Tetzaveh: 5784 - Rabbi Shimon Zonnenfeld, in honor of 'Purim Katan': Yom Kippur is like "Purim". Is it possible that Purim is higher than this holy day? At the conclusion of the Daily Daf shiur…

00:01 Speaker 1 Today is Purim Katan. The Mishnah says in Tractate Megillah: “The only difference between the first Adar and the second Adar is the reading of the Megillah and gifts to the poor.” That means that in every other respect, Purim Katan is also Purim—Purim in every sense. There is a teaching that Yom Kippur is k’Purim, “like Purim,” with the letter kaf meaning “like.” In other words, Purim is even higher than Yom Kippur. What is the comparison? Yom Kippur is the one day of the year, for on it He atones for all.

00:39 Speaker 2 “For on this day He will atone for you.”

00:41 Speaker 1 So what is this comparison? There are many explanations. Why is Yom Kippur like Purim? One explanation has to do with lots. On Yom Kippur, they cast lots for the goat sent to Azazel and the goat offered to Hashem. On Purim, too, there were lots. “He cast a pur”—that is, a lot. So that is why Yom Kippur is compared to Purim. There is something they share. But there is another, very interesting explanation. There is a baraisa that the Alter Rebbe brings in Tanya, in Igeres Hateshuvah: “There are three categories of atonement.” What are these three categories? If someone violated a positive commandment, he does not move from there—

01:36 Speaker 2 Until he does it.

01:37 Speaker 1 And repents—he does teshuvah—he is forgiven immediately. If he violated a prohibition and repents, then teshuvah suspends the punishment and Yom Kippur atones for him. In other words, teshuvah alone is not enough; Yom Kippur has to come. The third level is if he committed a sin punishable by excision or a court-imposed death penalty. In that case, even teshuvah and Yom Kippur only suspend the punishment, and suffering cleanses him. But the Gemara continues: If someone desecrated Hashem’s name, none of these three things helps; only death atones. If there was a desecration of Hashem’s name, only death atones. That is the baraisa the Gemara cites. What happened on Purim? The Gemara asks why a decree of annihilation was issued against the Jewish people of that generation: “to destroy, kill, and annihilate all the Jews.” Why was such a decree issued against them? The Gemara gives several reasons. One explanation concerns idol worship at the feast the Jewish people attended. Vessels from the Beis Hamikdash were there, and there was idol worship there as well.

03:02 Speaker 3 Idol worship.

03:03 Speaker 1 There was idol worship at that feast too, and because they attended, there was a desecration of Hashem’s name. The vessels of the Beis Hamikdash were at that feast, where there was idol worship—that is a desecration of Hashem’s name. So the decree of annihilation was issued against that generation because of the desecration of Hashem’s name. But what happened on Purim? Purim brought about Hakadosh Boruch Hu’s atonement for the Jewish people even for that desecration. The Gemara says that nothing helps for a desecration of Hashem’s name—only death. Yet what did Purim accomplish? Hakadosh Boruch Hu forgave them even for that. Yom Kippur, as we said—what does it atone for? Only a prohibition that does not carry the penalty of excision or a court-imposed death penalty. But on Purim there was a desecration of Hashem’s name, for which, we are told, nothing helps except death. And here, Purim atoned for them even for the sin of desecrating Hashem’s name. That is why we say Yom Kippur is only k’Purim, “like Purim”: Yom Kippur atones only for prohibitions that do not carry the penalty of excision or a court-imposed death penalty, while Purim atoned even for a desecration of Hashem’s name. So since today is Purim Katan, in Adar I, and we said that all the aspects of Purim apply in Adar I as well, then even if, G-d forbid, there is some accusation against Jews, this day atones for everything. May Hakadosh Boruch Hu therefore grant all the Jewish people a joyous month in every respect. With Hashem’s help, may they succeed in everything.

04:46 Speaker 4 With Hashem’s help.