Iranian president calls Obama and tells him, "Barack, I had a wonderful dream last night. I could see America, the whole beautiful country, and on each house I saw a banner."
"What did it say on the banners?" Obama asks. Mahmud replies, "UNITED STATES OF IRAN."
Obama says, "You know, Mahmud, I am really happy you called, because believe it or not, last night I had a similar dream. I could see all of Tehran, and it was more beautiful than ever, and on each house flew an enormous banner."
"What did it say on the banners?" Mahmud asks.
Obama replies, "I don't know. I can't read Hebrew."
The most special of the four mitzvot we are obligated to do on Purim—listening to the Megillah, sending gifts of food to a friend, and enjoying a feast—is giving gifts to the poor. On Purim we are obligated to give gifts of money, or items worth money, to the poor.
Why did the Bible, designate the term gifts to the poor, rather than the standard version charity to the poor?
A gift we give to someone who we owe something to. Charity is given even to someone to whom we owe nothing.
King David was requesting of G-d to streamline the world. David said: Master of the universe! Let the world sit before G-d, let everyone sit equally before you, both the rich and the poor. Let all people have equal means.
And David asks: Why can’t everybody have everything?
To this G-d answers that He seeks a world of kindness, a world in which each of us does not only receive, but also gives. That is how we reach our deepest potential to reflect G-d, who always gives, creates and generates. If everyone had everything, there would be no giving in our world. Every person, then, must give and take. For each of us has something which we are missing and we need to receive, and each of us has something we can share and give to others.
What G-d was telling was very profound:
From G-d's perspective there is no qualitative difference between the one who gives and the one who takes, between the wealthy man and the poor man. Sometimes the pauper may be morally, spiritually and even intellectually far superior to the millionaire. So why does he has to receive the other give? It is only because G-d wants there to be kindness in the world. Some contribute to that goal by giving, and some by taking.
From the Divine perspective, then, even the taker is a giver, and even the giver is a taker. The recipients are givers in the sense that through their taking, they allow for the perpetuation of life and for kindness to flourish in the world. So every person in G-d's world and view is a giver. It is only that the way in which we give is different: some give by giving and some give by taking and allowing the giver to give.
Yes, my friends, can you forgive your child for not being perfect? Can you forgive your loved one for not being perfect?
None of us are perfect, and that is what makes us perfect! By being imperfect we are perfect—perfect in the sense that we are exactly as G-d wanted us to be, in order to fulfill His mission for us in creation. Sometimes our mission is to give, and sometimes it is to allow someone else to give. Every one of finds ourselves in both situations: Each of us is at times a giver and each of us is at times a taker. We all need others in our lives, and we all have the opportunity to share with others.
An immigrant got off the boat in NY. With no language and no contacts, he went looking for a menial job at the local Lower East Side synagogue. He applied to be the shamash (sexton) of the shul. Following a positive interview, he was given a contract to sign. Instead of signing his name he placed an X on the dotted line. “No, that will not do,” said the employer, “we need you to sign the contract with your full name.” “I can’t,” the greenhorn immigrant blurted out, “I don’t how to write.” “Well, in that case, I am sorry but we cannot hire you. The job requires someone who can write in English.”
Dejected, he left and went off searching for opportunities. Resourceful as he was, with a pinch of desperation, he eked out a job. Over the years, with diligence, ingenuity and persistence he climbed the ladder and ultimately became a very prosperous man. He became known in town for his enormous wealth, and was greatly respected by his peers and above all, by the banks that readily issued him the loans he requested.
One day, a new bank manager was going over this fellow’s latest loan application, and notices that instead of a signature there is an X at the bottom. The manager calls him up and says, “my dear sir, you forgot to sign the application.” “I did sign it with an X,” he replied. She was bewildered. “Why do you sign with an X and not with your name, if I may ask.” “Well,” he sheepishly replied, “I never learned how to sign my name.” The bank manager smiled and remarked: “Now listen here. You made so much money without knowing the language. Just imagine how much more successful you would have become had you received an education and learned to sign your name.”
“Madam,” the gentleman calmly said, “if I knew how to sign my name I would have become the shamash in the local synagogue…”
Sometimes, your flaw is your greatest perfection.
SHABBAT SHALOM AND HAPPY PURIM,
RABBI YOSEPH GEISINSKY