The holiday of Purim is coming up in less than two weeks. This year it's on the night of March 9 Till the night of March 10. The pinnacle of the holiday is joy and exuberance and from the details of the holiday we can learn, for the whole year, lessons about the most sought-after product - happiness!

This column doesn't suffice to retell the story. If you haven't read yet the story inside the “Book of Esther”, I highly recommend to do so. Read it with an eye on how the little events in the story unfolds and how they change direction. What was thought to be bad becomes good and vice versa. Also keep an eye on Hamman, how similar he is to the Anti-Semites throughout the generations.

The two holidays that were instituted after the Five Books of Moses, are Purim and Chanukah. Both are highly relevant to the eventual Jewish dispersion in the diaspora and to our conditions today. Chanukah is the holiday of being saved spiritually, from assimilation by the Greeks and Purim is the holiday of being saved physically, from annihilation by Hamman and Ahasuerus. Assimilation and annihilation has been constant threats to the Jewish People for a long time.

On Purim we do four things. Read the Megillah, which is the Book of Esther in its original Hebrew, give money to the poor, send food gifts to friends, and eat a celebratory meal. The reading of the Megillah is done twice, night and morning, and the reason for it is to recount the whole story.

A major characteristic of the story is how the events, when viewed individually, sound ordinary and not miraculous at all. When the full story, which spanned eleven years, is viewed together, only then we see the entire chain of events. The miracle of Purim is in the culmination of its many parts.

Generally in our lives, we don't experience eye-popping miracles, but when we look at our lives closely, as it unfolds and how we encounter fascinating coincidence, we can see the miraculous even in our times.

The reason for the celebratory meal is to celebrate the miracle of old and the miracles of our times. No celebration is complete when the downtrodden in our society are not happy. That's why everyone is obligated to give to at least two poor people an amount of money that a satiating meal can be bought.

The food gifts are to neighbors, friends, and family, not necessarily to poor people. The obligation is to send two particles of food to at least one person. The reason is to encourage unity and that people should have food for the celebratory meal.

Now let's turn at what we can learn from it to achieve happiness all year round. The Mitzvot (commandments) of the day of Purim can give us a lot of tools in our toolkit.

First, the reading of the Megillah. As we've discussed in the past, reading and broadening our knowledge and thinking, especially sacred texts, can help us lead happier and richer lives. Also, when we look for the miracles, blessings, and fascinating coincidences in our lives, we start appreciating a lot of the good we have. Life is a long story that's unfolding with the design of the Creator and not happenstances of chance.

Giving to the poor and creating a bond with other people are known tools for happiness. Kindness in action has immense power. And let's not forget the meal… sometimes a tasty piece of food, a good workout, and some laughter can do the trick to take us out of a bad mood.

The most important lesson we can learn, is that to achieve joy and happiness we need to work on them. It's not something that we should just allow to “happen”, as its word connotates. As humans, created in the image of G-d, we have an obligation to be happy and excited about life and the tools to do so is very within reach.

Happy Purim!

Comments? Email me: moshe@jaketv.tv