One of the most prominent mitzvos of Purim is the mitzvah of עד דלא ידע בין ארור המן לברוך מרדכי to become intoxicated until one does not know the difference between benching Mordechai and cursing Haman. This seems to convey that one should reach a compromised state of consciousness where he will say mistakenlyברוך המן blessed is Haman. If one was to analyze this interpretation he will realize that it doesn't make sense that the Chachamim would want you to make such a positive declaration about Haman the Rasha followed by Chazal's compliment that now you have fulfilled the mitzvah of the day of עד דלא ידע .

Secondly, Chazal (Gittin 57) relate that the grandchildren of Haman learned Torah in Bnei Brak. How did such a thing come about? There is a mitzvah to destroy any memory of this evil nation. How then did they get the zechus to be learning Torah?

Thirdly, why did Haman make the gallows intended for Mordechai to reach a height of exactly fifty cubits? It was Haman who was hung on the same tree instead of Mordchai. The passuk stresses אשר הכין למרדכי which he prepared for Mordechai. Why was the fate of Haman to be hung on the same tree of fifty cubits? How does fifty cubits relate to both the righteous and the evil?

Fourthly, the vessel and mitzvah in the Beis Hamikdash which is associated with Haman is the Shulchan and the Lechem Hapanim. This is based on Megillah 12b that the name of ממוכן from the lashon to prepare, is to be identified as Haman. The defense on behalf of Am Yisrael not to be annihilated is כלום הכינו שלחן לפניך the goyim did not prepare for you a Shulchan like Am Yisrael did.

Also in Parshas Emor there is another allusion to Purim and its relationship to the Lechem Hapanim. After dealing with all the Yomim Tovim, the parsha continues with two mitzvos, that of lighting the Menorah and the Lechem Hapanim. The sefarim write that the connection of these two mitzvos with the Yomim Tovim is that these two mitzvos symbolize Chanukah and Purim. Until now the Torah was talking about mitzvos from the Torah and now it hints to the Yomim Tovim instituted by the Rabbanan. We see again from here another allusion of Purim and Haman relating to the Lechem Hapanim. What is the connection of Purim to the Lechem Hapanim and the Shulchan?

It is with the interpretation of the Kedushas Levi from whom we can glean insight in order to answer our questions. When Haman was invited a second time to dine with Achashveirosh and Esther he left the palace שמח וטוב לב happy with a jubilant heart )Esther 5,9). Asks the Kedushas Levi such a term of שמח וטוב לב refers to a spiritual joy of learning Torah such as we find the same expression with Boaz (Ruth Rabba 8,15). If so how can such an evil person like Haman who was ready to annihilate the Jewish Nation and its Torah be described with the term שמח וטוב לב?

The Kedushas Levi explains that if one desires that his enemies should fall before him a strategy that can be employed to achieve this goal is to nurture them with Kedusha. For when they come in contact with holiness, their source of life energy which was up until now from the Dark Side of the Sitrah Acharah ceases. Yet on the other hand their source of life energy cannot continue from the Kedusha. So now they are in no man's land hanging in between the life energy of kedusha and tumah. This is the beginning of the end of their existence.

Haman's eating from Esther the tzadekis's meal sent momentary kedusha to Haman to the point that after the seudah his experience is described as simcha vetov lev. Further evidence of this spiritual episode is seen from the passuk (Esther 5,10) ויתאפק he had self control. One interpretation to this is that he restrained himself from revealing his invitation to anyone until he reached his home. A second pshat he did not allow himself to get angry enough at Mordechai to do him harm without permission to do so. The Kedushas Levi remarks "self control" is a description of a Yid not a goy. One who possesses a neshama can rein in his cravings, in contrast to a goy whose banner is Just Do it (Tagline of Nike). The fact that Haman was described with the characteristic of such extraordinary discipline and self - control, was solely a product from Esther's spiritual influence of feeding Haman ע"כ.

So in truth, the seudah of Esther severed Haman's life energy from the Sitra Achrah and from that moment and on he was left hanging with no flow of life energy from any source.

