Moses symbolizes the desire for truly unselfish work—as far as can be in Egypt—for the Creator. First, Moses grows in Pharaoh’s palace like an Egyptian prince.

He is similar to all people with their desires and even more like the Egyptians than any other Jew, but then his time to start ruling people and become a leader comes, so the quality of bestowal awakens in him.

We cannot do without Moses. After all, one must have this property awakened by the Creator that will pull him out of the animal state and make him a human, Adam, similar to the Creator. Moses is a property of Bina, which should stand in the middle between Malchut and Keter.

Moses is a property of the Creator clothed in a person from above so that one could connect with this property like Malchut connects to Moses from below. Without this property, one generally would not be able to understand what bestowal is and how one can think of something higher than his egoism, his Malchut. Without Moses’ property in each of us, we would never become the Creator’s workers. It is this property that distinguishes a human being from an animal.

Moses is me, a special quality in me, acquired by the reforming Light that lets me work with the source. This property of Bina is within a person, and this is the means by which one corrects oneself. Bina does not yet merge with the Creator. It only “sweetens.” It is the Light of Hassadim. Bina and Malchut join to work together in order to reach Keter properly and merge with the Creator.

The conditions for entering Egypt are either a willingness to unite or resistance to it. In other words, people should be for or against unification, not indifferent to it. Egypt includes the sons of Jacob, those who have been trained by the forefathers.

The step of the forefathers is completed at this point. The stage of the sons, “the sons of Israel,” begins because Jacob, in a great state, is called Israel. This is a new state, a new stage.

Why doesn’t Pharaoh kill Moses? He cannot do it because one can only kill someone with whom he is somehow connected, and Moses has nothing to do with Pharaoh. He escapes from Pharaoh’s palace and returns to him as a completely different person, with no connection to the past.

It’s a miracle, because Moses grows up in Pharaoh’s hands. It is written in the Midrash that Moses sat on Pharaoh’s lap, played with his beard, and tried on his crown. Of course, this is not about historical events, but about the secrets of the Torah. Then, Moses returned to Pharaoh, and they did not seem to recognize each other. It does not look like a grandfather meeting with his runaway grandson.

Moses no longer refers to Pharaoh, and therefore Pharaoh can do nothing: neither kill, nor break, nor rule over him. Moses exited the power of Pharaoh. Pharaoh is Malchut, and Moses is the stage of Bina. They are not connected with each other. And Moses cannot do anything with Pharaoh, either. Only the Creator, by controlling them both, is able to awaken forces in them.

First, Pharaoh raises Moses in his palace because, thanks to the people of Israel, Egypt was getting richer. The egoistic desire to enjoy uses the quality of bestowal for itself and receives huge profits.

As soon as we are in the group, wish to unite and cannot do it, it is a sign that we are on the threshold of entering Egypt. We reveal resistance to unification in ourselves. We need to take care of the connection in the ten to the extent that we feel how Pharaoh rules the relationship between us.

Unity in the ten is expressed in the desire to reveal the Creator.
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From the 1st part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 3/11/18, “Preparation for Pesach,” Part 1

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“And Moses Alone Shall Approach The Lord”
And Moses Blessed The Children of Israel
Everyone Must Become Moses

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The Jerusalem Post published my new article: “How the Purim Story Is Playing Out Right Now”

Purim has one of the most suspenseful stories ever written. From the panic, doubt and fear in the face of utter destruction to the elation, euphoria and high spirits after everything works out for the best, the story and meaning of Purim encompasses one of the greatest ever resolution of opposites.

Any exceptional drama-thriller has its climax, when the tension of a situation that seems impossible to get out of flips into a miraculous solution. Undoubtedly, the peak of the Purim story is when the decision to kill the Jews gets overturned.

Purim’s plot has many places that escalate toward its climax. If we neglect the importance of these places, we will skip its main idea, and remain with nothing more than an impressive narrative. One such place, for instance is when Queen Esther relays to Mordechai: “You want me to go to the king and beg for your lives? Don’t just sit there at the king’s gate; go, gather the Jews!”

