On Purim, we get so high we don’t know the difference between Haman and Mordechai. This means we don’t know the difference between arrogance and humility because both are holy. The world knows of either humility or arrogance. The truth is that you need both. But you have to know when. We learned it, anger is a very holy thing if you know when to use it. All the emotions in world are very holy because G-d made them. You only have to know when is the right time to use them. So the world may think either you are a shmendrik, you are always humble, or you are aIways arrogant. Both are wrong. On Purim we are on the level that we know exactly when to be humble and when to be proud. The truth is, to be a servant of G-d you need a lot of pride. Reb Nachman says even to pray to G-d takes a lot of pride. That means I am standing before G-d and demanding, “Please G-d, listen to me!” A lot of pride, but this is holy pride. Then you must have holy humility. Not shmendrik humility. Not the stupid humility which is what we have mostly. You must have holy humility. The people who have holy humility are the strongest people in the world. If you know exactly where to use your humility then you know exactly where to use your pride. On Purim a great thing is shining that we know exactly when pride stops being evil and humility stops being completely out of reach. Everything is holy on Purim because I know exactly when to be humble, and when to be proud.
The greatest evil in the world is sadness. Why is the world not becoming better? Or why am I, as an individual, not becoming a better person? Rebbe Nachman tells us it is because I am filled with sadness. Perhaps I am sad because of something I did yesterday. Or maybe I am sad because of what I am going to do tomorrow. It doesn’t really matter. Meanwhile, I am filled with sadness. Rebbe Nachman teaches us that this is the greatest evil in the world. All the teachings of Amalek, all the teachings of evil fill you with sadness.
Rebbe Nachman teaches very strongly that there is such a thing as good manners which have their roots from the Other Side, in the evil of the world. Good manners with absolutely no meaning. The Germans when they invited Jews to go to the gas chambers, would always say, “Bitte — please”. Why do you say please? Why do you pretend to be civilized? So there are good manners whose root is in the evil of the world, and then there are real good holy manners. Holy Good Manners. When someone walks in the door I might say, “Hey! I’m so overjoyed to see you!” because of good manners, but it has absolutely no meaning. Or I can say it because I really mean it. Not because of good manners. On Purim we get drunk. According to good manners you really shouldn’t get drunk, but what kind of manners are they? It all depends on the level we are drunk. On Purim we are holy drunkards, really holy. If on Purim, you are not on the holiest level you really have no right to drink, but… On Purim we break down all the good manners of the world. We get real. And if you are real, you can be drunk and still be real, still be holy. And if you are on the level of evil manners you can be not drunk, and give a speech and say the most obnoxious things in the world. So on Purim, therefore, we break down the level of manners and we are drunk. We are obnoxious, maybe, but we are just on the highest level.
What is the difference between drunk drunk and holy drunk? A non-holy drunkard, if he sees ten people he sees a hundred, if he sees a million, he might say he sees ten million. A holy drunkard sees only One, nothing else.
There is a great war going on — a war of good against evil. One day a year we don’t fight evil. One day a year there is no evil in the world. One day a year we reach the level of the day after the war. This day is Purim. But only the people who are involved in the war all year long can really understand what Purim is all about. If you don’t fight evil all year long and then on Purim, you suddenly say that you want to jump into Purim — what do you know? If evil looks good to you then you have nothing to celebrate. On Purim I celebrate that there is no evil. But if you like evil, then on Purim you have nothing to celebrate. You have no part in it.
So how do you fight evil? First you need to remember that there is such a thing as evil in the world. You have to remember. Imagine that yesterday I was bad, so I mamash promise myself that I’ll be good. The next morning, I’ve forgotten already. I forgot my promise; I forget how bad I felt when I did wrong. If I should remember just a little bit. Purim is the great holiday of the people who remember. Because the people who remember are the ones who are fighting this great war against evil every day. They really do remember.
There are two kinds of love which G-d has for us. The first love is contracted, limited, love. Say, for instance, I like someone because he does everything I tell him to do. And then I like someone not because he does everything I want, maybe he doesn’t do everything I want, maybe he doesn’t do everything I want, I just love him. On Yom Kippur G-d is loving us because we say “G-d, we did wrong, we want to be better, we confess, we promise we’ll be good, we’ll do everything you tell us to do.” It’s all very sweet and holy but it is not the ultimate. On Purim G-d is shining down into us His great love which has nothing to do with doing His will. He just loves us. This is beyond our minds. Therefore we have to be drunk on Purim, because we have to reach that thing which is beyond our minds. You have to be beyond your own mind. G-d’s great love which is flowing down on Purim is not because we did right. It is just because He loves us. This is beyond …beyond every understanding. Evil can only reach the level of love where we talk about doing G-d’s will, so evil can make us not do G-d’s will. That light comes from a place where evil can reach. But that great love which has nothing to do with doing G-d’s will evil cannot reach. On Purim this greater love is becoming so strong in the world, there is no evil. There is nothing between me and G-d. Nothing. I can be a drunkard, I can be the most obnoxious person in the world, but who cares? Gevalt. >>>>>part /2
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