The law was decided like Rabbi Joshua as explained in the Shulchan Aruch (529:1): “The holiday commandments should be divided, half the time for studying in the study hall, and the other half for eating and drinking.”
Yom Kippur is not a day of sadness like the fast of Tisha B'Av, but a happy day in which the Jewish people's sins achieved atonement. As Rabban Shimon ben Gamliel said, “The happiest days for the Jews were the fifteenth of Av and Yom Kippur” (Taanit 26b).
We wonder: where on Yom Kippur do we have the “half for you”?
The Kuntres Be’er Eliyahu on the Book of Esther wrote in the name of the Vilna Gaon, that the “half for you” of Yom Kippur is the day of Purim, since the two holidays are equally great. This is because the same closeness to God that can be obtained on Yom Kippur by fasting and repentance, can be obtained on Purim by eating and drinking.
This means that throughout the year a servant of God tends to focus on his shortcomings, blame himself for his failures, and painfully introspect how far he is from God. He may end up ignoring all his achievements and may not even be aware that he is inwardly eager and yearning for the Creator of the universe. But on Purim, the day the Jewish people re-accepted the Torah with love, the very day has a special propensity which is different from the rest of the year.
On this day, the Jew’s inner purity comes out by eating and drinking and imbibing of wine. In his state of intoxication, he speaks of his longing for G-d and his great yearning for the holy Torah. In the yeshiva world, it is well known that many have had spiritually uplifting experiences particularly on Purim.
The difference is that what one gains on Yom Kippur by working on one’s fear of God, one gains on Purim through love of God. Both of them perfect a person. Yom Kippur is the “half for God” and Purim is the “half for you.” Together, they complete each other and are one.
The essence of Yom Kippur is God’s power and justice, while the essence of Purim is God’s grace and mercy. Together they comprise the perfect balance of the quality of Majesty (Tiferet).
Even though these two great days are not near each other in the Jewish calendar, their essence is related and connected and derives from the same root. This idea is explained in Tikkunei Zohar (Tikkun 21, page 57b) “Purim is named after Yom Kippur, because in the future, the Jews will delight in [Yom Kippur] and it will change from [a day of] affliction [by fasting] to [a day of] pleasure.”
This means that in the future when the evil inclination will be nullified, there will be no more sins to fast for, and then Yom Kippur will become a day of pleasure without need for fasting and affliction. People will become elevated on this day through joy instead of through suffering. Purim is named after Yom Kippur already now, as the Tikkunei Ha-Zohar says, because already now it is similar to what will be in the future. Therefore, one can acquire the advantages of the future, perfect Yom Kippur already now, on Purim day!
And although the meaning of Yom Kippur’s name shows that it is similar to Purim, the Tikkunei HaZohar should be understood that Yom Kippur was given its name now as a hint to the future. At that time, when Yom Kippur will have achieved its perfect state, it will be like Purim today. These matters are wonderful to reflect.
This is why the divine service on Yom Kippur and Purim is identical. As opposed to the rest of the year, both of them focus on a Jew’s past spiritual work. Throughout the year, a person’s main toil should be directed to the future: What else can I achieve spiritually? I’ll learn Torah, I’ll strengthen my fear of God, I will keep commandments and pray, I’ll work on character improvement.
But on Yom Kippur, a Jew focuses on sins he committed in the past, and on Purim — commandments that he fulfilled in the past. Yom Kippur is a day of remorse for the past, and Purim is a day of joy for the past. And that is the reason why the joy of Purim is generated by means of drinking — to peel off the feeling of distance from God Almighty that surrounds a person all year when he (rightly) demands of himself more, contemplates his faults in order to correct them, and berates himself for not reaching the levels he wants to reach. On Purim, our service is to reveal the inner true point where we are close to God, and to enjoy whatever we achieved.
This can be compared to a tycoon who is busy the whole year supervising his workers and managing his account books. When necessary, he rebukes a worker who was negligent in his work and sometimes even gets angry at himself for not having spent more time at his job and for oversleeping in the morning and arriving late to work.
However, he regularly devotes himself two days a year to making an inventory of all his wealth. One day he devotes to clarifying any losses he has from failed investments, to inspect what he did wrong, and while expressing regret for those mistakes, trying to figure out how not to err again. The other day is dedicated to entering his treasure vault, and enjoying the vast amount of money and diamonds and gems that he owns, and which all belong to him.
This is the day of Purim. A servant of God who feasts his eyes on the abundant treasure house of commandments that he performed, and his spiritual growth over the years, should be filled with joy and excitement.
A wonderful illustration of the enormous joy that should fill us when we perform even one mitzvah, is brought in the book Maarchei Lev: “If a person would realize the value of even one commandment, he would be filled with joy forever. After all, “One who saves a Jew’s life is considered as if he saved the whole world.” (Sanhedrin 37a). This is because that Jew will now be able to observe one Shabbat, or another commandment.
We see from this that the value of a commandment is compared to an entire world. If we think about it, every person owns “entire worlds.” I heard it said in the name of the dean of the Kamenetz Yeshiva, Rabbi Baruch Ber: “If people would understand the meaning of the blessing 'for not making me a gentile’, they would break out in dance: ‘God in heaven, whatever I am, I am, but I am not a gentile!'”
Every commandment a person does that brings him eternal life, and every spiritual level he manages to scale, already confers on him a vast award that alone should bring great joy. Our divine service on Purim is to assess the great abundance that we achieved, rejoice in it, and take that energy and utilize it for the coming days to achieve even more.
One who serves the King out of joy instead of out of coercion and misery, will be especially beloved to the King, and will receive from Him even beyond what he deserves by law. This is the deeper meaning of the Purim commandment that we give charity to everyone who stretches out his hand (Yerushalmi Megillah 1:4). This commandment which was given to us on earth below, reflects the conduct of the King of the universe Above on this day.