Mordechai is the story’s representative of good. The catch of the story is that, as much as Mordechai wants to bring good, he’s powerless to do so by himself. In order to do so, he needs to gather the Jews. By gathering the Jews, Mordechai invalidates the claim of Haman, the story’s representative of bad, which is to eradicate the Jews. “There is a certain people, scattered and dispersed,” Haman says to King Ahasuerus, contending that the Jews were failing to uphold the king’s laws, which discredited their existence in the king’s eyes.

At this point, a question arises: Why did Haman connect the Jews’ dispersion to their disobeying the king’s laws? Cunning and intelligent as he was, Haman understood that the law by which the Jewish nation emerged is a law of unity. The Jews became ratified as a nation when they agreed to unite “as one man with one heart.” Their dispersion meant their disunity, which meant that they failed to live up to what established them as a nation to begin with. That is what Haman emphasized to King Ahasuerus.

While dispersed, Queen Esther could be of no service to the Jews because they were breaching the king’s law. When they united, however, they re-established themselves as a nation, exactly as King Ahasuerus commanded, making Haman’s claim fall short.

The significance of this Purim message penetrates sharply into our current era. “Hamanism,” or antisemitism, is rampant today, comparable to how it was in the Purim story’s setting of Shushan. Likewise, we Jews are in the same loop of brushing off the brunt of what a sudden rise in antisemitism worldwide could lead to.

The disastrous events in the middle of last century clearly exemplify what an escalation of Jewish hatred coupled with Jewish denial of that hatred and failure to do anything about it could lead to. Purim, however, provides us with the opposite, happy-ending example: where the Jewish people understand their role and purpose, and take responsibility to realize the king’s law, uniting above their differences and thereby securing their survival and bringing about great joy and happiness.

We Jews hold the keys to both scenarios: the choice to unite, which brings about the elated state Purim symbolizes, or the choice to remain disunited, which has devastating consequences.

What is this unity we need to reach? It does not mean that we need to physically gather in Israel or anywhere else. Uniting means that we mentally and emotionally support each other in seeking that common point of agreement, “as one man with one heart,” to be there for each other above any seeming differences between us. Moreover, uniting also means that by our efforts to find our common unifying point, we will become conduits of unity to the rest of humanity, as is written, to become “a light unto nations.” In other words, our dispersion and disunity spreads dispersion and disunity, and our unification spreads unification. Unity is an unfulfilled expectation that humanity currently has toward the Jews. Neither non-Jews nor Jews can pinpoint nor verbalize this feeling, but it lurks behind all antisemitic sentiment.

“In such a generation, all the destructors among the nations of the world raise their heads and wish primarily to destroy and to kill the people of Israel, as it is written (Yevamot 63), ‘No calamity comes to the world but for Israel.’ This means … that they cause poverty, ruin, robbery, killing, and destruction in the whole world.

“And through our many faults … the judgment struck the very best of us, as our sages said (Baba Kama 60), ‘And it starts with the righteous first.’ And of all the glory Israel had in the countries of Poland and Lithuania, etc., there remains but the relics in our holy land. Now it is upon us, relics, to correct that dreadful wrong. Each of us remainders should take upon himself, heart and soul, to henceforth intensify the internality of the Torah [i.e. focusing on the unifying essence of what the Torah instructs, to ‘love your friend as yourself’], and give it its rightful place, according to its merit over the externality of the Torah [i.e. where unity is not the main goal, but intellectual progress or performing physical actions with no intention to unite].

“And then, each and every one of us will be rewarded with intensifying his own internality, meaning the Israel within us, which is the needs of the soul over our own externality, which is the nations of the world within us, that is, the needs of the body. That force will come to the whole of Israel, until the nations of the world within us recognize and acknowledge the merit of the great sages of Israel…”

– Rabbi Yehuda Ashlag (Baal HaSulam), “Introduction to The Book of Zohar,” item 71.

