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The Zohar
After fasting and praying for three days, Queen Esther had purified and refined her physical body so that she was worthy to receive spiritual garments even in physical reality. When Esther entered in front of King Ahasuerus, he saw this outer appearance of spiritual light and she found much favor in his eyes.
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Mystical Classics
Man was never supposed to die; death entered the world when Adam and Eve ate from the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil. Fine wine, which develops greater texture and taste with age, hint to G-d's initial desire of the possibility of man's unlimited growth and improvement in this world.
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Chasidic Masters
When G-d's will is not done, it is as if He is asleep.
The King can be awakened through self-sacrifice, such as that demonstrated by the Jews at the time of Purim. Denying one's Jewish identity afforded escape from the deadly decree but not a single Jew in Persia took this option, and this integrity and self-sacrifice woke up the king.
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Contemporary Kabbalists
" Amalek is the first among
nations, and in the end he shall be destroyed."
It seems that the kelipa of Amalek contains no element that can be salvaged by means of refinement, that its only rectification is its utter eradication and destruction. Nonetheless, our Sages teach that some of Haman's descendants converted to Judaism and studied Torah. |
Beginner
Ascent Lights
On Purim the Jews completed the process begun at Mount Sinai by unanimously accepting the Torah and its laws of their own free will, not under duress, as was the case previously. Two mitzvot of Purim - the sending of food items to another Jew and the giving of food or money to poor Jews - bring about Jewish unity, a prerequisite for the giving of the Torah, as well as its purpose, making a dwelling place for G-d in this earthly domain.
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Beginner
Laws & Customs
Purim is chiefly observed through drinking and eating, which emphasize the physical. In the days of Mordechai and Esther, the Jews sinned through eating, by partaking of the feast of Ahashuerus. This was physical sin, and therefore they were endangered, measure for measure, with physical annihilation.
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