Purim

Rav Shlomo Katz and the chevra of Shirat David continue Rav Kluger’s journey into the pnimiyus of Purim, this time through Matanos La’Evyonim and the question: Who is an “evyon”? Rav Shlomo explains why Mordechai specifically established this mitzvah — to remind every Jew that a רגע לפני הישועה, we were all in a state of “evyon,” totally dependent on Hashem’s saving grace.From there, the shiur opens a deeper door: the hidden roots of taavas mamon (the pull of money), the Gemara about galus and adding geirim, the Baal Shem Tov’s language of lifting sparks, and Rebbe Nachman’s teaching on 70 souls / 70 languages, and how “concealment before revelation” works like cracking a klipah to reach the fruit.A Purim shiur about money… that turns into a shiur about humility, dependence on Hashem, and the inner תיקון that makes redemption possible.----------For more Shuirim and Music from Rav Shlomo Katz, visit: https://ravshlomokatz.comJoin Rav Shlomo Katz's WhatsApp Community: https://chat.whatsapp.com/KHKOhhPaeHx5Kb74WL9L9a?mode=ems_copy_tCHAPTERS00:00 Opening and Sponsorship02:07 Money (Taivas Mamon) in Rebbe Nachman’s Teachings10:54 Gemara on Adding Converts (Pesachim)13:36 Lifting Sparks and Adding Gerim19:26 70 Souls and the Roots of Israel22:36 70 Languages and Their Negative Traits23:43 Galus of 70 Languages as Spiritual Test25:12 Ethiopian Women and the Birth Analogy29:25 Rebbe Nachman on Pre-Revelation Soul Journey34:21 Breaking the Klipah to Reach the Fruit43:09 Mordechai’s Call to Give to the Poor

Rav Shlomo Katz and the chevra of Shirat David continue Rav Kluger’s gorgeous ma’amar on Purim, and  go deeper into the pnimiyus of Mishloach Manos as a preparation for Beis HaMikdash Sheini.We open with “Shoshanat Yaakov,” then step right back into the sugya: Achashveirosh’s feast isn’t just a party — it’s temple-consciousness. Esther’s “לך כנוס את כל היהודים” is not only about survival; it’s about waking up and becoming a people again, so we can return and build.Then comes the wild historical reveal from Sefer Ezra: during the Purim era, there was already a mizbe’ach in Yerushalayim, with korbanos happening, even while the Heichal still wasn’t built. Meaning: something can be “alive” before it’s “complete”… and unity is the foundation that makes the building possible.From there, we turn to the wine: why “ad d’lo yada”? Not as an escape, but as a holy breaking of the inner mechitzos that keep us isolated. We bring in Rebbe Nachman’s yesod of yishuv hada’as, the fight against modern distraction, and the line between a Purim that opens the heart… and a Purim where Haman is still sitting at the seudah.Yasher koach, and may we be zocheh to a Purim of real achdus, the kind that can hold a Beis HaMikdash.----------For more Shuirim and Music from Rav Shlomo Katz, visit: https://ravshlomokatz.comJoin Rav Shlomo Katz's WhatsApp Community: https://chat.whatsapp.com/KHKOhhPaeHx5Kb74WL9L9a?mode=ems_copy_tCHAPTERS00:00 Opening Niggun and Greeting02:44 Opening the Sefer and Starting Reish Nun03:50 Mishloach Manos as Preparation for the Second Beis Hamikdash06:02 Achashverosh’s Feast and Its Temple Implications07:22 Esther’s Directive to Gather the Jews17:03 Ezra’s Altar While the Temple Remains Unbuilt19:27 Unity, Mishloach Manos, and the Path to Rebuilding25:45 Rav Kluger on Wine Drinking Purpose27:59 Video Testimony and Emotional Overload29:43 Three Cardinal Sins and Yishuv HaDa'at32:51 Ribo’s Song and Modern Distractions34:04 Practicing Hisbodedus for Yishuv HaDa'at35:25 Ayahuasca and Short-Term Yishuv HaDa'at36:31 Purpose of Desires in Rebbe Nachman38:03 Intellectual Isolation and Haman’s Role40:38 When Purim Drinking Fails Yishuv HaDa'at42:44 Building a Beit Hamikdash and Unity