The Purim story, in addition to being an epic tale, symbolizes what life can be like when we unite. Also, as it is in the Purim story, so it is today: the Jews hold the key. We were given the law “Love your friend as yourself” before any other nation, and likewise today, we need to implement this law among each other in order for it to be able to spread to humanity as a whole. Until we do, antisemitism will continue rising in order to corner us into making that fateful decision. It is my hope that the antisemitic atmosphere will not have to grow to the likes of what we experienced in the middle of last century in order for us to wake up to our role. We have the wisdom and tools today to realize it much sooner and reach the perfection that Purim stands for even on this very day if we wanted to.
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BlogActiv: “International Women’s Day 2018: Gender Equality from the Perspective of the Wisdom of Kabbalah”

In light of International Women’s Day, I was asked to give my take on gender equality from the perspective of the wisdom of Kabbalah.

To begin with, the idea of comparing men and women is just as wrong as comparing apples and oranges. Nature designed men and women as different creatures, both biologically and psychologically. Just as our bodies work in very different ways, we also think, feel and perceive the world differently.

Therefore, the attempt to make men and women one and the same is completely unnatural. By trying to judge men and women by the same standards, and equalize them as much as possible, it’s as if we are trying to “fix” nature. And nature doesn’t need any fixing.

Rather than trying to level the differences between men and women, we need to learn how to embrace them. We should aim for harmony – not equality. That is, we have to upgrade our view on gender equality to a more holistic approach, to see how it is precisely our differences that make us capable of complementing each other to create harmony.

The whole of nature works that way – unique and opposite qualities are woven together to create life – plus and minus, contraction and expansion, heat and cold, ebb and flow, male and female. In fact, I believe this is something that women understand a lot better than men, since they are generally more sensitive to nature than men.

On the practical level, I’m not saying that men and women can’t serve in the same roles in society. Examples such as Margaret Thatcher and Angela Merkel prove that a capable woman can find herself in a position that was typically occupied by a man. However, placing a woman in a certain position just because it makes things look more “equal” is foolish and won’t do any good to society.

For instance, when a steering committee is asked to have an equal amount of men and women for the sake of “equality,” it is a childish perception of equality that aims for political correctness rather than optimal results. A steering committee could have a majority of men or a majority of women, depending on what the committee needs to achieve, and what each person brings to the table – not how we can make a poster of equality.

Western society needs more education about how various systems of nature achieve harmony when differences come together. Then, we will see that what we should strive for in society is mutual complementation, which means highlighting the unique qualities of men and women, and weaving them together to achieve the best of both worlds.

I invite you to take our free Kabbalah course and learn for yourself how to uncover your unique qualities for the benefit of all.

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The Times of Israel published my new article “International Women’s Day 2018: Gender Equality From the Perspective of the Wisdom of Kabbalah”

In light of International Women’s Day, I was asked to give my take on gender equality from the perspective of the wisdom of Kabbalah.

To begin with, the idea of comparing men and women is just as wrong as comparing apples and oranges. Nature designed men and women as different creatures, both biologically and psychologically. Just as our bodies work in very different ways, we also think, feel and perceive the world differently.

Therefore, the attempt to make men and women one and the same is completely unnatural. By trying to judge men and women by the same standards, and equalize them as much as possible, it’s as if we are trying to “fix” nature. And nature doesn’t need any fixing.

Rather than trying to level the differences between men and women, we need to learn how to embrace them. We should aim for harmony – not equality. That is, we have to upgrade our view on gender equality to a more holistic approach, to see how it is precisely our differences that make us capable of complementing each other to create harmony.

The whole of nature works that way – unique and opposite qualities are woven together to create life – plus and minus, contraction and expansion, heat and cold, ebb and flow, male and female. In fact, I believe this is something that women understand a lot better than men, since they are generally more sensitive to nature than men.

On the practical level, I’m not saying that men and women can’t serve in the same roles in society. Examples such as Margaret Thatcher and Angela Merkel prove that a capable woman can find herself in a position that was typically occupied by a man. However, placing a woman in a certain position just because it makes things look more “equal” is foolish and won’t do any good to society.

For instance, when a steering committee is asked to have an equal amount of men and women for the sake of “equality,” it is a childish perception of equality that aims for political correctness rather than optimal results. A steering committee could have a majority of men or a majority of women, depending on what the committee needs to achieve, and what each person brings to the table – not how we can make a poster of equality.

