Clothing in Tanach: Torn and Tattered Clothing by Leah Feinberg

okay so to everyone who braved the weather to get here this morning it is quite the uh Adventure exactly I don't blame you I it's I hope so all right I hope I hope measures up that would be nice okay so we're going to do it's a little bit of a two-part Sher today we're going to start with clothing in migil Ester which really almost reads like highlights of the migil because it has really at almost every significant stage in the Miga we find clothing um playing a role in the story and the second part of the sh we'll just talk a little bit about costumes on purm based on all the things we've learned about the significance of clothing why on Purim do we choose to change our clothing and look differently to the you know present ourselves differently to the world so beginning with migil Ester the first time we mention we see clothing mentioned is really bira it's only hinted at and it's the the hint is sort of derived in two different ways by kazal the first is the states when was making his big feast and showing off all of the Grandeur and the wealth of his kingdom that at that time he wore theun that had been stolen from the mikash when the betam mdash was destroyed brought to bavel and ended up now in the Persian Empire to which he was the not quite the rightful Heir but he had taken the Throne of the pers of the Babylonian Empire had now been transferred to him how do we know that he wore the big dayun because here it says he showed off the preciousness and the glory of his greatness of his great and there with regard to Big it says as we know so when this word is like a code word if he's wearing if he's showing off something that's then it must be the big that's the and the which is a very famous source for this idea theot is a commentary on M EST written BYO alets the author of the composer really of so he wrote a commentary and he wrote that he quotes RAB elzar M who is who was a um 10th Century teacher in in worms in Germany one of the teachers of Rashi even kav the word where it describes the the hangings the wool hangings in the Palace of a at the party is the word is written with an enlarged if some certainly on the parchment M it has to be written that way and some of the printed texts show it as well the is enlarged why again this is a hint to the fact that wore the eight garments of the there's no there's no disgrace debasement as great as what he did that he took the from and wore it at this Feast the whole point of which was to glorify materialism he's showing off this look at the material wealth of my Mal of my kingdom and this Feast was a a very um we know he called in Vash I didn't bring that as a source for clothing because it's really right say only that he intended for her to display her beauty before everybody is all about physical Beauty material well material you know success and excess really and at such a display he dared to wear the big the B which we learned were a symbol of the Dignity of the kohen someone who stands in service of Hashem to to say that this these this clothing was it was to the person who wore it and to hasem it was an honor to Hashem and and and to take that very garment and wear it at this m and that the Jews were present at such an occasion that is a a terrible terrible debasement and that's how the meila opens up with this message of of of how um aash had completely perverted the the Holiness things that were holy and turned them into objects just mere objects of of material success the the idea of his wearing big not clearly was a strong M and we have two different sources as to where how it's derived where do we see a a written source for this idea but whenever you have this this kind of suggestion that the gumar brings the source from one place and then there's a midash that sources it in another place clearly there's a very strong M there's an oral transmission this is what happened War the big now going back where can we read that where can we find some illusion to that in the text and that's why you have two different um sources for this derivation but the fact that he wore the big deuna and used them in that way that that seems to be a very strong m the next time we see clothing in m is in per this is following the G of ham ham Vash has been executed Haman has been elevated to his new position and decree that everybody bow down to him Mori didn't bow down to him and it was because he was Jewish so he went to he did his whole um made came up with his whole plot of killing the Jews and Drew his Lottery went to the king got his permission Etc knew about all this tore his clothing and wore sackcloth and Ashes and he went out into the streets of the city crying a loud and bitter cry this is one of the Pim we read to the tune of a it's a mournful and he comes up to the the Gate of the king's Palace not into the because you can't enter the king's gate wearing sackcloth and everywhere where the the word reached of the the Jews were in ter in great mourning they fasted they cried they eulogized and many people dawned sackcloth and Ashes and then Esther's naot her servant girls come and tell her and she's very distressed difficult term so what does she do she's upset what exactly is she upset about we would think she's upset about theas about what's going on the first thing she does she sends clothing thing so that Mor can change his clothes take off your sackcloth and he refused to accept it so what's what's really going on here she's not it it doesn't make sense to say that what she's upset about is that he doesn't look nice he's not he's not well dressed so why is she sending him a change of clothing also she could have sent him a message go home