Purim Appears Twice In The Zohar
Once For each day
In שלח we’re taught
Esther wore לבוש לויתן
Achashverosh died when he saw her
Why?
Mordechai wore it too
People were awestruck
But didn’t die
Why?
Mordechai wore the עטרת זהב גדולה
Not Esther
Why?
What do we wear
Special for Purim?
Tikunei Zohar 21 says
Leather shoes
Why?
Esther did her job
Then Mordechai did
Now it’s our turn
Shabbos Shalom
Taste Your Shabbos Before It Begins
טועמיה חיים זכו
We say this during musaf
Before attaining נשמה יתירה
And it refers to erev Shabbos activity
Tosefes Shabbos is before and after
Not during Shabbos
Yosef HaTzadik ordained musaf
Before the Jews received Shabbos
Floating into the kitchen looking for a snack
Does not yield טועמיה
Looking for a taste of the world
You’ve made for yourself – is
You make your own food for Shabbos?
Or rely on others
Anticipating their olam haba?
Or your own
רב ספרא מחריך רישא
רבא מלח שיבוטא
טועמיה is of what you’ve made
Made out of yourself
לעשות את השבת
הקב״ה מראה לצדיקים עד שהן בעוה״ז
מתן שכרן מה שהוא עתיד ליתן להם לעתיד
Shabbos Shalom
Emuna Is For Beginners
Bitachon is for masters
The ultimate goal of all avodas Hashem
Is called bitachon
Emuna is mentioned throughout the Torah
It’s a mitzva
Bitachon is too
Distinct from emuna
But not emphasized in the Torah
Failure in emuna is heresy
Failure in bitachon is condoned
Even encouraged
Avraham Avinu is called ראש למאמינים
Not לבוטחים
Moshe Rabenu is called רעיא מהימנא
He guides us in emuna development
Not bitachon
Want a Masters in avodas Hashem?
Yaakov Avinu Asked To Reveal
יעקב אל בניו
And He Did
The world’s endgame:
1-Shechina disappearance
2-Emuna challenge
3-שמעו בני יעקב
Who is ישראל אביכם?
He’s broadcasting brochos
תדיר כאשר תריד
Hot Shower Before Shabbos
That shower requires a Lurianic kavana
Think ‘שלהבת = שבת לה
Why not warm up by a fireplace?
Why not hot soup, or food?
The third and fourth letter of the Torah
Are אש
Surrounded by ברי“ת
Yaakov Avinu is אש
Yosef HaTzadik is שלהבת
אש is internal
שלהבת leaps and bounds
Yosef brings Yaakov
To the great outdoors
קבלת שבת
Shabbos Shalom
Chanuka Climaxes With זאת
Which appears once in shemoneh esreh
Find it and formulate
Why Chazal chose to enrich
That brocho
With the high-beams
Of Chanuka
Avraham Avinu
Is already a fully fledged prophet
Has been coronated king of the world
And has converted it to monotheism
His earns an letter addition
Only years later
A letter that doesn’t appear in any of his children or grandchildren
Until Yehuda comes along
Ask Hashem
To help you understand
And ask how you too can earn that letter addition
Even if you’re lucky enough
To have it already in your name
Shabbos Shalom
The Raven Doesn’t Do It
He’s slated for a different mission
About 1500 years later
Makes sense, right?
Your mission
If you choose to accept it
Is to fly around tonight
Asking for a satisfactory answer
Torah is meant to be understood
Especially Rashi on the parsha
Misunderstanding
Is the mabul itself
Shabbos Shalom
Why Eat On Shabbos Kodesh?
“ודע שעיקר כבוד שבת היא האכילה”
Keep ulterior motives to a minimum
Hashem wants us to integrate eternity
Infinitize our human condition
The נפש יתירה of Shabbos comes in
When we say באי כלה three times
באי כלה=באכילה
Some say it only twice
They might also eat bread at only two שבת meals
And possibly make light of daily maariv responsibilities
Third meal and maariv correspond to Yaakov Avinu
“ובכן תן כבוד לעמך” does too
We honor Hashem by going the extra mile
“והקדישו את קדוש יעקב”
ס“א refers to absolute constriction
א”ס refers to אין סוף
“היום“ is repeated three times in one posuk
Requiring three Shabbos meals
יעק“ב
שבת בראשית שלום
Tonight In Your Sukkas Shalom
You might be inspired to invite the Ushpizin Kadishin
Why not, right?
Well, if you invite them, they all come
Each meal you invite them to
And if you’re hosting people in need
They bless you with all they’ve got
If it’s just friends and family
Nobody in need
The Ushpizin rain down curses
Yes, curses
If you’re the baal habayis
And you want Ushpizin benefits
You’ve got two options:
1-Invite at least one needy person each time
2-Sponsor a meal for the needy with your local tzedaka each time
Otherwise
Don’t invite the Ushpizin
חג שמח