Western society needs more education about how various systems of nature achieve harmony when differences come together. Then, we will see that what we should strive for in society is mutual complementation, which means highlighting the unique qualities of men and women, and weaving them together to achieve the best of both worlds.

I invite you to take our free Kabbalah course and learn for yourself how to uncover your unique qualities for the benefit of all.
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Linkedin: “International Women’s Day 2018: Gender Equality from the Perspective of the Wisdom of Kabbalah“

In light of International Women’s Day, I was asked to give my take on gender equality from the perspective of the wisdom of Kabbalah.

To begin with, the idea of comparing men and women is just as wrong as comparing apples and oranges. Nature designed men and women as different creatures, both biologically and psychologically. Just as our bodies work in very different ways, we also think, feel and perceive the world differently.

Therefore, the attempt to make men and women one and the same is completely unnatural. By trying to judge men and women by the same standards, and equalize them as much as possible, it’s as if we are trying to “fix” nature. And nature doesn’t need any fixing.

Rather than trying to level the differences between men and women, we need to learn how to embrace them. We should aim for harmony – not equality. That is, we have to upgrade our view on gender equality to a more holistic approach, to see how it is precisely our differences that make us capable of complementing each other to create harmony.

The whole of nature works that way – unique and opposite qualities are woven together to create life – plus and minus, contraction and expansion, heat and cold, ebb and flow, male and female. In fact, I believe this is something that women understand a lot better than men, since they are generally more sensitive to nature than men.

On the practical level, I’m not saying that men and women can’t serve in the same roles in society. Examples such as Margaret Thatcher and Angela Merkel prove that a capable woman can find herself in a position that was typically occupied by a man. However, placing a woman in a certain position just because it makes things look more “equal” is foolish and won’t do any good to society.

For instance, when a steering committee is asked to have an equal amount of men and women for the sake of “equality,” it is a childish perception of equality that aims for political correctness rather than optimal results. A steering committee could have a majority of men or a majority of women, depending on what the committee needs to achieve, and what each person brings to the table – not how we can make a poster of equality.

Western society needs more education about how various systems of nature achieve harmony when differences come together. Then, we will see that what we should strive for in society is mutual complementation, which means highlighting the unique qualities of men and women, and weaving them together to achieve the best of both worlds.

I invite you to take our free Kabbalah course and learn for yourself how to uncover your unique qualities for the benefit of all.

Filed under: Holidays, New Publications, Women - No Comments →

From My Facebook Page Michael Laitman 3/8/18

In light of International Women’s Day, I was asked to give my take on gender equality from the perspective of the wisdom of Kabbalah.

To begin with, the idea of comparing men and women is just as wrong as comparing apples and oranges. Nature designed men and women as different creatures, both biologically and psychologically. Just as our bodies work in very different ways, we also think, feel and perceive the world differently.

Therefore, the attempt to make men and women one and the same is completely unnatural. By trying to judge men and women by the same standards, and equalize them as much as possible, it’s as if we are trying to “fix” nature. And nature doesn’t need any fixing.

Rather than trying to level the differences between men and women, we need to learn how to embrace them. We should aim for harmony – not equality. That is, we have to upgrade our view on gender equality to a more holistic approach, to see how it is precisely our differences that make us capable of complementing each other to create harmony.

The whole of nature works that way – unique and opposite qualities are woven together to create life – plus and minus, contraction and expansion, heat and cold, ebb and flow, male and female. In fact, I believe this is something that women understand a lot better than men, since they are generally more sensitive to nature than men.

On the practical level, I’m not saying that men and women can’t serve in the same roles in society. Examples such as Margaret Thatcher and Angela Merkel prove that a capable woman can find herself in a position that was typically occupied by a man. However, placing a woman in a certain position just because it makes things look more “equal” is foolish and won’t do any good to society.

For instance, when a steering committee is asked to have an equal amount of men and women for the sake of “equality,” it is a childish perception of equality that aims for political correctness rather than optimal results. A steering committee could have a majority of men or a majority of women, depending on what the committee needs to achieve, and what each person brings to the table – not how we can make a poster of equality.