and change your clothes and come back it's not like Mor doesn't have clothing so what what's going on what's really going on here so first of all rers comments on braet and again we should have done this last week had we not had election day in the middle but what can we do so the what's the The Source this is from the the first time that we see someone tear his clothing in tanak is where by yov tears his clothing when he hears of yosef's Presumed death right his his sons bring the is this your son's tet clearly and he says must have been killed and the first thing does there it's the his it's Sim but it's the same way he tore his clothing so R comments there beged he says unusual mostly most of the time when we find torn clothing it says what is a biged what what are what is clothing it represents who we are to the outside world right this is and again we've talked about this not not in an ideal world but in the real world in which we live people judge one another by appearances right we were talking about this last week you can't undo First Impressions in the first 30 seconds you've already but when you meet someone you've already communicated way more than probably we want to but people judge us by what we're wearing that's that's what clothes is okay and and the exact opposite is we talked about this also a traitor a bade is because he's identified he presents himself one way on the outside while inside he's really something else so that again that beged is how we look on the outside how we present ourselves on the outside we think that we're we're looking at the true person but really we're only seeing a beged when we when it comes to a bade so someone who tears his clothing prompted by some terrible sorrow a whether it's mourning shame there's some Rift that he's trying to show I feel something has been torn between me and the outside world world there's some Rift that has has developed between me and the outside world his a person sense of Integrity of his own personal dignity has somehow been torn has uh been rent and therefore he tears his clothing this is an expression of aut when we talk about tearing our clothing as a form of aut it's an expression of I'm not relating to the outside world in a in my whole form something has torn within me and I'm reflecting that to the outside world so what's EST responding to when she sees morai right she hears only that morai is is standing at the king's gate in his sackcloth and she sees that he is expressing his inner feelings to the outside world by tearing his clothing wearing sackcloth putting ashes on his head and she says uhuh this is not the way to go if you look at oh sorry well okay it's a little barbanel is expressing we look at since yov set this precedent of that's how we express this kind of T I feel rent I feel torn on the inside therefore I tear my clothing to express that on the outside that stayed with us forever he set a precedent that M followed that many other people on tanak followed which we'll see next week and which we still follow today when someone is in mour they tear their clothing it's an it's an expression it's an outward expression of how we feel on the inside set by yov Vu and to which we still cling heu the underlined line why do we cling to the ofu to this custom that Yu established because it demonstrates we are like him just as yov when he was in mourning for his son yes it was a but it was also CH it was also I want to get closer to Hashem I want to I I feel like something has ripped inside of me but if something has torn inside of me then hopefully what we aim to do is try to repair that which has been torn so how do we go about that through chuva through fasting go drawing closer to Hashem and that's what morai was trying to express he I am tearing my clothing I'm devastated by what's going on and I have in order to repair it I have to turn to Hashem I have to model myself on yov ainu Esther sends clothing according to the m Source number six why didn't he receive why was he so why did he refuse to accept the clothing she's she's trying to help him along so most of the commentators say what is she trying to accomplish by sending him clothing she wants him to change his clothing so that he can enter the palace come in let's talk about this whether you go talk to the king whether you come talk to me let's make a plan let's let's employ diplomatic means and try to work with this situation right this we yes there's been a terrible decree that's been issued but calm down we have time right this is in the month of Nissan the was not until the following Adar so we have 11 months let's employ diplomatic channels we'll think about how how to approach the king how we can possibly get rid of this G have this G repealed in a nice calm diplomatic political way and says no I'm not taking off this sackcloth until Hashem does miracles for me like he did in previous times in earlier Biblical times we see there are times when someone dawned sack sackcloth and Ashes and and they and tore their clothing you find it with aav that he had a there there was a RAV in the time of a and yes it was his fault and eliahu brought the rav because of an exchange that he had with a elah and aab had had met and said aab said certain things because of which eliyahu decreed the the drought which led to a famine and that famine lasted for 3 years but at the end of three years Hashem said die enough and as much as he was a Ras and he did terrible things he loved am is and he was concerned for them so those whole the entire three years he wore sackcloth and he fasted and he prayed to Hashem in his own way to remove the rav to end the famine and Hashem at the ends of three years that okay they that's it