English translation — פורים ב

Sicha on <pg>177</pg>

1.

It is stated in the Gemara<sup>1</sup>

: "Rava said: A person is obligated to become intoxicated

(to become drunk with wine<sup>2</sup>)

on Purim until he does not know between 'Cursed is Haman' and 'Blessed is Mordechai'"<sup>3</sup>.

And following this: "Rabbah and Rabbi Zeira made a Purim feast together,

they became intoxicated

(they became drunk<sup>2</sup>),

Rabbah arose and slaughtered Rabbi Zeira,

the next day he begged for mercy and revived him.

The next year he said to him: Let the master come and let us make a Purim feast together,

he said to him: Not every hour does a miracle occur."

And superficially, this story according to its simple meaning requires explanation and elucidation,

how can it be said that Rabbah stumbled in a matter of

(even the offshoots of the offshoots of)

shedding of blood, heaven forbid⁴?

In one of the glosses of the Maharsha¹

he explains that there was not here a matter of actual death

(that he slaughtered [him] literally),

but rather "a kind of slaughter,

for wine overcame him and forced him to drink excessively until he became ill and was near death."

And similarly⁵

he also explained in the glosses of the Yaavetz¹

— "that they did not actually slaughter [him]...

(but rather)

by sleight of hand...

(only)

that the onlookers thought that they actually slaughtered [him]...

even Rabbi Zeira was affected by them, he was seized with trembling and fainted from great worry etc.'"

But in addition to this, that the plain meaning of the story and especially its conclusion "the next day he begged for mercy and he revived"<sup>*5</sup>

is not understood according to this,

still this does not resolve the conduct of Rabbah,

that after all he damaged the health of Rabbi Zeira

(to the point that "he was near death"),

which is a Torah prohibition to injure one's fellow in any manner whatsoever, and especially — as above?

In the responsa of the Chasam Sofer<sup>6</sup>

he connects this that Rabbah slaughtered Rabbi Zeira with the words of the Gemara<sup>7</sup>

"One who is [born] under Mars will be a man who sheds blood

(sheds blood)..

Said Rabbah: I am under Mars etc.'"

But see Yaavetz¹

who writes "But blood certainly Rabba did not spill,

even if he was in Mars",

and ostensibly one cannot say that there was by Rabba a matter of bloodshed,

G-d forbid.

And as explained in the Rambam etc.⁸,

that this that a person is born with a nature

(including the planet Mars)

determined is not a contradiction to free choice,

and on the contrary,

and certainly there were given to him the powers to overcome his natural inclinations⁹,

and certainly so it was by Rabba.

<pg>178</pg>

And even more perplexing:

In the continuation of the story it is explained

(as above)

"Next year he said to him: Let the master come and we will make a Purim feast together" — that is: not only do we not find in the Gemara that Rabbah repented for this deed,

but furthermore,

that the next year he again invited R' Zeira to celebrate etc. with him the Purim feast

(even though he knows that what happened last year might occur)

!

Moreover: The reason that R' Zeira did not respond to Rabbah's invitation was only because "not at every hour does a miracle occur",

that is,

that in essence he was ready also this year to celebrate the Purim feast together with Rabbah,

even though it is possible that Rabbah would do what he did last year¹⁰,

and the reason he did not agree was only because he was not certain that also this time the miracle would occur that Rabbah would revive him after Purim!

2.

And behold we find explanations¹¹

in the manner of homiletics and mysticism,

that this story that "they became intoxicated, Rabbah arose and slaughtered Rabbi Zeira" alludes to spiritual matters.

And according to this one could say that it is only a parable,

and in the manner that we find the matter of "they became intoxicated" in the incident of Rabbah bar bar Chanah¹²

— that it is only a parable

(and in the manner of several of the stories in the section of Rabbah bar bar Chanah,

which are parables and allusions to spiritual matters¹³,

and not that they actually occurred physically).

But one cannot explain thus in our case

(that the story of Rabbah and Rabbi Zeira is only a parable and allusion to a spiritual matter)

— for this story is brought in the continuation

(and as support, reinforcement, and example)

to a halachic ruling in the Gemara,

"a person is obligated to become intoxicated on Purim until he does not know",

that Rabbah and Rabbi Zeira fulfilled the obligation "to become intoxicated...

until he does not know" in actual practice; and since it deals with a matter of halachah,

necessarily one must explain,

that this story was literal,

and not

(only)

in the spirituality of the matters

[unlike the stories of Rabbah bar bar Chanah mentioned above,

which are brought in the aggadic part of the Gemara].

