11 Mar BE WHO G-D MEANT YOU TO BE AND YOU WILL SET THE WORLD ON FIRE

Start the Party:
Learning From an
Uncouth Dictator
How to Celebrate Life
The Farmer
A Texas farmer was
touring England. He happened to meet an
English farmer and asked him, “What size
farm do you have?”
The Englishman proudly announced,
“Thirty-five acres!”
“Thirty-five acres?” the Texan scoffed.
“Why I can get in my truck at 8:00 AM and
start driving and at noon, I am still on my
farm. I can eat lunch and start driving again
and at 5:00 PM I am still on my farm.
“Ah, yes,” the Englishman nodded in
understanding. “I had a truck like that
once.”
The Party
In the opening of the story of the book of
Esther, the Persian Emperor, King
Achashverosh, throws a massive feast to
celebrate his consolidation of power on the

Persian throne. It is a lavish, completely
over-the-top party, a drunken, decadent
bacchanal that lasts for a full 180 days.
And then, when the 180 days are over, he
throws yet another feast, lasting seven days.
The celebrations continue for 187 days,
non-stop!
It seems strange. Although the only aspect
of the party of any obvious relevance to the
plot of the Purim story is that the King has
his wife killed for not entertaining his
drunken guests, the Megillah provides us
with verse after verse of vivid description
of the party itself.
We learn of the setting of the party, the
guests, the vessels and utensils used, and
the materials and fabrics used to dress up
the banquet:
There were hangings of white, fine cotton,
and turquoise wool, held with cords of fine
linen and purple wool, upon silver rods and
marble pillars; the couches of gold and
silver were on a pavement of variegated
marble.

And they gave them to
drink in golden vessels,
and the vessels differed
from one another, and
royal wine was plentiful
according to the bounty of
the king.
Why does the book of
Esther feel the need to
familiarize us with all the
opulence of
Achashverosh’s banquet?
Do I really have to know how many fabrics
were used at the feast and what was their
type? Do I really have to know the types of
goblets used? How does that help me
understand the story?
Rarely do the Torah and the Tanach give
vivid descriptions of events unless it is
important to grasp the story. The Torah is
not a classic history novel; it is, as its name
indicates, a book of lessons and teachings.
It wants us to learn something. Why on
earth would the king’s notorious decadence
be relevant to us?
In a Purim address, on Purim 5733,
March 18, 1973, the Lubavitcher Rebbe
suggested one beautiful explanation.
All In
The message of the Megillah is a simple
one, though in a way surprising. When
King Achashverosh throws a party, he
knows he must go all in. Not for him was
a mere hundred-day feast, or goblets from
silver instead of gold. He makes a serious
party and throws everything he has at his
disposal at the party.
This king will not settle for mediocrity
or even normal standards of a feast. He
will not just get away with doing a fine
job. If he can do it over the top, he will
have it just that way! If he can drink for
187 days, so be it. If he can give his
people a memory of a lifetime, this is
what he will do. No less.
Now, as the Talmud states, this king was
a fool. He wasted his money and creativity
on a foolish endeavor. Achashverosh’s
motives in throwing his bash were far
from holy. But the Torah is telling us the
story, the Rebbe suggested, to teach us an
invaluable lesson.
Even this paranoid, foolish king
understood that in life you got to give it
all you got! You ought not to live a life of
“quiet desperation.” Do not settle for
smallness. You got to suck the marrow

out of life. Carpe Diem! Life calls on us to
live it to the fullest.
If even the Persian dictator understood
this, how much more do we—G-d’s
people—need to understand this! Do not
settle for smallness. Give life all you got.
Utilize every potential, every resource,
every opportunity, every faculty, and every
talent. Do not squander a moment, and do
not squander any aspect of your soul.
Show up to life and to love with every
fiber of your being. Hold nothing back.
Dance to the end of love. Celebrate to the
heavens. Flex all your spiritual, physical,
and emotional muscles—let your infinite
light radiate and inspire every person you
encounter.
Don’t be stingy with your love and
passion. Be who G-d meant you to be and
you will set the world on fire.
If someone is blessed with the ability to
write, continued the Rebbe, then he or she
must find a way to use that to change the
world for the better. If you can raise 18
million dollars a year for Jewish education,
do not be content with 17 million. Do not
let fear or too much logic stifle you. Aim for
the top. Do not make your target close and
easy just to avoid fear and shame.
If you can build and spread goodness,
kindness, truth, morality, Yiddishkeit,
holiness, in yet a bigger and more effective
way — don’t be satisfied with small
measures. The days of an impersonal,
restrictive Judaism must remain behind us.
The Torah wants our youths, and each of us,
to develop wings—wings that will propel
them upward to reach their maximum
potential and change the world!
There Are Three Types of People: Those
Who Make Things Happen, Those Who
Watch Things Happen, and Those Who
Wonder What Happened. The Megilah
teaches us: Make things happen and think
big.