that's all they can handle and he brought about tremendous Nim at that time same thing with yoram y also experienced the ra and this is the outward expression they wore the sackcloth for this outward expression of what's going on on the inside that they feel impaired somehow because of the situation and that leads to chuva so Esther is saying take off the sacko don't be so dramatic come into the palace we'll talk this through and morai says LEL no I am not moving until the a nce what's going to bring about a nce choua he said that's what has to happen this is not the moment for political maneuvering this is the moment for Spiritual upheaval we have to create a huge trua movement and it has to be done dramatically and it has to be done now we can't wait we can't push this off this is a sign from Hashem he wants us to return to him now and I'm not taking off my sackcloth until the miraculous things start to happen and this is mori's approach and and this is where they clash and she says you know let's take our time and he says you have to go to the king and she says I I don't know about that you know I haven't been called in in 30 days it's it's been a while either which is understood either he'll call for me soon most likely he'll call for me soon or somehow I've fallen out of favor and it's a real risk if I go to him and Mori says this is why you're you are where you are right this is come on seize the moment and and she comes around to his way of thinking instead of in the beginning it's this this conversation this encounter is really the biggest turnaround in the meila because until now Esther's been very passive and From This Moment On she takes charge and she's okay well I'll go into the king as you wish and in that case get everybody together tell them to fail and she starts giving him instructions so there's a huge turnaround here this is a very significant encounter and really it is all it's all set in motion by the clothing that morai wears and the fact that he refuses to accept the change of clothing that she offers she says change change your clothing meaning change your way of thinking and he insists lokel no I'm not changing my way of thinking you have to change your way of thinking which she then does and then even exceeds his expectations which is it's an amazing encounter so what does that lead to it leads to the next change of clothing in per Mal probably three of the most fam all the words in the migil are so beautiful I was just saying it's like you open migil EST there every year and it's just so beautiful and so exciting and so um fresh every time so EST she wore royalty and she goes and stands in the until notices her and gives s send his scepter indicating that she's allowed to [Music] enter right so let's let's discuss how this reflects that but yes this is a moment in which she completely assumes her own identity and you know sort of stands there in her own right with a tremendous amount of strength I what it took for her to do this we can't even imagine um so what what is this of course all the start with saying it should have said right you have the the gar is the earliest source that I brought Source number eight it should have said Now esther wrote The M very carefully every word is very well Chosen and carefully thought out she didn't accidentally leave out a word it it didn't happen so clearly if she wrote yes it obviously could have said B Mal and that would have just okay she got dressed in in her royal garments and she went to see the king the fact that she left out the word tells us something else Ella shes Mal here is a euphemism for rues she was enrobed in the Divine spirit in divine inspiration and in that manner she went to see the king and that's why think about this she says to morai let's all you tell everybody tell them to gather to DAV to fast I too will DAV and fast I don't know about the rest of you but after one day of fasting I don't look my best right she's fasting now for three days and she says after three days of fasting I'm going to go stand before the king she can barely stand up she you know whatever color she was originally she's white now like right that's so what what what does that mean soes she is lit up she's illuminated from within by rodes and that's why she's so striking when she stands there the king sees her and he sees this illuminated personality not just the the physical beauty that he was attracted to initially he sees there something shining there's something special about her and that's why he invites her in and that and the the there is a proof text that elsewhere it say that thees is used in connection with Ru with a spirit Illuminating someone from within um but the the Milla here quotes this the context is that's the proof that was a she wor she wor she's a from here we learn so that's what it means that's the first explanation of she wore rues she was enrobed she was again illuminated from within byes means rues the says something fascinating until now her royal position was uncomfortable putting it mildly for Esther right she she was she was in galut to begin with she's in a downtrodden sorry state to begin with and then she ends up in the palace gut galut right she is the the she is absolutely in the the most awful horrible position she's even with Mor walking outside she she's in this she's surrounded by by such degradation I mean the women surrounding her are the lowest it's it's the lowest of the low and he sees that he sees what what's happening outside right and he's the G and all of a sudden it Mor realizes she wasn't taken there for no reason like okay maybe we thought superficially it seemed like oh she's she's beautiful so she was taken she was chosen in this beauty