Western society needs more education about how various systems of nature achieve harmony when differences come together. Then, we will see that what we should strive for in society is mutual complementation, which means highlighting the unique qualities of men and women, and weaving them together to achieve the best of both worlds.

I invite you to take our free Kabbalah course and learn for yourself how to uncover your unique qualities for the benefit of all.

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It is said about the people of Israel: “The Creator chose you.” He chose them by giving them a bigger and more developed desire to enjoy. This would make them feel the need to engage in the purpose of creation and correction and find an answer to the question about the meaning of life.

Such questions were revealed in a small group of people whom Abraham took from all the Babylonians and formed as the group of “Israel” (Yashar-Kel – directly to the Creator). This is how their inner desire, received from above, was directed.

After the breaking of Adam’s soul from the tree of knowledge, all pieces fell and mixed. But under the influence of the reforming Light, the lightest and less broken parts of the soul begin to rise first. The people of Israel seem the most egoistic, but this is because egoism reveals itself in them. In fact, the greatest egoism lies in those souls that ascend later.

First, there was a shattering and mixing of all parts, and then it filtered from this sediment, from all its layers, and was distributed according to the degrees of egoism. The same order applies to our world. There are very intelligent people, scientists and inventors, and there are technical specialists and engineers who implement these inventions in practice. And then these innovations are transferred to people to use.

It is the same way, in the wisdom of Kabbalah, there are scholars who are Kabbalists. Then there is the “technical staff,” the students who take these ideas and bring them to the people. And when people receive it, then everyone uses it to the best of their ability.

For example, when one buys a car, he does not care what is inside the car, the main thing is to learn how to drive it. But there are specialists who built this car and understand how it works. The wisdom of Kabbalah is organized in the same way as other sciences.

Our generation is in crisis because it is time for us to know how nature works and to get to know all of its systems. We have already fully realized ourselves in the material form: What else can we do, add a few more buttons? A person will still remain the same inside.

Throughout the history of development, man has tried to build external systems that will give him happiness, joy, and tranquility. And we built a material paradise around ourselves, but we see that it has not brought happiness.

On the contrary, we hit a dead end. Material well-being does not free us from problems and does not fulfill us. It is now that we reveal that we are completely empty, although we are in the midst of complete abundance. This is called the realization of evil in which we understand that we need to correct ourselves within ourselves, because this is where the problem lies. Therefore, the time has come for this correction.

As once we were engaged in the correction of the external world, so now we need to turn to the correction of man’s inner world. And in this, too, there are “scientists,” “engineers,” and “users.”
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From the 1^st part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 2/7/18, Lesson on Topic: “The Israeli Nation’s Day of Unity”

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Mission Of The Jewish People
How Can We Become The Nation Of Israel?
A House Open To All People

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Purim is the last of all of corrections, which each time requires the desire to receive to be combined with the desire to bestow so that they connect with each other.

The goal of creation is to fill the desire to receive with the entire Light of Hochma, with the intention to bestow. However, the desire to bestow is very weak; it does not have any intention to receive pleasure. Bestowal is Bina, and it is opposite to Malchut.

That is why it is necessary to somehow awaken the desire to bestow so that it would be motivated to do something. The righteous have no needs. Mordechai sits on a rock at the king’s gates and does not worry about anything until he sees that the situation is dangerous and it is impossible to sit still any longer.

Otherwise, even the bestowing, weak desires will disappear as they combine with the desires to receive in the great kingdom of Malchut ‑ the people of Israel, scattered throughout all the 127 countries.

However, on the other hand, it is impossible to work only with the desire to bestow without engaging the desire to receive, since correction needs to be realized. Therefore, we must first awaken Haman, so that the desires to receive think that the Light is meant only for them. We see that in the evolutionary process, our egoism constantly grows and in the end wants to swallow everything.

At the same time, we realize that the goal of creation cannot be realized in the desire to receive. Egoism is not designed for that. It is final, and having received fulfillment, loses the desire. Light extinguishes the desire. That is why it is impossible to receive infinite Light with the desire to receive. In and of itself, it is very limited.

