Written by Rabbi Gidon Goldberg
Dear Parents,
Did you enjoy your Purim seudah? Did you enjoy singing and dancing with friends?
We have an insight into this simchah from this week’s parshah detailing the halochos of the קרבן תודה, the thanksgiving offering. The korbon was to be eaten by midnight the evening after it was offered and could not be left over.
There are other korbonos that are permitted to be eaten for a longer period of time, i.e., for “two days and one night.” The תודה, however, needed to be consumed before midnight of the first evening! Furthermore, the thanksgiving offering was accompanied by forty loaves of bread, all of which needed to be eaten within the same period of time! Why is such a short amount of time provided for the consumption of so much food?
Rav Zalman Sorotzkin, in his Oznaim LaTorah, explains the תודה was not intended to be eaten alone. A person offers a תודה to show thanks to Hashem in response to a special kindness that Hashem has shown him. Through publicizing such kindness there is a great קידוש השם. Hashem’s name is sanctified in that it is linked to the good event when shared with a large group of people. Additionally, in order that the one who received the Torah would invite all his relatives and friends to this סעודת הודאה, the Torah ruled that it must be consumed within a single day, making it incumbent upon the person to publicize the miracle and invite as many people as possible.
It is clear that when a miracle or wondrous event happens to a person, that good fortune is meant to be shared. The reason behind this “sharing” is to strengthen others as well as to bring them closer to Hashem. Just as we know that a simchah is not a simchah unless we share it with others, so too we should view every type of tov that we have as a gift from Hashem. Let us allow the simchah we felt from the achdus of Purim to carry us through the rest of the year.
Gut Shabbos,
Rabbi Gidon Goldberg
Head of School