context what what was Hashem thinking what was hashem's plan and then one second now there's this terrible G but we have someone on the inside Esther is in the in the palace maybe she can somehow help and maybe not not only maybe can she help but this is why you're there he says to her you're being there you were so you know feeling this K say that the Mis was written with Esther in mind and this was her I feel so lost and abandoned here you've been feeling lost and abandoned but one second there's a reason for this this is why you have reached the Mal and that's why when Esther went to to she wore her royalty literally the royalty to which she had been unwitting you know unwillingly chosen but she embraced it for the first time she accepted the fact I am the queen I am A's Queen and therefore I can go into him and maybe work from the inside this is why I'm there so she embraced her royalty she wore her royalty her her real Persian royalty for the first time it's the first time that she said I'm comfortable not I don't know comfortable with it but I I accept this that this is my destiny to be the Persian queen and I can Channel it and use it in a positive way the T tamima quotes the mid mid andad should have said big day she wore the Mal that was hers by biological right who's a who's Mal a sha she wore the Mal of says the tepin that the the MIM struggle with the explanation of this phrase with this idea see me it seems very [Music] simple it clearly we're talking about sha why as we said earlier descended from like she embraced the role of her forbear sha the Mal and his Royal Mission which was to have eradicated Amal why are we left with h because sha left AAG alive EST is the tun for that and that's why morai says to her if you don't act in this moment don't worry the Jews will be saved what's going to happen to you why why your father's house you're gonna get rid of your father's what what is that what is your father's house because this is your opportunity to be a t for sha you have to get rid of amalik because he left amalik alive and if you do then that's going to be a tremendous and if you don't we're going to learn lose this last fin opportunity that Hashem is giving us as descendants of sha to eradicate Amal so that's the Mal that she embraced you have three different approaches but Mal she wore Mal means she took on yeah of course it should have said big day Mal but what a big day Mal represent in this instance either her own malut as Queen of Persia or the inher Mal of the the mission that she as the Royal descendant of sha was was assigned to eradicate Amal oresh that she was enrobed in this Illuminating Spirit of divine Spirit which empowered her to go into aash and be welcomed into his chamber the next time of course we see Mal is in every child's favorite story I think in the migil this is the part that the kids wait for that there there's not a lot of Paran on this because it is what it is right the ham had gone into the king to ask to permission to hang M he was so excited that he couldn't wait until morning he went in the middle of the night meanwhile kazal tell us that had been having these disturbing dreams in which Haman was trying to steal his crown and then in walks San in the middle of the night and he had had his meanwhile the king had had his uh record books brought in to soothe to be read to him to soothe him bedtime stories you know let me hear about my great feats and accomplishments and what they kept reading about bigan and teres and how his life had been saved and all of's like wait a second what what was done to honor this man who saved my life and nothing there's no record of anything having been done and in walks on at that very moment and Hashem say sorry H hasem is orchestrating things behind that's is Hashem so Hashem is certainly orchestrating the fact that Haman walked in at just that instant and and he says to H what should be done and says to himself who else if not me so well okay let's think this is what done Royal clothing which the king himself has worn and a horse upon which the King has ridden and a crown should be placed on his head and here at this point um the say that A's face was starting to get a little bit um expressing concern and and ham sees that he's walking on thin ice here when it comes to the ker so it's a little bit unclear he didn't want to say you know on my head cuz the king is getting annoyed he says on his head it's left a little bit unclear Some of farim say maybe he meant the head the horse's head the horse should wear the the K which is even more insulting perhaps but at any rate is not happy with that situation in the end we see the K is left out so this is what was done the clothing the horse was all brought and ham had dressed Mor and lead him through the streets beo and uh excuse me after which morai returns to the and H returns right and the mid says hamman's daughter had looked out the window and assumed that it would be morai leading Haman through the streets so she threw the contents of the chamber pot on the head of the person leading the horse and it turned out to be her father which is why he comes home a Ro if you have a good balk okay um yes at any rate so ham specifies who's going to know if the king wore his clothing you think the people out in the streets who are going to see him passing by oh I saw the king wearing that just yesterday right no so that's a clear signal to everybody who's watching this parade this person is wow the king wants to honor him who's feeling that the person wearing Theo only the person wearing the clothing and ham and like it's a very small circle of people who are going to know that this is clothing that the king had worn so really the impact