Moreover, it is impossible to receive the Light with the desire to bestow. It does not want to receive. It only wants to give. That is why a certain combination of desire to receive and desire to bestow is needed, which is called “the middle line.” Using both types of desires and the right kind of combination solves this problem, and this solution must be discovered by the individual! The Creator will not organize such a correction and finish it.

That is why, first the power was given to Haman so that he would think everything is for himself and would begin to rule and move to destroy the desires opposite to his own, in other words, to use them for his own benefit. Haman hoped to sit on a horse and command Mordechai as to where he should lead the horse.

However, the opposite was the case: since the possibilities for egoistic bestowal are limited, the intention for one’s own benefit is limited. Egoism, having received fulfillment, disappears, since pleasure extinguishes desire. That is why the only method to obtain infinite pleasure and unlimited fulfillment is to receive in order to give. Only this type of vessel is unlimited.

It turns out that Mordechai sits on the horse and Haman leads the horse according to Mordechai’s direction. This is called “receiving the light of Haman in the vessels of Mordechai.” Then, we can receive all the pleasure coming from the Creator into the receiving desires, with the intention to bestow, which is why the Light that fills it is limitless.

Therefore, in the process of correction, combining desires to receive and bestow always takes place. We must distinguish them from each other and give greater value to one, and then to the other: the desire to receive—Haman, then bestowal—Mordechai.

If the desire to receive is not given the opportunity to develop, then we cannot progress. And if Mordechai, the intention to bestow, is not given power over the desire to receive, then he will be limited. Therefore, there is this constant combination of these two approaches until the formation of a clear middle line occurs that includes the desire to receive and the desire to bestow together, and which leads us to the end of correction.
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From the 1st part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson – 2/28/18, Writing of Baal Sulam

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The Purim Holiday In The Light Of Spiritual Correction
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The largest portal Breaking Israel News published my new article “The Purim Story Actually Explains the Solution for Social Division and Anti-Semitism“

“The city of Shushan was perplexed.” (Esther 3:15)

The well-known verse from the Book of Esther in the Purim story couldn’t be more appropriate to describe today’s atmosphere of intensifying social division and polarization.

Reaching solutions and finding harmony in today’s left vs. right tug-of-war becomes all the more complicated as each side holds sterner to their own position and turns down any opportunity to open up to the other. As society becomes more polarized, Nazi, fascist, xenophobic and anti-Semitic tendencies reawaken, coupled with fears of nuclear weapons and war.

On the bright side, however, states of perplexity and disorientation can motivate us to reevaluate our life’s leading values. The growing left vs. right rift is an outcome of developing according to our base instincts, where we each seek comfort, security and reassurance as part of our closest families and tribes. The uncertainty and anxiety pervading modern society could just be the step we need in order to revise the way we’re going about our lives. Maybe we can use the mounting pressure to prod us into seeking common points of agreement and cooperation, and start rebuilding our lives on a new consensual basis?

The Purim story describes the near-genocide of the Jewish people.
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The Times of Israel published my new article “9 Facts about Purim That Will Let You Tackle the Holiday’s Core Message”

1. The Meaning of Purim

Purim is known as an exhilarating and joyous celebration that erupts in festivities after the salvation of the Jewish people from their near demise.

But what is the main message and meaning of Purim?

It is that even the greatest good, represented by Mordechai, is weak and incompetent when confronted by the greatest evil, represented by Haman, and that evil can only be overcome by unification.

Mordechai’s appeals for King Ahasuerus’ mercy on the Jews to Queen Esther lead to her famous statement that she cannot help them if they are dispersed and disunited. Then, Mordechai goes on a mission to pass on this call for unity to the Jewish people, and when they eventually unite, Esther gets Ahasuerus to take mercy on them.

2. The Meaning of the Purim Costumes

The costumes that people customarily wear to Purim parties signify the concealment of the forces that enact the Purim story within us.

3. The Meaning of King Ahasuerus

King Ahasuerus represents God.

4. The Meaning of Queen Esther

Queen Esther signifies a desire that has been corrected to connect with God. That is the reason why she emerges after King Ahasuerus divorces Queen Vashti for corrupting her ways. Her name, which is “Ester” in Hebrew, stems from the Hebrew word for concealment, “Hastara,” since her identity as a Jew is hidden.

