BS"D

Purim
By Yitzhak Kolakowski

Warmest greetings from the Holy City.

My dear friends, we all know that the Gemara says a man is required to
drink on Purim "until he doesn't know the difference between 'cursed
is Haman' and 'blessed is Mordecai'."  However, many people make a
mistake about what the Gemara is saying.  If we look carefully, we
see it doesn't say that we, chas veshalom, shouldn't know the
difference between Haman and Mordechai.  Rather, it says we shouldn't
know the difference between "Cursed is Haman" and "Blessed is
Mordechai".

Let us go back to the earliest days of Humanity in Eden.  We know
that the Yetzer Hara, in the form of the Nachash (original Serpent)
tempted and succeeded in making Havah (Eve) eat from the Etz HaDaath
(the Tree of Knowledge).  After Adam and Havah ate from the tree, and
they knew that they were naked, Hashem asked them, "Who told you that
you were naked?  Did you eat from (in Hebrew 'Hamin', spelt the same
as 'Haman') that tree that I told you not to?"  (Berexxxxh/Genesis
3:11).  Our sages tell us that this is the reference to Haman in the
Torah.  After that we knew the difference between good and evil.  The
Yetzer Hara lost its legs and became a snake in the grass, able to
attack us without our realizing.

Sometimes, the snake is so tricky, it makes us think we are doing the
right thing when we are actually doing a sin.  The Yetzer Hara can
make us hate those we are supposed to love and love those we are
supposed to hate.  Our job is to love tzaddikim, as we are supposed
to copy Hashem and Hashem "loves the Tzaddikim" (Tehillim/Psalms
146:8).  We also must hate those wicked people who, h"v, hate Hashem,
as David Hamelech said "I hate those who hate You, HaShem...  with
the utmost hatred I hate them!  They are my enemies!"  (ibid. 139:21-
22).

However, the Yetzer Hara confuses us.  Many people think it is
somehow "intelligent" to love evil people, as we see many non-
religious Jews who want to help the Arabs, r"l.  This all stems from
eating from that tree of "knowledge", the tree of Haman.

Even if people love Tzaddikim, they sometimes have a problem hating
the wicked.

On Purim we drink so we don't know the difference between
"Arur Haman" and "Baruch Mordechai".  We drink so we realize that it
is just as big of a mitzvah to hate the wicked as it is to love the
good.  Indeed, this is the ultimate mercy.  When we drink on Purim,
responsibly, we clear away that damage of the Tree of Knowledge
(until you don't KNOW!), and we see that all that matters in the
world is serving HaShem, and not caring how many Nobel Prizes were
won by Jews.  A Blatt Gemara or a Perek of Chumash is a much greater
accomplishment than a million Nobel Prizes.  On Purim we drink to rid
ourselves of this defilement of the "inteligencia" and purify
ourselves with the truth of the Torah.

Freilichen Purim!