And so it is proven from the words of the Ran and Baal HaMeor&lt;sup&gt;14&lt;/sup&gt;

who brought that which "the Ra'avad wrote from that incident that Rabbah arose and slaughtered R' Zeira..

the statement of Rava is rejected,

and the halacha is not like him,

and it is not proper to do so."

And it is proven from this that their simple understanding is that the story of Rabbah and R' Zeira is literal — and damage was caused

(death)

to R' Zeira,

because otherwise there is no place to say that because of this the obligation to get drunk on Purim etc. would be nullified.

3.

And therefore it seems to say,

that this story was literal,

that as a result of a state of "intoxication" was caused

(by Rabbah)

literal death to R' Zeira — and nevertheless this death was

(and the act of Rabbah)

in such a manner that there is in it no trace even of spilling innocent blood or in any way an undesirable matter,

and to such an extent — that also for the next year Rabbah wanted to repeat again that same conduct.

And it can be explained in this regarding the introduction explained about the matter of the death of Nadav and Avihu¹⁵

— that as the saying of our sages¹⁶

<pg>179</pg>

they died because "drunk with wine they entered the Sanctuary,"

this death was connected

(result)

from drinking wine too much.

And it is known the claim: it is explicit in the verse that Moshe said to Aharon "This is what Hashem spoke, saying, 'I will be sanctified through those who are near Me'"&lt;sup&gt;17&lt;/sup&gt;,

And in Rashi "Now I see that they are greater than me and than you" — and how is it possible that there should be by them something undesirable and especially to such an extent that they would enter the Sanctuary "drunk with wine"?

And it is explained in this&lt;sup&gt;18&lt;/sup&gt;

according to what is said in the Ohr HaChaim HaKadosh&lt;sup&gt;19&lt;/sup&gt;,

that Nadav and Avihu died because of the greatness of their desire to draw near to the Holy One, blessed be He,

that "they did not refrain from closeness to pleasantness sweetness friendship belovedness kisses sweetness until the exhaustion of their souls from them".

And in the language of the verse&lt;sup&gt;19&lt;/sup&gt;

"when they drew near before Hashem and they died",

that is,

that the cause of their death is "their drawing near before Hashem"&lt;sup&gt;20&lt;/sup&gt;.

And this is also the explanation of "Those who were drunk with wine entered the Sanctuary": the intention of "wine" is

to the secrets and inner dimensions of the Torah,

as the statement

"wine entered, a secret emerged",

for just as physical wine reveals what is hidden in a person's heart,

so it is in spirituality,

that "the wine of the Torah" means the revelation of the secrets of the Torah

; and "those who were drunk with wine" indicates the greatness and intensity of the revelation of the inner dimension of the Torah,

to the point of a state of "consumption of the soul"

[for just as with "those who were drunk with wine" in its simple sense, the wine causes the nullification of the senses,

so the greatness of this revelation and this yearning caused among them the nullification of the senses,

and even to the consumption of the soul].

And therefore after this event the Torah warned "do not drink wine or intoxicating drink",

that it is forbidden to drink "wine in a state of intoxication",

that in this is hinted,

that when one "drinks" the wine of the Torah,

the secrets and mysteries of the Torah,

one must be careful not to come to a state of "intoxication" of "consumption of the soul",

and it must be in a manner of "he entered in peace and he went out in peace",

as is known the explanation of this,

that the entry into the "orchard" must be "in peace",

in such a manner that certainly the exit will be "in peace" — souls in bodies.

<pg>180</pg>

4.

And behold, it is simple,

that this explanation of "those who are drunk with wine entered the Sanctuary" did not come to remove the matter and the verse from its plain meaning — for it is explicit in the verse

(as above),

that after this the Torah warned "wine and strong drink do not drink",

the prohibition to drink "wine in a state of intoxication" in its plain sense.

And if so, it must be said,

that also by Nadav and Avihu there was a matter of drinking wine

(also)

in the physical.

And one can explain the meaning of the matter,

that by Nadav and Avihu the drinking of wine in its plain sense was connected with the revelation of "wine" of the Torah

(secrets and mysteries of the Torah).

And as explained in the Shlah&lt;sup&gt;31&lt;/sup&gt;,

that this which we find by "the holy ones who are in the land..

who drank sometimes much more than enough at great feasts..

their intention in this was for the sake of Heaven, for through the wine feast they would cause much merriment and thereby they would say many words of Torah at the table, double and more than wisdom..

for from joy the wise one reveals the secrets of the Torah..

for with the increase of joy the intellectual power that is in the soul is strengthened, and then he is more prepared to reveal the hidden things of wisdom..

wine enters, a secret emerges..

that through the wine feast words of Torah, which are called secret, etc., emerged"&lt;sup&gt;32&lt;/sup&gt;.

