Here is a reprint of an article which brings many of the opinions concerning the Halachas of Purim. As I already have explained it is a commandment to drink during the festive meal we eat on Purim. While all sages agree that this doesn't mean we get drunk on Purim it does say that we should drink more than we usually do {which I did this Purim}.
http://vbm-torah.org/archive/moadim69/18-69moed.htm Shiur #18: The Laws of Purim
Seudat Purim, Matanot La-evyonim and Mishloach Manot
Rav David Brofsky
Introduction We read toward the end of the Megilla (9:20-22) that Mordekhai sent letters to the Jews of the provinces of Achashveirosh, announcing the establishment of the Purim festival. He wrote:
… that they should keep yearly the fourteenth day of the month Adar, and the fifteenth day of the same, the days wherein the Jews had rest from their enemies, and the month which was turned unto them from sorrow to gladness, and from mourning into a good day; that they should make them days of feasting and gladness, and of sending portions one to another, and gifts to the poor. Mordekhai enacted three components to the Purim celebration: “feasting and gladness,” “sending portions one to another” (mishlo’ach manot), and “gifts to the poor” (matanot la-evyonim).
This week, we will discuss the details and parameters of each of these mitzvot, including the specific obligation of “chayav inish li-vsumei” – to become inebriated on Purim.
Seudat Purim The festive meal of Purim, known as the se’udat purim, is one of the central components of the Purim holiday, both experientially and halakhically, as the Megilla itself characterizes the days of Purim as "days of feasting and gladness."
When should one conduct this festive meal?
The Gemara records:
Rava said: one who eats the festive Purim meal at night has not fulfilled his obligation. What is the reason? It says: "days of feasting and gladness." Rav Ashi was sitting in front of Rav Kahana; it became dark, and the Rabbis didn’t come. He said to him: Why didn’t the Rabbis come? Maybe they were busy with the festive Purim meal. He (Rav Kahana) said: Was it not possible for them to eat [their Purim meal] the previous night? He (Rav Ashi) responded: Didn’t [you] hear that which Mar said in the name of Rava: one who eats the festive Purim meal at night has not fulfilled his obligation? … Rava clearly rules that the festive meal must be eaten during the day of Purim, and not the previous night. The Rambam (Hilkhot Megilla 2:14), the Rashba and Ritva (Megilla 4a) rule in accordance with this Gemara, as does the Shulchan Arukh (695:1).
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Chayav Inish Li-vsumei- The Obligation to Drink Wine on Purim The Gemara (Megilla 7b) teaches:
One is obligated to become intoxicated on Purim until he cannot distinguish between “cursed is Haman” and “blessed is Mordekhai.” Rabba and R. Zeira held the festive Purim meal together. They got drunk and Rabba slaughtered R. Zeira. The next day, he prayed for him and he was resurrected. The next year, [Rabba] said to him: Let us hold the festive Purim meal together. [R. Zeira] said to him: miracles do not occur every hour. This startling passage raises many questions.
Regarding the facts of the story, the Maharsha (R. Shmuel Eidels, 1555–1631), in his commentary to this passage, explains that Rabba certainly didn't kill R. Zeira. Rather, he forced him to drink excessively, which made him ill. The Maharsha suggests that the unusual term “shachtei” ("slaughtered") employed by the Gemara refers to what Rabba did to Rabbi Zeira’s throat – forcing him to drink.
From a practical, halakhic perspective, of course, the more pressing question is how we must understand the Gemara’s initial statement. Is there really an obligation to become inebriated on Purim, and, if so, to what extent?
The Rishonim take different approaches in interpreting this passage and determining the halakha.
The Ba'al Ha-ma’or (to the Rif, Megilla 3b), cites Rabbeinu Efrayim as explaining the story of Rabba and R. Zeira as intended to contradict and reject the Gemara’s initial statement requiring drinking on Purim. Accordingly, the Ba'al Ha-ma’or rules that there is no obligation to drink on Purim. The Ran (ibid.) concurs.
Many other Rishonim, by contrast, including the Rif (3b) and Rosh (1:8), cite this passage verbatim, implying that while the story of Rabba and R. Zeira may serve as a warning against excessive intoxication, fundamentally, Halakha accepts the Gemara's initial statement.
Interestingly, the Rambam (Hilkhot Megilla 2:15), writes:
How does one fulfill this obligation of the [Purim] meal? He should eat meat and arrange a meal according to his means, and DRINK WINE UNTIL HE BECOMES INEBRIATED AND FALLS ASLEEP AS A RESULT… The Rambam adds that one should drink until he falls asleep, while omitting the Gemara's description of drinking "until one cannot distinguish between 'cursed is Haman' and 'blessed is Mordekhai'.” Why does the Rambam reformulate the Gemara's dictum, and does his new formulation alter the demands of this mitzva?