is felt by the wearer I am something special and that's what Haman wanted for himself I want to wear clothing the king himself has worn because that's going to make me like I'm the king I am I'm wearing the king's clothes that he wore and somehow his his Essence was expressed through these garments I'm going to be that person I'm I'm going to be for in those moments it's like I'm the king but what happens afterwards so morai ends up wearing the clothes right but what does he do he went right back to who he was he was not impacted clothing for morai didn't work from the outside in hamon was saying from the outside that's going to Mark who I am on the inside and said no who I am on the outside how I express who I am that comes from within not the other way around and he's not changed by having worn these garments even though a himself had worn them and that was meant to impact him that doesn't work that way it goes from the outside in from the inside out not the outside in and he is goes back to his sackcloth and Ashes because for him it's not about his own glory for hamon it was all about his own Glory what was it about for morai the G is still in effect nothing has changed until that and remember what he had said until theat is changed until there's a ace I'm not taking off my sackcloth so he had no choice in this instance the king said okay had do but as soon as he was done he goes back to his sackcloth and Ashes because that's the expression of who he is and what he's about his concern is for clol not for himself then things change okay finally the G is repealed and in par again you have goes out in Royal clothing says here we see he he asks the question brisk asks the question right it sounds like well this they saw him wearing beautiful clothing and whoa they're happy yay Mor is wearing nice clothes that's not again it's not what it's about it's not about the superficial clothing on the outside what's the and it's like this is huge it's a big it's not that like oh they they they smiled and said oh that's cute you know nice they there are two things going on here makes it sound the same way like they were when when they saw the of it seems like it's all that they were happy about the clothing but this needs to be explained so what's the explanation the explanation is again Mor is only concerned with the of against the entire CL Israel and the entire the time that the the G was not repealed he he couldn't be happy so when they saw and everybody knew this because again the whole his Sak was led to sakim many people followed Mor's example I'm on the last line of the second paragraph that was the signal it's not that they saw the clothing and said H wow Mor found finally found a good tailor they saw the clothing and said well if Mori took off his sackcloth and he on his own he look how he's walking the streets not as a function of the king's decree led by someone because that's an artificial situation but on his own he is willingly walking the streets and clearly the nce has occurred the is repealed now we can truly Rejoice so it's again the expression on the outside of what's going on on the inside then he brings a beautiful draa when the when the king dressed him up in the king's clothing it was intended as a temporary momentary thing hashem's intention was this should be lasting this is not just a momentary you know moment of Glory he had his moment in the Sun and now he just everything goes back to the way it was no Hashem intended for there to be real change and that's when the sack gets removed and in place of the sackcloth he gets get the L Mal and in place of the aair he gets the the crown of malut because one who feels the pain of CLA Israel merits to feel the Redemption of CLA Israel and that's really the the message here it's not just a superficial wearing of clothing the the clothing of his Nish changed that his Nish was in so much pain for the pain of CLA trial that he could only wear sackcloth and Ashes but in the Merit of his having worn sackcloth and Ashes for having felt the pain of CLA Israel that's the Merit in which he gets to wear Mal not just for a few minutes going around town led by Hamman on a on a on the king's horse but really from now his whole position changed he's M appointed over the household of Etc he's even in a position to put taxes on the people which the last basuk which now has become a minhag isra to boo by when when the tax is mentioned but uh as we'll see Minag Tor so to build the betam mikash yes and now we boo them it's a we should we really we we need to revisit some of our minhagim yes contemporary minhagim yeah I I I wanted to spend a few minutes on tet but that's that's mad is that the conclusion of mad EST is really it's the turnaround because that's the whole theme of M right it's us so the sackcloth turns to and that's that's just em emblematic of what happens throughout the entire story The Green complexion okay how much time do you have yeah um okay so the greenish complexion is explained in a few ways the moral I'll give you quickly the moral says that green is the perfect balance between white and black it's the exact center between white and black and it shows that Esther was very balanced she had a very balanced personality talks about this in a few different ways the Hadas that also the Hadas is thear says the Hadas is Boni so she wasn't too much of one thing too much of another she didn't go to any extreme and everybody was drawn to her because of that because everybody found something in her that they could connect to and you know we're always drawn to people who sort of exuded a sense of personal Harmony of of and that was the that's that's one explanation for the greenness of her complexion which