Let us discuss the hanging gallows Haman made for Mordechai by which he himself was hung. Why was it necessary to hang Mordechai on a pillar of wood fifty cubits high when the height of twenty feet would have been more than enough to achieve the same feat? We suggest the following explanation. Chazal say that the letters in Ashrei are in alphabetical order. The only letter missing is the nun. The reason given is that the letter nun carries a bad omen נפלה לא תוסיף קום בתולת ישראל the virgin of Yisrael has fallen and will not return to rise again. The meforshim ask why was this passuk chosen which carries a negative message when there are many other pessukim that also begin with the letter nun and have positive messages. Rav Moshe Shapiro ztl explained that the letter nun is personified by this passuk specifically more than any other passuk that begins with the letter nun. For if you divide the Aleph Beis into two parts the right and the left, the letter nun will fall in the middle. Being so it has no support from either side and therefore being all alone it will naturally fall away from the rest. This is why it denotes נפלה לא תוסיף קום. Fifty which is the gematriah of the letter nun represents downfall which describes Yisrael in its worst state of spirituality.

However, even though it looks this way on the outside, within Yisrael there always remains the hidden "Pinteleh Yid" which connects him eternally with Hashem and therefore Am Yisrael will always rise again to its former glory and intimate relationship with Hashem. Chazal place a comma in that passuk to prove this truth. It should be read as follows נפלה לא תוסיף, that even though Yisrael fell, she will not continue to do so. קום בתולת ישראל rise up the virgin of Yisrael. She is called a virgin since there always remains a part of her that can never be defiled or polluted and is always ready for a full comeback. That is why we find the letter סמיך that follows the letter nun in the Aleph Beis which begins the passuk סומך ה' לכל הנופלים . This testifies that during our descent we are nevertheless supported by Hashem even if we are not aware of it.

Haman was ready to annihilate Am Yisrael because of their disconnection with Hashem and the hanging gallows which reached fifty cubits was a harbinger of their fate of no return. However, Hashem demonstrated to the world that as our hidden partner, He is there to save and redeem us and turn the tables around so that it will be Haman who will fulfill the downfall of the letter nun. As we explained above, that his demise came about by personifying the letter nun by being in the middle without a life energy support, not from the Sitrah Achara and not from the Kedusha, achieved through the seuda of Esther. Without any life support from either side he was already deemed dead which was actualized in the second party of Esther. והמן נופל על המטה אשר אסתר עליה . This passuk can be interpreted that Haman fell on the מטה which means the "leaning to fall" as in the passuk אם אמרתי מטה רגלי which was caused by Esther אשר אסתר עליה and the word עליה on it, is referring to the מטה ונפילה .

Now we can understand the relationship of Haman to the Lechem Hpanim in the Beis Hamikdash. For the passuk says (Mishlei 25,21) אם רעב שונאך האכילהו לחם גחלים אתה חותה על ראשו If your enemy is hungry feed him bread for by doing so hot coals you are pouring over his head. Esther used this strategy in order to kill Haman. By feeding him he became connected momentarily to kedusha which cut him off from the tumah leaving him no other source for his life energy. The spiritual segulah of the Lechem Hapanim is its beracha that lies inside it for the Chazal say (Yuma 39) that even if the Kohen ate merely a bean size of Lechem Hapanim he was satisfied. The food of a tzadik can also achieve the same results. In the tzaddik's bread and wine lie the beracha of the Torah as the passuk says Mishlei 9,5 לכו לחמו בלחמי ושתו ביין מסכתי which bring a connection to Hashem (Succah 52b Rashi). By the seudah Esther was able to sever Haman momentarily from the Sitra Achara by attaching him to the beracha of the Torah which led to his demise.

The Torah is called emes .ונתן לנו תורה אמת The Sfas Emes writes that גחלת is gematriah אמת . By eating the food of the tsaddik one becomes attached to the Torah and the emes the opposite of Amalek who embodies sheker. With this insight we can now explain why the mitzvah of Purim is to reach a level of עד דלא ידע בין ארור המן לברוך מרדכי to the degree one will make a mistake and say ברוך המן . In truth the baruch Haman is not a mistake but a reality. It is because Esther fed Haman with the intention to detach him from the source of evil, which caused the yeshuah for Am Yisrael to come about. He left the palace with an attachment to Torah שמח וטוב לבthe source of all beracha. The impressions of this one time merit connection appeared later on in his generations that his great grandchildren learned Torah in Bnei Brak.