And so it was by Nadav and Avihu,

who were "holy" in the utmost — "I will be sanctified through those who are near Me" as above,

that through "they drank..

much more than enough" there were revealed to them the secrets of the Torah until they reached the point of expiration of the soul.

And based on this, one can say that this was also the cause of the death of Rabbi Zeira — that it was in the manner of the death of Nadav and Avihu,

that what it says "that he sinned" is

(as the Maharsha says)

"that wine overcame him..

to drink excessively",

and "he became ill and inclined to die"

(not through physical wine,

but rather)

that is, the expiration of the soul through an abundance of "drinking"

(revelation)

of the "wine" of the Torah

(secrets of the Torah).

Nevertheless, this does not remove the matter from its simple meaning — that it was the drinking of wine in its simple sense

(in the manner mentioned above regarding Nadav and Avihu)

; and also the death of Rabbi Zeira was in its simple sense,

the actual separation of the soul from the body

(not merely fainting)

— and therefore Rabbi Efrayim holds that because of the incident of Rabbah and Rabbi Zeira, the obligation of "lebasumei" was nullified.

And according to this it is well understood that there is here no aspect of bloodshed, heaven forbid, at all,

for the death was the expiration of the soul in the study of the secrets of the Torah of Rabbi Zeira.

And with this is also explained the emphasis of the Gemara "Ibsamu" — "they became intoxicated"

(plural),

that is,

that Rabbah and Rabbi Zeira both became intoxicated,

and it implies that the intoxication of both caused "Rabbah arose and slaughtered Rabbi Zeira" — because

(not only the deed of Rabbah but)

also the death of Rabbi Zeira was because he reached a state of intoxication that brings to "expiration of the soul" of the person as above,

except that this was done to him by Rabbah,

"Rabbah arose and slaughtered Rabbi Zeira",

as below section 6.

5.

And this is the content of the story that "Rabbah and R. Zeira made a Purim feast together, they became intoxicated

(they became drunk)

":

Their drinking of the wine

(literally)

was with the intention as above in the Shelah,

that from the feast of wine there would be revealed to them the wine of the Torah,

secrets of the Torah²⁵.

And so it was,

that through their drinking at this feast there were revealed to them secrets and mysteries of the Torah of the most elevated kind,

until the ultimate elevation of "until one does not know"³³.

<pg>181</pg>

But even though both became intoxicated,

nevertheless only by Rabbi Zeira did this bring actual expiration of the soul.

And the reason — because Rabbah had a greater intellect

("expanded intellect"),

therefore he could receive the intense revelation of the secrets of Torah,

but Rabbi Zeira could not contain this revelation

[And as hinted also in their names&lt;sup&gt;34&lt;/sup&gt;

: "Rabbah" indicates greatness,

and "Zeira" indicates smallness,

from the term "ze'ira"&lt;sup&gt;35&lt;/sup&gt;].

And therefore by Rabbi Zeira there came through this actual expiration of the soul,

until his soul departed from his body literally; but Rabbah

(by himself),

did not come to expiration of the soul.

6.

Based on this, one can explain the interpretation of "Rabbah arose and slaughtered R. Zeira"

[For prima facie it should have said "killed him" or the like]

:

It is stated in the Gemara³⁶

"There is no 'and he slaughtered' but rather 'and he drew',"

that is, the content of the matter of slaughter is —

(drawing and)

elevation,

since,

through slaughter they make the animal fit for human consumption,

and through this they elevate the animal from the category of animal to the category of speaker

(that it becomes blood and flesh like his flesh — of the speaker),

and as explained in many places³⁷,

that for this reason slaughter was permitted despite the matter of cruelty to animals — because through this they elevate the slaughtered to a higher level.

And in our matter: the explanation of "Rabba slaughtered R. Zeira"

("forced him to drink excessively")

is — that Rabba drew

(slaughtered)

and elevated R. Zeira to an incomparably higher level

(by this that he revealed to him secrets and mysteries of the Torah most deep

("excessively")

relative to his regular study according to his level),

and this thing brought him to soul-expiration literally,

and as with Nadav and Avihu.

And both matters exist — that the intention in "slaughtered him" is to expire and separate the soul from the body literally

(not only fainting),

and together with this — it is not a matter of bloodshed G-d forbid,

but on the contrary,

a most elevated matter — soul-expiration

(in the manner of Nadav and Avihu).