Rav Shlomo Katz and the chevra of Shirat David officially start the march toward the Megillah. Purim is coming, and we’re opening with a deep beginning: the pnimiyus of Mishloach Manos (and Matanos La’Evyonim) through a powerful מהלך from Rav Avraham Tzvi Kluger, built on a יסוד from the Maharal (Netzach Yisrael).Why did Mishloach Manos become the mitzvah people naturally ran to first, even before Mordechai formally added Matanos La’Evyonim? What’s the unique DNA of Purim that demanded these takanos specifically here, and not on any other Yom Tov? And why is the only way to truly understand Purim to read it through the prism of Beis HaMikdash consciousness — right in that tense historic moment between Churban Bayis Rishon and the dream of building Bayis Sheini?Along the way we touch the stunning “trust” dimension of Mishloach Manos (yes, even kashrus trust), the stages of how the mitzvos formed, and the Maharal’s contrast between Bayis Rishon (Avos) and Bayis Sheini (Knesses Yisrael) — and what that demands from us now.This is Part 1. We’re laying the foundation, and next week, בעז״ה, it gets even juicier.----------For more Shuirim and Music from Rav Shlomo Katz, visit: https://ravshlomokatz.comJoin Rav Shlomo Katz's WhatsApp Community: https://chat.whatsapp.com/KHKOhhPaeHx5Kb74WL9L9a?mode=ems_copy_tCHAPTERS00:00 Opening Honors and Sponsorship 01:09 Exploring the Daled Mitzvos of Purim 02:13 Rav Kluger’s Opening Quote on Purim 04:18 Reviewing Megillah Verses 05:33 Stages of Mitzvah Development 10:26 Why Mishloach Manos Was Self-Adopted 13:29 Uniqueness of Purim Mitzvos 19:42 Historical Context: Post-Exile Purim 22:30 Maharal’s Insight on the Two Temples 23:32 Foundations: Yesod of the Two Temples 24:50 Kedusha of the Avot vs Israel 28:30 Ezra’s Account of Second Temple Dedication 30:38 Gemara on the End of Avot’s Merit 31:49 Hope for Restoring Avot’s Mercy 43:55 Yom Haatzmaut: Cheshbon HaNefesh and Preparation

A brief and wild 18 minutes of learning after Hallel, discussing the origins of Mishenichnas Adar and a wild twist connecting to Bob Saget. Good Purim.

Rebbe Nachman said that all beginnings used to begin from Pesach, but now....(and he didn't complete the sentence). In Breslov tradition, the Rebbe was speaking about how today, from then and now, Purim is the real beginning of all beginningsIn this 15-minute learning, we try to understand what the Rebbe meant by this, and how it is more relevant to our lives today than ever.

A class given in Nachlaot, Yerushalayim, discussing the concept of putting trust back into the game of humanity

Purim often looks like the most playful, physical, even chaotic day in the Jewish year. But beneath the mask lies one of the deepest teachings of our faith: that Hashem is present, especially when He seems most hidden.Rav Shlomo Katz shares teachings from Rabbi Erez Moshe Doron, exploring the paradox at the heart of Megillat Esther: a miracle so deeply clothed in nature that God’s Name doesn’t appear once. And yet, our Sages tell us this day surpasses even Yom Kippur in holiness. How can that be?Drawing on the writings of Rebbe Nachman and the Tikkunei Zohar, we journey into the spiritual anatomy of exile where concealment hides even the fact that anything is hidden, and shows us how Purim reveals the secret: God is here, always. Not only in the supernatural, but in the natural. Not only in the revealed, but in the hidden. Not only in the Beit Midrash, but in the palace of Achashverosh too.This is the joy of Purim. The joy that comes from knowing your life is not random. That even in darkness, there is a story unfolding and you’re part of it.