With the above we can understand more clearly why our Chachamim instituted a celebration with a seudah and specifically with wine drinking enough to get one drunk. The Biur Halachas asks how can our Chachamim obligate us to become inebriated on Purim when it is mentioned in the Torah and Neveeim that drunkenness is deplorable? He answers that all the miracles that occurred to Yisrael in the days of Achashveirosh was through משתה where there was drinking. Firstly it was through the party of drinking that Vashti was killed since she refused to come naked to the party and was replaced by Esther to be Queen. Secondly it was through the drinking parties of Esther that Haman had his downfall. Therefore our Chachamim obligated that on Purim that we should become intoxicated and thereby remember the great miracle with the drinking of the wine.

One can understand that during the party of Achashveirosh where this was wine drinking and intoxication, Vashti was killed. Achashveirosh had to be drunk when he commanded Vashti his wife to come to the party naked and parade herself in front of all those who attended. So this insanity from drunkenness was a miracle that Hashem did so and Vashti was to be replaced by Esther who would not reveal her identity as a Jewess until the second seudah which she made for Haman and Achashveirosh. Therefore we should drink wine in order to thank Hashem for causing Vashti's demise and the replacement of her with a Bas Yisrael to eventually save us from their decree. But how are we to understand the wine drinking during the private party of Esther. How did the drinking of wine in her two parties cause the death of Haman and the decree of Achashveirosh to immediately hang him? Even if there was no party of drinking wine Esther could have still related to the King that Haman intended to kill her because she was Jewish and the king would anyway kill Haman. Achashveirosh already demonstrated his love for Esther by having an audience with her which was against the Royal rule which forbade a presence with the king without first being called punishable by death. Furthermore, he agreed to come twice to a party that she made.

However according to the Kedushas Levi the catalyst role in Haman's death was the meal and the drinking as we brought above לכו לחמו בלחמי ושתו ביין מסכתי drink from the wine that I have already prepared and diluted. (מסכתי). The word מסך also means a mechitzah suggesting that by diluting wine with water, it will separate you from getting too drunk which was deemed despicable. In our context the wine that she served Haman to drink at her two parties built a מסך a divider separating Haman from his life source energy of the Sitra Acharah because he became attached to the kedusha of the wine from Esther's seudah. This attachment only lasted until the time of Esther's identity revelation which at the same moment Haman was cut off from all kedusha and left hanging with no source of life energy at all. He was already technically a dead man left only to hang on the Tree of Nun Amos.

It was both the wine served at Achashveirosh's party which directly caused Vashti's demise, and the wine served at Esther's two parties that were instrumental in playing direct and active roles which brought about the Yom Tov of Purim. It is therefore that we must drink wine to celebrate our redemption from his evil decree of genocide. On the Jewish Nation.

The Shulchan Aruch of Orach Chaim ends with Hilchos Purim and with the words of the Ramah וטוב לב משתה תמיד . This is referring to Purim Katan a two months Adar situation. The Ramah is saying that even on Yom Purim Katan it is suggested to have a seudah that brings to טוב לב . Why did the Ramah choose these words in particular in order to have the celebration of the seudah on Purim Katan? According to our maamar the miracle that caused the downfall of Haman was the seudah of Esther in which she cut Haman off from the life energy of the Sitrah Acharah which resulted in Haman's sudden unique Jewish experience of וטוב לב.

We too at the seudah of Purim must also drink wine and rid ourselves from any type of connection to the Sitrah Acharah and rededicate ourselves to the kedusha of the Torah and fulfillment of Mitzvos that flow and emanate from Hashem Yisbarach. It was from the Ahavas Haneis that we accepted the Torah Shbe"al Peh with love, in contrast to Matan Torah where we were forced to accept it against our will. On Purim our acceptance stemmed from a טוב לב a good and wanting heart to bring the Oral Law in our midst. The Oral Law originates in the hearts of those who learn the Torah as Rav Tzadok writes that opinions in the gemarah are expressed with the word אליביה which means according to the heart of. The passuk says ויין ישמח לבב אנוש which symbolizes the Oral Law. (Peri Zaddik Parshas Re'ai 14). The strategy of Esther was the passuk of ביין מסיכתי which refers to תורה שבעל פה for in the word מסיכתי lies מסכת which means one of the many tractates from Shas.