[And this is also the precision of the expression "Kam Rabbah shechatei l'Rabbi Zeira" — for at first glance,

it should have said "shechatei Rabbah l'Rabbi Zeira" and what is "Kam Rabbah"?

And one can explain this: "Kam" indicates the ascent of Rabbah to a most elevated level

(vayakam — a rising he had³⁸),

"to become intoxicated until he did not know."

But regarding Rabbah himself,

since he had vessels of "Rabbah",

even when he was in a state of "Kam"

(a great ascent even relative to the level of Rabbah),

it did not cause the expiration of the soul.

But regarding Rabbi Zeira,

when Rabbah revealed to him the matters that he attained then

(in the state of "Kam"),

through this — his soul expired,

"shechatei l'Rabbi Zeira",

literally].

And seemingly, how would Rabbah bring Rabbi Zeira to [a state of] expiration of the soul,

the opposite of the intention that it should be "to dwell in His handiwork"³⁹,

souls in bodies specifically — because Rabbah said and valued Rabbi Zeira that he is of the level of Rabbah and would not come to expiration of the soul.

And in greater depth, one could say: since Rabbah had in his power to effect "and I will revive"⁴⁰

— to return the soul of Rabbi Zeira to his body,

therefore this was not a contradiction to the intention of souls in bodies specifically,

for expiration<pg>182</pg>

The soul by Rabbi Zeira was only a temporary matter — during the day of Purim

(since then there is the obligation "to become intoxicated..

until he does not know"&lt;sup&gt;33&lt;/sup&gt;)

— unlike "the next day"

(after Purim&lt;sup&gt;41&lt;/sup&gt;,

when there is no obligation "to become intoxicated..

until he does not know" and on the contrary)

— "he requested mercy and lived"&lt;sup&gt;42&lt;/sup&gt;,

in accordance with the higher intention — souls in bodies specifically,

in the manner of "he entered in peace

(for a period of time,

and afterwards)

he left in peace".

7.

According to the above, the continuation of the Gemara story also works out well — "The next year he said to him: Let the master come and we will make the Purim feast together,

He said to him: Not every hour does a miracle occur":

Not only did Rabbah not regret what happened at the previous Purim feast,

but on the contrary — he invited R. Zeira to hold the Purim feast together also this year,

with the intention that also this year he would effect in R. Zeira such a great elevation until soul-consuming.

And since the purpose of the intention is souls in bodies — therefore after Purim he would revive him

(as was the deed of Rabbah the previous year),

and there would be in R. Zeira the two virtues: the elevation of soul-consuming and the elevation of fulfilling the intention of souls in bodies.

[Or in a slightly different manner: Rabbah thought that during the year R. Zeira had risen to a higher level,

and he was already able to attain very deep secrets and mysteries of the Torah in a way that would not lead to actual soul-consuming,

separation of the soul from the body].

And about this R' Zeira answered him — "Not at every hour and hour does a miracle occur": he desires and yearns for the elevation of the consuming of the soul

[in the manner of "When will it come to my hand and I will fulfill it"⁴³],

And because of this he wanted to conduct the Purim feast together with Rabbah also this year; but nevertheless,

since the ultimate intention is souls in bodies,

he is concerned that after he reaches the consuming of the soul, his soul will no longer want to descend and be invested in his body,

And who knows if also this time Rabbah will succeed to effect a "miracle" such that the soul of R"Z will want to descend and be invested at least in his body — "Not at every hour and hour does a miracle occur"⁴⁴.

8.

And behold, in halacha it is ruled in Shulchan Aruch⁴⁵

that there is an obligation to get inebriated on Purim until he does not know,

And we are not concerned that from this will branch out any undesirable thing etc.

And from this it is understood also regarding the spiritual content of drinking wine "until he does not know" — namely to learn in a manner of "in her love you will be led astray"⁴⁶

secrets<pg>183</pg>

("wine")

the Torah,

until he reaches a state of "drunkenness" and nullification of his existence⁴⁷,

That on Purim the power is given to each and every one of Israel,

each one with all your might

(yours)

in the manner of his own measure,

to fulfill this "two" and to attain such attachment in the secrets of the Torah that nullifies one's existence,

without concern that from this service he will come to a conduct of seclusion and withdrawal from the world,

the opposite of the intention of "to settle its creation",

but on the contrary,

through the fulfillment of this obligation on the day of Purim,

there will be added to him vitality in the service of G-d throughout the entire year,

in making a dwelling place for Him, blessed be He, in the lower realms — "he entered in peace and went out in peace".

(From talks of Shabbat Parshat Shemini and Shabbat Parshat Tazria 5744)