It is customary to
send gifts of food to friends and strangers.
By Rabbi Shmuel Herzfeld
Reprinted with
permission of the author, whose website can be visited at www.rabbishmuel.com.
The ninth chapter of the Book
of Esther states (verse 19): "Therefore the Jews of the villages, that
dwelt in the unwalled towns, made the 14th day of the month of Adar a day of
gladness and feasting, a holiday, and of sending portions to one another (mishloach manot)."
From this historical event our
rabbis teach that the Jewish people must send gifts of food to each other on
the holiday of Purim. However, the question arises: What is the ultimate
purpose of these gifts?
One approach sees the mitzvah [commandment] of mishloach manot
as counteracting the accusations of Haman. Haman accused the Jews of being
"a scattered, and divided nation." Thus, the Jewish people send gifts
to each other in order to show that they are not divided, but rather are
united. (Following this mitzvah can be understood as a positive reinterpretation
of midah ke-neged midah--measure for measure.) The mishloach manot bring
peace and harmony to an at times divisive and fractured Jewish community.
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Yossi and Tzvia
Berrin-Reinstein deliver mishloach manot on Purim.
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This explains why some maintain that one may fulfill the
mitzvah of mishloach manot by sending not food, but words of Torah. Since the
purpose of this mitzvah is to unite the Jewish people, one can fulfill the
mitzvah with anything that achieves this goal. And what better method is there
of achieving harmony amongst fellow Jews than by sharing words of Torah? (See
Rabbi Yonah Metzger, Mi-Yam Ha-Halakhah, sec. 113.)
A second explanation for the
mitzvah appears in the Terumat Ha-Deshen
(sec. 111) of Rabbi Israel Isserlein (15th century, Vienna), who writes:
"It appears that the reason for this mitzvah is so that everyone can
fulfill the mitzvah of eating a proper, festive meal on Purim." In other
words, the mitzvah intends to guarantee that rich and poor alike are provided
for at the Purim meal. (It may also be taken as a symbol that both Jewish rich
and poor. should recognize the universal aspect of redemption from the physical
extinction of the entire nation).
This second approach raises
another question. Indeed, there is already another mitzvah that assures that
the poor are provided for on Purim, i.e. the mitzvah of mattanot le-evyonim (sending gifts to the poor). Why, then, is
there a need for a second mitzvah of mishloach manot? So some suggest that the
mitzvah of mishloach manot actually derives from the mitzvah of giving gifts to
the poor on Purim. However, due to concern that the poor would feel ashamed
that only they did not have sufficient means to provide for the Purim meal, the
rabbis decreed that not only the poor, but all people should send and receive
gifts on the holiday of Purim.
Thus, we see that the mitzvah of
mishloach manot has two main functions--to instill harmony and love in the
Jewish people, and to remind ourselves that as we celebrate the holiday of
Purim, we can not forget about the needs of the less fortunate in our
community.
Shmuel Herzfeld is associate rabbi of The Hebrew Institute
of Riverdale, in Bronx, N.Y. He is also National Vice President of the
Coalition for Jewish Concerns--AMCHA, a grass roots activist organization.
