The Jews had light, and gladness, and joy, and honour. (Megillah 8:16)

There is an obvious question. Most capital cities, especially in the Diaspora, were dominated by non-Jews, and in the city of Shushan during the Purim story, it seems that there were many enemies of the Jews living there. Why then was the city of Shushan “perturbed” when the decree to kill all the Jews was given? Furthermore, when Mordechai became a hero, why was the city of Shushan very happy? It seems from this is that the majority of the city of Shushan had positive feelings towards the Jews.

There are those that answer that the religion at that time was to worship money. The Jews were involved in the hub of commerce. Therefore, the neutral populace was preoccupied with maintaining the status of the Jews in the business world, for much of the commerce hinged on them.

The Kedushas Levi offers another answer. He points out that the city of Shushan was “tzhala visameicha”, while the Jews had “orah”, light. What is the difference between the two? He explains that because the holiness of the Jews infuses and thereby affects the entire world, the happiness of the Jews spilled over to the point that the non-Jews were happy, but they didn’t know exactly why. The Jews, on the other hand, knew exactly why they were happy: Evil was destroyed. Therefore, they had “orah” and “simcha”, because they saw the “light” behind the happiness.

On Purim people are happy. Many of them think that the reason for their happiness is that it is a Yom Tov and there is ruchniyus in the air, which brings about a feeling of contentment. This is a very low level of happiness! Though it is to be praised, for at least such a person is connected with that which is going on around him. But what about us? Are we happy from within? Or are we just riding the wave of the external excitement. How can one test this?

I would like to offer a simple test based on a story of the Bnei Yissaschar. The Chasidim asked him a question similar to ours: “We seem to always be enthralled with the Tish. But are our feelings real or are we simply fooling ourselves? He answered them, “Let us make a test. In the middle of the week wear your Shabbos clothing, eat Shabbos food and sing zemiros, then tell me how you felt without the major element called Shabbos.” To the chasidim’s chagrin, it was blissful! They came back to the Rebbe and asked, “What now?” The Rebbe answered, “You don’t have to be so distressed, since you regularly observe Shabbos as you should, the Shabbos aura permeates into the rest of the week.”

On Purim, how would we feel if we didn’t have the “props” of people bearing goodies coming in and out, the music in the streets and, for some, a bottle of wine in hand? Many of us would find it difficult to be happy. But following the above thought, you will actually still feel good because the day itself is energized with holiness. If one would think about the miracle of Purim and learn the megillah in advance, then he would be like the chasidim above. One would be able to use this newfound appreciation of Purim, which was gained before the actual day, and infuse the day with extra kedusha.

However, the ultimate would be to not only prepare before Purim (like the chasidim above), but also on Purim day itself one should do the mitzvos and read the Megillah, with the intent to bring about happiness and become closer to Hashem. This will make us experience the true light of Purim, which will hopefully bring us to the ultimate redemption, speedily in our days.