Ki Tisa: 5785 - Michayav Enish Levasumei B'Puraya (One Is Obligated to Become Intoxicated on Purim): Why did the Rav of Jerusalem, Rabbi Yosef-Chaim Zonnenfeld, say about himself that he was a 'Purim-Rav'? Also: A beautiful explanation…

00:00 Speaker 1 Today, with Hashem’s help, we’ll celebrate Purim. They tell a story about the rabbi of Jerusalem. For many years, he did not want to take on the rabbinate, until circumstances finally required it and he accepted the position. Then he called himself the Purim rabbi. You might wonder: what is a Purim rabbi? He explained that people have the wrong idea. They think a Purim rabbi is someone who dresses up as a rabbi, tells jokes and plays the part. He said that isn’t a Purim rabbi. What is a Purim rabbi? In those days, people would prepare their Purim food on Purim itself. What happened if a question came up that had to be brought to a rabbi? They would go to the rabbi, but he couldn’t issue a ruling, because “a person is obligated to become intoxicated on Purim,” until he doesn’t know. If he had drunk more than a revi’is of wine, he was forbidden to issue a ruling. So now a question comes up—where’s the rabbi? There is no rabbi. They would appoint a rabbi who didn’t drink.

01:18 Speaker 2 Who doesn’t understand why they’re looking.

01:21 Speaker 1 So that if a question came up, there would be a rabbi to issue a ruling. He said, “That’s a Purim rabbi.” Why did he call himself that? Because at the time he was fighting strongly against... The Chief Rabbinate had been established, and he fought against it because he saw it as a rabbinate beholden to the authorities. He fought against the Rabbinate. But there were Jews in Jerusalem who had nothing to eat. So, as they put it, they were bribed and joined the Chief Rabbinate. He said, “I wasn’t bribed, and I won’t be bribed.” Yes, he was the Purim rabbi, and so he could not be bribed with anything else, either. That is why he called himself a Purim rabbi. Let’s give one interpretation of the Megillah. There are many interpretations and explanations of Megillas Esther, because “Esther” suggests concealment: there are many things hidden in the Megillah that we don’t see. One interpretation concerns the beginning of chapter two: “After these things, King Achashverosh remembered Vashti, what she had done, and what had been decreed upon her.” There are three things here: Vashti, what she had done, and what had been decreed upon her. The holy Alshich, Rabbi Moshe Alshich, explains these three things. When judging a person, you have to consider three things. First, who is the person being judged? Judging a lowly, ordinary person is not the same as judging a person of importance. You have to take the person himself into account. Second, the seriousness of the act: what did he do? And third, the punishment must be proportionate to what he did. “After these things,” when he sobered up, he remembered Vashti. Wait—who was she? The whole reason he had come to the throne was his wife. He remembered Vashti and what she had done. What had she done? After all, he

03:24 Speaker 1 had asked for something unthinkable, and she refused. So what, in the end, had she done? And what was the punishment? The harshest possible punishment, completely out of proportion. Looking at all three things, he concluded that he had made a mistake: Vashti, what she had done, and what had been decreed upon her. He had been wrong on all three counts. Then he summoned the young men to ask what to do. In any case, “these days are remembered and observed.” When they are remembered as they should be, they are also observed. All the enemies of the Jewish people will meet the same end as Haman and his ten sons. “And for the Jews there was light and gladness, joy and honor.”