5. The Meaning of the Megillah and the Purim Miracle

The identification of Esther as a Jew remains hidden until she needs to make moves to redeem the Jews from their threat of destruction. Thus, “Megillah,” the Hebrew word for “scroll” or “book,” as in “The Book of Esther” (“Megillat Ester”), comes from “Gilui,” i.e. the Hebrew word for “revelation.” The story in the Book of Esther is thus thought of as a concealed miracle, to signify the miracle of the revelation of God’s power acting via concealment.

6. The Meaning of Mordechai and Haman

Mordechai signifies the attribute of mercy: selflessness, compassion, generosity, altruism and plain goodness. This is notably expressed in a key moment of the Purim story, when Mordechai warns King Ahasuerus, through Esther, about a plot to assassinate the king. Mordechai neither gains nor requests any compensation nor honor for his efforts.

Since Mordechai is purely benevolent, he has no will to rule or control. Although the people would be better off and happier under Mordechai, he doesn’t have the same drive as the power-hungry, evil Haman.

In order to motivate Mordechai to make moves to become ruler, King Ahasuerus needs to institute a great threat not just to Mordechai, but to his people, the Jews.

That’s where Haman comes in. Haman signifies the complete opposite of mercy: an unrelenting will to rule, control and satisfy his own selfish desires, completely inconsiderate of others.

7. The Core Message of the Purim Story

Haman raised the claim to King Ahasuerus that the Jews should be killed because they were not keeping his laws, i.e. they were disunited. “There is a certain people, scattered and dispersed.” This was an accurate claim because the laws by which the Jews became a nation at the foot of Mount Sinai were laws of unity. Therefore, being “scattered and dispersed” means that they failed to uphold the laws that made them a nation to begin with. While separated, the Jews were deemed unnecessary, which is why Haman has a case in his efforts to eradicate them.

The Jews, on one hand, feared for their life. On the other hand, they couldn’t understand what they did to deserve such a harsh verdict. Mordechai then gathered the Jews, reuniting them, and voiding Haman’s claim void that they were scattered and dispersed. Thus, by uniting, they no longer breached the king’s law, and the verdict against them was reversed.

As with all the Torah’s stories, the figures and the interplay between them represent attributes and powers playing out in our thoughts, desires, attitudes and relationships. They are just as present today as they were thousands of years ago. Moreover, the more we develop, the more these powers intensify. The ruthless will to rule and control surfaces in some people more than others, to the point of entirely consuming some, making them do anything possible to rise to all kinds of positions of power.

Therefore, the core message of the Purim story is that our unity is our salvation, and our neglect for our unity endangers, harms and can even potentially annihilate us.

8. The Meaning of the Custom to Get Excessively Drunk on Purim

After our salvation through our unity, the joy erupts, and it is a commandment to drink until we cannot tell right from wrong. This is because our unity spreads unity, until every person and nation willfully makes the right “click” to each other. By this, we become a “light unto nations,” a beacon of the light of unification for the whole of humanity.

By uniting, we would not need to watch our backs all the time like we do now. Also, we would not distrust or suspect any one of any devious or underhanded intentions, since we would be as a single person. Intoxication signifies the blurring of lines between Haman and Mordechai, since when united, the tension between these tendencies becomes released in euphoric joy.

9. The Meaning of Haman’s Pockets

Haman’s pockets signify the correction of Haman’s self-aimed desires to control and rule when all people unite. Their sweet insides symbolize the joy of uniting in selfless desires. It is also why we give gifts to each other and to the poor—to express our upgraded bond.

Purim is more than a festive holiday. It is a lesson in what is most important in life, that we should always concentrate on how we can improve our connection to each other, to unite above our differences, and that if we don’t do so, there are plenty of evil Hamans ready to take advantage of our disunity, waiting for the opportunity to build themselves on our downfall. Using this lesson, we can set up reminders so that we never forget our need to unite, and rise to the challenge to progress from strength to strength in an ever-increasing unification above all the forces that surface to distract us from that.

I wish everyone a happy and united Purim!

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