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I think Purim might have too much going on. There are the 4 special mitzvot: 1-Mikra
Megillah/Reading the Megillah; 2- Seudat Mitzvah- eating a special festive meal; 3- Sending Mishloach Manot/ gift-packages to friends; 4- Mattanot l’Evyonim/giving charity to the poor. Of course, there’s also dressing up, blurring the line between Mordechai and Haman, and the general merriment and joy that’s associated with Purim. For a very short holiday, there’s almost too much to do!
In fact, you might say that Purim has almost a manic quality to it. Between all of the special
mitzvot and requirements, there’s so much to accomplish in so few hours. In fact, one of the reasons the special festive is usually held in the afternoon instead of the morning is because the assumption is that we’ll be so busy schlepping around delivering mishloach manot that we wouldn’t have time to have the meal any earlier.
The wide-ranging set of holiday activities and mitzvot seem designed to have us pulled in a
million different directions. There are two schools of thought on how to ‘succeed’ at Purim: either you have a clear schedule and minute-by-minute plan, to efficiently jump from one activity to the next; or you just kind of go with the flow, and move through the holiday with a frenzied sense of excitement. More often than not, it’s impossible not to do a little bit of both.
Perhaps that’s precisely the experience of the heroes of the Purim story. Mordechai and Esther
simultaneously create a thorough, thoughtful, and detailed plan. Yet they also have to roll with the punches and take whatever opportunity comes their way to save the Jewish people. Concrete thinking collides perfectly with a strategic nimbleness born of necessity. The result is success, safety, and joy for the Jewish People.
May we all learn and live out the lessons of Purim, to do so much in so little time, to craft great
plans and go with the flow, and with that perspective work to create everlasting joy and safety for us, and for the Jewish People worldwide.
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