins the journey to find the lesson:

Many commentaries explain that the opening and closing statements of the Rema (Rabbi Moshe Isserles) in the Shulchan Aruch will shed light onto our query.
The Rema’s opening statement to the Shulchan Aruch reads, “When a person concentrates on the fact that the Great King, the Holy One Blessed is He, Who fills the entire world, is standing next to him and watching his deeds, he will immediately be filled with a sense of fear and awe and be embarrassed before Him constantly”.

The Rema’s concluding statement to the Shulchan Aruch, regarding the laws of Purim Katan, reads, “There are those commentaries who hold that one is obligated to enjoy excessive feasting and merriness on Purim Katan, however we do not hold this way. Never the less, it is a good thing to add a little something to our meals on this day, to be safe, and “A good hearted person feasts constantly”.

With his opening and closing statements of the Shulchan Aruch the Rema tells us what we must constantly be doing- we must constantly have the fear of Heaven upon us and yet at the same time we must constantly be happy and serve Hashem with happiness.

5. The Rebbe now challenges this explanation:

If the Rema wanted to tell us a fundamental principal in our service to Hashem- that we should constantly fear Hashem and be happy- why would he wait until the end of the entire section of “Orach Chayim” to tell us the second principal (to be happy)!?

6. The Rebbe now changes course and gives a different explanation of the Rema’s opening and concluding statements:

When the Rema writes at the beginning and end of the section “Orach Chayim – The way of life” that a person must constantly have fear and happiness in serving Hashem, he is telling us what the beginning and end of a person’s day to day way of life should be- trepidation and then happiness. In other words, the Rema is telling us what our preparation must be before we decide to adhere to the Shulchan Aruch and all its Mitzvos (commandments)- we must fear Hashem and know that He fills the world and examines at our deeds, and then, after the Shulchan Aruch concludes with the daily and yearly laws that a Jew must adhere to, the Rema tells us what the certain outcome of living a Jewish lifestyle will be- we will be happy people; we will be happy to be Jews, and we will be happy to constantly be connected to Hashem

7. The Rebbe now explains how this last statement of the Rema, and the lesson it teaches us, relates to the context in which it was said:

We must understand that there are two types of true happiness. One kind of happiness is the happiness we experience while actually fulfilling any given Mitzvah (commandment), however this happiness must be tempered with the fear of Hashem, as the Torah says, “Rejoice with trepidation”. Another, unbridled, type of happiness, is experienced only after we are done fulfilling any given Mitzvah, just like a person who is toiling at something only appreciates his work and feels satisfied and content after he finishes the job.

The happiness we experience on the days of joy throughout the year, for example Succos, is developed because of that days specific Mitzvos (obligations), for example Mitzvos Arbah Minim (the Four Species), and therefore it is not an unbridled happiness. In other words, being that every Mitzvah causes a person to be happy (as we explained earlier), the happiness we experience during the holidays throughout the year is not an unrestricted happiness- it is mixed in with that day’s particular Mitzvos’ happiness.

On the other hand, on Purim Katan, which has no special Mitzvos specifically for that day, we experience a pure, unbridled, happiness which is not tempered with the trepidation we must have when fulfilling a specific Mitzvah.

Now we can understand why the Shulchan Aruch concludes with the laws of Purim Katan:

When the Shulchan Aruch places the laws of Purim Katan after all the other Halochos (laws) related to ones daily and yearly conduct it is teaching us that after we fulfill Mitzvos we will experience a pure and complete happiness- the happiness of Purim Katan.

Translated and adapted by Rabbi Shalom Goldberg. Taken from Likutei Sichos volume twenty six.