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Based on the teachings of the Maharal of Prague
Upon opening up the Book of Esther, one is cast into a banquet of royal
proportions, one that spans over 180 days and includes participants from 127
provinces. Rich and poor, young and old were all invited to the royal feast, the
men to King Ahasuerus' party and the women to Queen Vashti's.
Yet the name for the festivity is a peculiar one - "mishteh", which
loosely translates as a drinking party. And what were the beverages on tap? Only
wine! In one of the many textual references to wine, the Book of Esther records,
"Royal wine was served in abundance." (Esther 1:7)
The Sages of the Talmud asked a question about this passage: How do we
qualify the term "abundance"? They answered that each guest drank wine whose
vintage was older than he. (Megilla 12a)
The Maharal of Prague, one of Judaism's most noted philosophers and
Kabbalists, gives us a fascinating insight into the Rabbis' statement:
Why did they do this [serve each guest wine older than he]? Because there
is an essential connection between wine and a person; the whole time that a
person grows older, his thoughts become clearer. So too with wine; the more that
it ages, the better it becomes. (Or Chadash)  | | " Wine is unique in that it becomes better...." | | |
Though the Maharal's comment can be understood at face value, he is
also hinting to a profound idea about the nature of wine. Everything else in the
world deteriorates over time, but wine is unique in that it becomes better. This
distinctive quality hints to G-d's intended purpose for all Creation.
Man was never supposed to die; like a fine wine, G-d intended that man would
constantly improve with age. But our mystical tradition relates that when Adam
and Eve ate from the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil, death entered the
world. The physical body that holds the spark of the Divine became destined to
return to its source: the very ground we walk upon. But there was one hint that
G-d left us to illustrate G-d's initial desire, and that is wine. Wine develops
greater texture and taste with age. In wine we see an allusion to the
possibility of unlimited growth and improvement, which was intended at the
outset of Creation.
Note that the Maharal compares wine to the thoughts of man and
not to man himself. There is an aspect of the human being that maintained its
pristine state after the fall from Eden; according to the Maharal, that
is our advanced intellect. This is the spark of the Divine inside all of us and
one of the unique qualities that defines our humanity. Our intellect is not
rooted in the realm of the physical, but rather in the spiritual; therefore, if
it were not bound to the constraints of the body, it would continue to develop
infinitely. This is why the thoughts of man, or intellect, and not man
himself, are compared to wine, a metaphor for infinite evolution.
By examining a famous statement made by the Sages of the Talmud with the
Maharal's interpretation, we can understand another hidden aspect of wine.
"When wine enters, secrets are revealed" (Eruvin 65a).
Wine (in Hebrew "yayin") comes from a hidden place; therefore its
numerical value is 70, which is the same as the word "secret" (in Hebrew,
"sod"). (Hidushei Aggadah, Sanhedrin)
For the Maharal, who developed a numerical approach in his study of
the entire Written and Oral tradition, numbers contain special significance. A
numerical connection between two Hebrew words is not simply a random connection;
it illustrates a deep conceptual bond. | | " The point is not to numb our senses, but rather to attune them to the hidden reality that is normally hidden from our eyes...." | | |
In the Maharal's system, multiples of 10 do not change the character
of the number; therefore we can relate to 70 as a large seven. But, before we
understand the number seven, let's talk about the number six. In the
three-dimensional physical world, everything has six sides, as in the sides of a
cube; the number six relates to the six sides of the physical existence in which
we live. Seven, however, is the point at the center of the cube; it is the
hidden place where everything in the physical world has its spiritual source. It
is the point that represents unity and the inner essence of all existence.
Now we can understand the Maharal's statement that wine comes from the
place of concealment. The numerical value of the word for wine points us to the
hidden, inner essence of Creation. It also illustrates our appointed task in the
world: bringing the seven, the elusive ideal, into the six, the physical nature
of existence. This is a reason why wine is present for almost every significant
Jewish lifecycle event, as well at every Shabbat and festival. At these central
moments, wine sits at the center of our table and reminds us all about our
hidden, infinite potential.
At the end of the Book of Esther, Mordecai pronounces that the 14th and 15th
of the month of Adar should be celebrated as "days of mishteh and joy".
The celebrations must, like the party of King Ahasuerus and Queen Vashti,
include wine. But unlike the royal party, Purim is not about drinking to get
drunk. The point is not to numb our senses, but rather to attune them to the
hidden reality that is normally hidden from our eyes. By drinking wine on Purim,
we have the ability to see through the six sides of the physical straight
through to the center, to the absolute essence of ourselves and to the boundless
possibilities that surround us. When wine enters, the secrets are truly
revealed.
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