is um so there so green like the hadash but no so the Mahal does not take it literally um there is a another papers that says that she was Green from the whole experience of being taken to the palace and know that she was literally green but but that she had a certain that transcended the greenness that the the of Esther the r i I've quoted this before here I'm sure the r salvation because the most beautiful um definition of which is that it is an out Outer reflection of the person's Salim and that like when when you looked at Esther you saw her Tello Kim and that's what the King was was sort of um taken by not her not necessarily she wasn't look there were a lot of beautiful women there even if she was exceptionally beautiful which the gamar does say that she was um she might not have looked her best at that moment and there were other beautiful women but her beauty was was associated with K which is the outer reflection of what's inside the tell okay so that's two explanations for the greenness there are more but okay I love I'm passionate about mad EST I'm passionate about all of tanak mad EST like number one in my heart I think if I'm allowed to say such a thing and uh I guess you can see that okay why do we wear costumes on PM so very very quickly the earliest mention of costumes on porm is in the writings of Mahari Mintz rabuda minz rabuda Lei Mintz of Padua Italy um fascinating life story he lived a very long time he Liv died at 103 right like within the same week as the abarbanel who was also living in Italy at that time the abarbanel came from Spain Mahari minz came originally from Germany so it's the intersection of two worlds in Italy post expulsion post Spanish expulsion barbanel had been a member of the Spanish court and went to Italy um following the expulsion from Spain and they died just days apart and are buried right next to each other so you have two worlds converging over there the barell was 71 he was a relatively young man he died very disappointed very bitter because he had been convinced that the Spanish expulsion and the Inquisition that followed were mashia and that mashia was going to arrive and he was died very disappointed that mashiach had not come and uh Mahar minz died at 103 which can't even imagine in in the 1500s to live to 103 people must have like I don't know Idol I somehow I idolized him because for such a person to have seen so much to be walking the streets wow um at any rate he he has a chuva about costumes on purm and that's the first written early that's the earliest written source that we have uh that deals with it and he talks about Sim that it's associated with Sim that's why we wear it as a as a an expression of the joy of Pur people wear costumes to like contribute to the spirit of happiness I did bring a source from tanak sorry I left this little one little Source from Tanakh for the the root of the word the only this is the first time we see we talked about last time that maybe we know that yob wore asa's clothing he's disguised the first time we see the word in the root of the same word that we use in contemporary Lang Hebrew to mean this is when he goes to the and he wants to raise shui from the dead at the end of his life and he's not in good Straits and he needs sh shu's advice where does the word come from he became free of the Mal he's no longer King If he if he's not wearing the king's clothes he's no longer the king he's free of the restraints that being King put on his behavior and now he could behave like just anybody so I think that's what mahim meant and then there's a second source which is um also an earlier Source this was printed from a manuscript it's a just a fragment he really takes it far that he was and which is what allowed him to go employ a necromancer because that is certainly not okay so he he freed himself of his of all his obligations and I think that the marim minz was that's what he's alluding to when he says we were costumes on Purim that and he just says that this is a minhag that I've seen in the home of in the homes of my teacher which he came from Germany so this is an ashkenazic minhag we don't see costumes on porm in sparik halak literature for until much much later it's emerged as an ashkanazi minhag either in Germany or in Italy and that it's Associated at least initially with sort of having a certain freedom of expression it's like getting drunk on purum right so wearing costumes is a different way of doing that like I'm going to take on this this other identity which is going to free me to express myself in ways that I don't normally feel normally I feel a little bit restrained confined by who I am and what people might think so if I put on a mask and people don't recognize me I can be a little bit more free in my behavior obviously within H limitations and that's something that comes up a lot in Hal literature is it permissible for men to wear women's clothing and vice versa and spim are much more mockit on that than ashkenazim ashm is if it's clear to that it's done for the sake of purm and all the other laws of are complied with which is a significant piece to bear in mind um then it's it's okay in asaz circle spad was very against the idea of men wearing women's clothing and vice versa even on pum yeah does anybody connect it to in other words yeah so I think it is connected like to search for your own identity right is makes it reflexive so I'm searching for who I really am and sort of letting that out not being restrained by any uh anything that's holding you back on the outside um other comments about so the and again it's not in the itself but it's in the comments of the ra the is it's mentioned only in a glass of the because it's the wearing masks on it's