Preparation: A Question For Those Knowledgeable in Chassidus
Unfortunately I do not have a lot of new Purim related material to share. I am still trying to scratch the surface and get a better understanding of this holiday myself.
While I was reviewing books on the subject, I ran across this teaching from Likutey Moharan II:74:
Purim is a preparation for Pesach. Through the mitzvah of Purim we are protected from the chometz on Pesach.
In my own slow-paced learning of Likutey Moharan, I have not yet reached this lesson. I can't say that I fully comprehend what Rebbe Nachman of Breslov is trying to teach us. I know that joy is the main aspect of Purim and that chometz symbolizes the character trait of arrogance. I don't yet understand how the joy we experience on Purim helps protect us from arrogance.
3 Comments:
Perhaps Purim joy is more about selflessness -- getting caught up in the "leibedik" spirit of those around you, giving mishloach manot, "matanot l'evyonim". You extend yourself to others. There is no time to think of YOU, unlike chometz = arrogance.
A possible theory...?
I have a question. How can joy exist at the same time as arrogance? I don't think it is possible. ~C
In G-d you come up against something which is in every respect immeasurably superior to yourself. Unless you know G-d as that--and therefore, know yourself as nothing in comparison--you do not know G-d at all. As long as you are proud you cannot kn-w God. A proud man is always looking down on things and people: and, of course, as long as you are looking down, you cannot see something that is above you.
~C
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