The Rema (695:2) seems to have understood that one drinks until he falls asleep, and thereby fulfills the requirement to drink until he cannot distinguish between “cursed is Haman” and “blessed is Mordekhai.” The Arukh Ha-shulchan (695:3), by contrast, explains that the story of Rabba and R. Zeira serves to modify the initial statement, and reject the extreme obligation first proposed by the Gemara. In other words, while one should become mildly intoxicated on Purim, excessive inebriated is not mandated (and therefore, not permitted!).
The Orchot Chayim (Hilkhot Purim) also rejects those who mandate complete inebriation, and writes that one should merely "drink more than one is accustomed." He also rules that becoming completely inebriated constitutes a serious sin, as we shall see shortly.
The Tur (695) and the Shulkhan Aruch (695:2), following the Rif and Rosh, cite this Talmudic passage verbatim. Interestingly enough, the Arukh Ha-shulchan (695:5) expresses astonishment over the Tur and Shulchan Arukh’s ruling in accordance with the Rif and Rosh, rather than the more moderate positions of other Rishonim.
The Rema, however, writes:
And some say that one need not drink that much, and should rather drink more than he is accustomed to and then sleep, and by sleeping he cannot distinguish between the cursed Haman and blessed Mordekhai. Regardless of whether does a lot or a little, he should focus his heart towards the heavens. Many Acharonim, including the Mishna Berura (695:5) and Arukh Ha-shulchan (695:5), advocate following the Rema’s ruling.
When does one fulfill this mitzva?
The Rambam (2:15), and, later, the Tur and Shulkhan Arukh (605), imply that this mitzva is part of the obligation to participate in a festive Purim meal. R. Shimon Sofer, in his Hitorerut Teshuva (1:6), infers from the story of R. Zeira who refused to attend Rabba's Purim meal the next year (see above), that the drinking must accompany the Purim meal.
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Matanot La-Evyonim As mentioned above, the Megilla (9:22) relates that Mordekhai instructed the Jewish people to "make them [the days of Purim] days of feasting and gladness, and of sending portions one to another, and gifts to the poor."
Rabbi Yair Chayim Bacharach (1639-1702; author of Chavot Yair) writes in his work Mekor Chayim (O.C. 695) that one should fulfill the mitzva of mishlo’ach manot before giving matanot la-evyonim, since the verse (Esther 9:22) lists mishlo’ach manot before matanot la-evyonim.
Others (see, for example, R. Betzalel Stern [1911-1989], in his Be-tzel Ha-chokhma 6:81) disagree. In fact, the Yesod Ve-shoresh Ha-avoda (12:6) and R. Yaakov Emden (in his siddur) write that one should actually give matanot la-evyonim before shacharit on Purim morning! Furthermore, the Tur and Shulchan Arukh (694-5) record the laws of matanot la-evyonim BEFORE the laws of mishlo’ach manot, perhaps suggesting that matanot la-evyonim should be given first. Moreover, the Rambam writes (Hilkhot Megilla 2:17):
It is better for a person to increase his gifts to the poor than to increase the size of his Purim meal or mishlo’ach manot. For there is no greater and more admirable joy than to gladden the hearts of the destitute, orphans, widows and converts. One who gladdens the hearts of the misfortunate is likened unto the Divine Presence. .
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Mishlo’ach Manot A number of possible reasons have been suggested for the mitzva of mishlo’ach manot (“sending portions one to another").
Some relate the mitzva of mishlo’ach manot to the broader mitzva of the festive Purim meal, either in that it ensures that the less fortunate will have food for a festive meal, or as it serves an extension of one's own personal obligation to hold a festive se’udat Purim.
The Terumat Ha-deshen (111), for example, writes, “The reason for mishlo’ach manot is to ensure that each and every person has sufficient means to hold a proper Purim meal.”
Similarly, the Rambam (Hilkhot Megilla 2:15) writes:
How should one fulfill the obligation of a festive meal? He should eat meat and assemble a proper meal according to his means, and drink wine until becoming inebriated… and similarly, one is obligated to send two portions of meat or two cooked dishes of two types of food to his fellow… The Rambam clearly implies that the mitzva of mishlo’ach manot stems from the obligation to partake of a festive meal.
Others understand mishlo’ach manot as an independent mitzva instituted for the purpose of increasing friendship, in the interest of rectifying the divisiveness that Haman observed among the Jewish people: “There is one nation scattered and dispersed among the [other] nations" (3:8). (See, for example, the Chatam Sofer [O.C. 1:196] citing R. Shlomo Alkavetz's work, Manot Ha-levi.]
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Damages Caused on Purim; Costumes and "Shpiels"
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The Rema (696:4) observes the custom to wear costumes on Purim, including men wearing women's clothing, and vice versa. He justifies this behavior on the grounds that the intentions are for the day's festivities. The Taz (Y.D. 182), however, records that his father-in-law, the Bach, sought to abolish this custom.
Certainly one who dresses up, and those who perform "Purim shpiels," should ensure that their actions are "le-shem shamayim" and in good taste.
Purim Sameach!
Topic: The Laws of Purim (Read 1711 times)