only a matter it's just a way of rejoicing freely um similar to the mints and that's that seems to be the earliest mention of it you have to make sure that you're not violating customs of the city in which you live so with with respect to the people around you and what their standards may be within those guidelines yes it's permissible to to be a little free with our costumes on PM some other beautiful very quickly because we really have to finish the benar again opens minhag is tahu that these are minhagim and by the way this comes up a lot with regard to PM minhag is tahu same thing with the says it's brought down in the this is that there's a reason why we use grogers it's not just to you know it's not like on PES so the children will ask questions or to keep the kids awake and Shool or to get them excited whatever there's there's a real meaning to the the grogers on Pur when we hear the name of ham we should extra loud this year so but here this not during daving by the way there are Chas about whether or not you're allowed to wear costumes during daving so costumes yes masks no based on the the idea that MOS Ru when he stood before Hashem removed his Veil right when we stand before Hashem it should be Pim Pim so it's okay to wear a costume as long as it's not too frivolous but masks should be removed for ding okay anyway um he says he brings the chuva and this is again fascinating in terms of the cultural implications he says I saw in the saer in Miz is a spartic rabbi he was um actually Yi he was born in Yim but he spent a significant part of his life in Italy and Germany so it could be that that's where he saw these Customs although he is much later he's in the 17th century late 17th early 18th century even so it could be that by then costumes had crept into the spartic world but it it's definitely ashkanazi in origin what does he write that wearing costumes alludes to the teaching of the fact that the Jews in the time of netar and sa for Danel bowed to the that netar created to his Idol they didn't they did it without feeling in their hearts they they only went through the physical emotions because they had no choice but in their hearts they remained loyal to Hashem so too also acted only superficially Hashem allowed the of ham to be issued knowing that it was going to be revoked and only in order so that b Isel do Chua and return to him and and come back to him it was only a a like a superficial structure to get them to return to Hashem so therefore we remember that he it's a very sweet little explanation Hashem only acted superficially so we also put on some superficial disguise to show that inside we're really loyal to Hashem despite what our behaviors may be when we sin it's not intentionally it's not we we're not trying to rebel against Hashem we make mistakes and that's represented by our costumes of her and says the that's very nice but there's something really much deeper going on and here he relates it to the rues says that Esther wores she wores and the impact that that had on the mid Hees a mid from the Zohar that became paralyzed with fear when he saw Esther illuminated by thees and he had to be revived by a Mal in order to welcome her in and the whole and the story changed from there and the at the end of the story when you see the turnaround he goes from where sackcloth to wearing Mal it's the same thing that he's wearing the of he it was a spiritual manifestation it's it's a physical manifestation of something of a spiritual change that's occurring and that's why on puim we change our clothing to reflect this idea of hoping that we're tapping into the spiritual core of what's happening on porm and we're expressing our joy through wearing costumes but it's really an expression of the that and which again speaks to um the spirit of the costumes that people should wear and what what's what kind of costumes uh are appropriate and what aren't many of the sources talk about specifically dressing up as non-jews of the sources especially andic circles it's very common you see it in the in the courts of the the kids dress up as kacs you ever see this and they do a KAC dance it's a it's a very it's a very traditional like this is what they do that the perm costume is to dress up as a KAC so what what does that have to do with anything so the P explains very beautifully it's in Yiddish for those who uh want to break your teeth a little bit it's so he says um basically he says he relates the two sources rues that she wore rues and that she dressed in the Royal in the royalty of her forbear sha what's the connection sha is the only King what happens to sha at the beginning of his Mal not quite up to there in nakomi yet but you'll hear it in a couple of days what he experiences prophecy right so he had both he had Mal in the sense of royalty and prophecy why does he need royalty and prophecy because the command to eradicate was given when you go into the land who is the first leader to bring us into the land upon whom fell this obligation yua yua was Mei therefore the person who's going to continue that mission who's going to eradicate amalik has to be me V so therefore um sha had to experience neua and Esther who took on that role who to continue the mission of sha had to have both royalty Andes and he says at the end um last three lines okay I'll do the last yeah is as is so she wore right Jewish but she wore it in the disguise of that she wore the the Mal of Persia on the outside but on the inside it was really the rues and the mission of sha that she was accomplishing right is the that's why they have the Mitzvah the the minhag to dress up specifically Asim as non-jews and to say that this should be an instrument that will bring us to gula