Drinking On Purim

"A person is obligated" (Meg 7b)

One might ask, how can the sages obligate that which is mentioned in the Torah, Prophets, and other places, namely that drunkenness is a great pitfall? It is because all the miracles that were wrought for the Jewish people in the days of Ahasuerus were on account of drinking. In the beginning, Vashti was bothered on account of drinking and Esther came. Also, Haman's downfall was on account of drinking. Therefore, the sages obligate us to drink so that the great miracle will be remembered with wine drinking. In any case, this is a mitzvah but not an indispensable condition.

"He will not be aware [of the difference]." We should not become drunk and demean ourselves by rejoicing. We are not commanded to rejoice for the sake of debauchery and stupidity, rather we should rejoice with a delight that leads us to love G-d and acknowledge the miracles wrought for us.

Something else I also heard from my grandfather the Holy Jew (Rabbi Yaakov Yitzchak Rabinowicz of Peshischa) that when he was still a young man he already had a holy spirit within him.. As the holy rabbi once said:

"When I was just a child learning in preschool the alef-beit from the teacher, I taught myself a very important lesson -- When two Jews are sitting as one and drinking "mashkeh" [spirits], and each one nullifies themselves on account of their friend, and we don't see ourselves as being superior as our friend, at those moments, the Holy One forgives them their sins.

Because when he would learn from his teacher the Alef-Beit he would ask him what does this one dot represent? My teacher would answer: One dot is one "yud/yid."

After that, I would ask, what does does two dots represent? He would answer by saying it represents two yiddin -- shem havaya - G-d's blessed name.

So then, when I reached the end of a line and there were two dots at the end of a line/pasuk, I would pronounce it the same - as G-d's blessed name.

The teacher said to him-- there is a principle -- if you encounter two yuddim/yiddin that are on the same level, and one isn't on a higher level than his friend, then this is G-d's name. But, if there are two yud's, and one is higher than the other, that is not G-d's name.

What this teaches is that if two people become unified and nullify themselves and they do not see themselves as one over the other to overpower each other - this is the name of G-d.

When people are drinking alone kos - vayomer slachti kidvaeich.

When two people become one and drink in a way that is explained above, they fulfill the verse with G-d's name and make that verse full as it says "vayomer יי salachti k'dvareichah," (Numbers 14:20).

It's obligated for people to drink until one doesn't know the difference...

Here, this isn't the conclusion that is intended, has v'shalom.

Rather, the interpretation is that each person who is in an awe of G-d should intoxicate themselves with mitzvot...for these are called fruit in this world. This is the temporal world.

But the root of it is established in the world to come.

How does one do this, by perfecting all of your middot. All of one's middot should be holy and not wicked. Then, this is just like in the world to come we will not know a difference between blessed be Mordechai and cursed by Haman.

Purim 1858

It's required to drink until one doesn't know the difference...

The matter is, what we are talking about the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. And over there all situations/all matter is all mixed up- good and evil-- and this is on account of the sin of the first human as Hazal said: Eve juiced the grape clusters, and on purim when we are commanded to drink wine, it's possible for a person to drink wine for god-s sake to awaken this to come to the garuded wine which comes from the 6 days of creation-- this is the quality of the tree of life. As it says in Psalms 10:10- no wickedness can dwell.

This is the davka the mizvah to getting drunk on purim, so that the person who gets drunk on purim, he needs to awaken with his drinking the supernal/garden wine from the six days of creation, which has been cleansed of all wickedness...this is what it means to drinking until one doesn't know the difference between the two, that there should't be any mixture of cursed haman in at all, which represents the side of wickness (has v'shalom)