A short piece from Reb Meilech Biderman on Purim and Adar, discussing the usage of the word Mishenichnas

When one has a mitzvah to fulfill, they are usually exempt from having to do another mitzvah that would have to be done at that exact time. Is this the case when one is drunk on Purim and may not be able to daven? Leave it to the kohen hagadol to bring us to a deeper look at this question?

The last in a four part series on the Alter Rebbe's Purim Ma'amar חייב איניש לבסומי

What needs to take place before a G-dly revelation?

First part of the Alter Rebbe's Ma'amar 'Chayav inish Lebesumei'

intro to the ma'amar Chayav Inish Lebesumei

Why do we celebrate Purim with feasting and drinking, and not just with saying thank you like on Chanukah? Because Purim isn’t about gratitude for a miracle. It’s about the miracle of still being here. It's the simcha of existence itself. The decree wasn’t just exile or slavery. It was total annihilation. And when that gezeirah was flipped, the soul of Am Yisrael danced with a joy that had no words, no form. Just presence. Just life.In this class rooted in the Torah of HaRav Asher Weiss shlit”a, Rav Shlomo Katz guides us into the halachic and spiritual depths of Purim — when simcha isn’t a reaction, but a mitzvah that is the day. You don't need a reason to be happy. You're alive. We’re alive. And that's enough to get drunk on.This is the simcha of a Jew who walked out of Auschwitz not with answers, but with breath. It’s not intellectual. It’s not earned. It just is. And if Purim really goes through us, we’ll taste that eternal simcha, not just on Adar 14, but the whole year long.

From the teachings of Reb Yakov Meir Shechter on Purim

On Purim, we drink to blur the lines. But maybe that’s just to uncover what’s been true all along: Hashem is always talking to us. Through people, through circumstances, through the exact words that happen to hit your ears when you weren't expecting them — it's all Him.Inspired by the teachings of Reb Shlomo Carlebach ztz”l, Rav Shlomo Katz opens our hearts to the Purim avodah of being doped up on Torah, drunk with Shabbos, and intoxicated with the presence of Hashem in everyone we meet.What begins as a humorous encounter with a New York Times reporter unfolds into a life-changing truth: if we can truly believe that every interaction is Hashem whispering to us, then we stop second-guessing, we stop doubting, and we start living with simcha, emunah, and fierce clarity.

Based on the teachings of Reb Ya'akov Meir Shechter for Purim

There’s one day a year where the gates are thrown wide open, and Hashem asks each of us: “מה שאלתך וינתן לך — What is it that you truly want?” That day is Purim. Not just a day of costumes and joy, but a sacred invitation to dream big, to daven from the deepest places in our hearts, and to stop limiting what we think is possible.In this shiur given in Modiin (Feb 2018), we explore how Purim is a Yom Kippur of a different kind, where the avodah is joy, the battlefield is the soul, and the weapons are vulnerability and hutzpah d’kedusha. Through stories, niggunim, and the unforgettable teaching that Moshe Rabbeinu never spoke freely because he never asked, we are reminded: if we never ask, we might never see the miracle.On Purim, don’t play it safe. Build your ramp. Ask for everything.

Every year, a dear friend calls me before Purim with the same question: "What’s your avodah this year?" And the truth is, that’s exactly how we have to look at Purim: as an avodah, a holy service, no less sacred than the work of the Kohen Gadol on Yom Kippur.Drawing from the wellsprings of Reb Ya’akov Meir Shechter shlit”a, this shiur reveals how the four mitzvahs of Purim — Mikra Megillah, Mishloach Manot, Matanot LaEvyonim, and Seudat Purim, aren’t just obligations, they’re divine weapons, forged to help us annihilate the inner Amalek that mocks faith and belittles holiness. We go deep into what it means to fight with simcha, to wage war with joy, and to turn every act of giving, reading, eating, and singing into a direct hit against spiritual doubt.

Rav Kook's approach to the encounter we have with Amalek today.