Purim Koton - Part VI

00:00 Behemsach in continuation to the early installments regarding Purim Katan, and in particular, the previous installment where we discussed the Rebbe elaborates on the names of Purim Katan and Purim Gadol, and Pesach Rishon and Pesach Sheni, that the logic seems to imply the opposite, that by Pesach, we should be saying Pesach Katan and Pesach Gadol, or Pesach Gadol and Pesach Katan. And by Purim, it's not tsayich to say as the Rebbe explained it in a great length, and as we discussed it in the previous installment. The following Shabbes, Shabbes VaYakhel, Tov Siman Alef, nineteen eighty-one, the Rebbe again elaborated on this topic, and the Rebbe explained and answered the question. And the Rebbe said as follows, in the Alter Rebbe siddur, in the lines that come prior to Lamnatzeyach, which is recited before Uvolitzion in the morning prayer, which from these lines, a child, a very young child, is also aware of, although the, these lines are without nekudes, without vowels, and the child cannot read it yet as he is a young child, five years old. Nevertheless, the child is given a siddur to daven from, and the teacher tells the child when we do say Tachnan and when we don't say Tachnan, which this is the contents of these lines. The dates on which we do not say Tachnan, we don't confess. So the Alter Rebbe mentions amongst the dates of the year, Pesach Sheni and Purim Katan and Erev Purim Katan. And when it comes to Pesach Sheni, he mentions Pesach Sheni, the

02:07 second. When it comes to Purim, he says, Purim Katan, the small one, which l'chaera, the Rebbe says we need an explanation. Why is the Alter Rebbe changed that by Pesach he writes the second Pesach, Pesach Sheni, and by Purim he writes the small Purim? L'chaera, he should have written by both the same expression, either both of them referred to as Sheni or both referred to as Katan. Purim Katan, Pesach Katan, or Purim Sheni and Pesach Sheni. So the Rebbe begins explaining. The Bier is as follows. By the- these two Yomim Tovim, Pesach and Purim, the Alter Rebbe writes the description, the tayar, the title which is appropriate for that Yom Tov and what pertains to that Yom Tov. Therefore, by Pesach, he writes Sheni, and by Purim, he writes Katan, small, because by Pesach, it is appropriate and it is befitting the title Sheni, the second. And by Purim, the title is appropriate for Purim Katan to use the title Katan. And the Rebbe explains, by Pesach Sheni, the description Sheni, second, is what pertains to that Yom Tov. And when we say Sheni, it doesn't mean only the second in time, but it also means the second in quality. Although, as mentioned earlier, the Rebbe refers to a, an earlier sikha in which it was discussed the quality which is in the Rishon over the Sheni, Pesach Rishon over the se-- over Sheni. Nevertheless, there is a unique quality in the Sheni because when a person comes to a second Pesach, a Pesach Sheni,

04:08 although it's not with the whole intensity as the first one, a person already stands on a higher level because it's milin b'kodesh. It's already a second Pesach. And therefore, the child also knows because he was already taught by his teacher, his melamed, which constantly alerts him that as time moves on, a person needs to become smarter and frumer, more religious. And therefore, the Alter Rebbe writes by Pesach tayar Sheni, the title, the description Sheni, because this is also a lesson, a heroah, a directive, that it is not just a Pesach, but it's a Pesach Sheni, it's a higher Pesach. It's milin b'kodesh because a person constantly needs to accelerate when it comes to sacred matters. And especially as it's explained Al Pi Chassidus in the Maimer which speaks about Pesach Sheni, that Pesach Sheni has a unique quality over Pesach Rishon. As Chassidus explains that at Pesach Rishon, they were not permitted to have any chametz. Pesach Sheni, Rashi says, chametz or matzah im ba'bayis. That by Pesach Sheni, a person could also deal with chametz and also with matzah. Chassidus explains what's the reason for that. Because the first Pesach was when Yidden just were becoming a nation coming out from Mitzrayim, and therefore, the Yetzer Hara was still intense, and that is the reason, as the Alter Rebbe writes in Tanya, kibbur hacham, they needed to run away, to run away also from the evil which was in them. And therefore, they were not ready to deal with chametz, which shows an arrogance

06:00 and an yemei of gaava, which comes from the evil inclination. On the other hand- Pesach Sheini was already after they went out from Mitzrayim, and they already were counting Sefirah, which represents a refinement of character traits, and therefore it is a higher level, level in Avodah Hashem. So the Rebbe says this all relates to P- Pesach. By thinking by Purim, we cannot refer to the first Purim as Purim Sheini because the Purim, this Purim, Purim Katan, is the first Purim. And even more yet, there's a difference between the first Purim and the second Purim in the inyanim of mikra megillah, mishloach manot, and matanot lavyonim, which we do not do, the reading of the megillah, sending gifts to, to friends, and gifts for the poor. So in the first Purim, we don't have all this. We fulfill it in the second Purim. The male it's not sayech to refer to the first Purim as Pesach Purim Sheini because it is not similar to the second Purim that we should say that this is a Sheini, it is a second to something. It's a completely different inyan. It presents a different concept. And the first Purim is only a preparation for the second Purim, and therefore he refers to it as Purim Katan. And with this, we'll understand why the Alter Rebbe is medayek in, uh, a-accurately describing that by Pesach, it's Pesach Sheini. By Purim, it's Purim Katan. It's a preparation for the Purim, which is mikra megillah, mishloach manot, matanot lavyonim. This farbrengen was

07:54 Shabbos Vayakhel Taf Shin Mem Alef as mentioned. It was also Shabbos Mevorchim. So the Rebbe says, as we find ourselves in the Shabbos Mevorchim, blessing the month of Adar Sheini, so this Shabbos has in itself the quality of Purim Katan, which is in the first Adar, and the quality of Purim Gadol, which is in the second Adar. Ha'delech, in the same way, likewise, that we have, for example, the Shabbos, which is the first day of Rosh Chodesh Adar Sheini, has in itself two qualities. The quality of Purim Katan, which is in the first Adar, because it is still the thirtieth day of the first Adar, so it also contains the Purim Katan, which is in the first Adar, and it also has the quality of the Purim Gadol, which is in the second Adar. Because the first day of Rosh Chodesh bridges together the two months. It's the thirtieth day of the first month, and it is the first day of Rosh Chodesh for the second month. Likewise, it is in Shabbos Mevorchim Adar Sheini. The midrashim continue in the next installment.