Purim's love-driven re-acceptance of Torah

בפורים הי' קבלת התורה כמ"ש הדר קבלוה בימי אחשורוש.

On Purim there was a [renewed] kabbalas haTorah (acceptance of the Torah), as Chazal say: "They accepted it again in the days of Achashverosh" (Shabbos 88a).

Purim is not only a deliverance but a second Sinai — the Jews willingly re-accepted the Torah in the days of Achashverosh.

פרש"י מאהבת הנס.

Rashi explains: out of love for the miracle.

This time the acceptance flowed from love, awakened by gratitude for the miracle of their salvation.

וכתיב קימו וקבלו נראה שזה כמו הקדמת נעשה לנשמע.

It is written, "they fulfilled and accepted" (Esther 9:27) — it appears that this is like the placing of "na'aseh" (we will do) before "nishma" (we will hear).

The order "fulfilled and accepted" mirrors Bnei Yisrael's famous "na'aseh v'nishma" — committing to action before fully understanding.

כי קבלה צריך להיות קודם קיום הדבר.

For acceptance ought to come before the fulfillment of the matter.

Logically one accepts a commitment first and only then carries it out — so the wording seems reversed.

וכ' קימו למעלה מה שקבלו למטה.

And it is written "kiyemu" (they fulfilled/established) above — what they accepted below.

The Sefas Emes reads "kiyemu" as "they established above": their acceptance here below brought about an establishment in the upper worlds.

ותוס' הקשו דצריך קרא לקימו מה שקבלו כבר ע"ש.

Tosafos asked: why is a verse needed for "they fulfilled" what they had already accepted [at Sinai]? See there.

Tosafos is puzzled — if they had already accepted the Torah at Sinai, why does Scripture record a separate act of "fulfilling"?

ולע"ד שהכל אחד.

And in my humble opinion, it is all one [single matter].

The Sefas Emes resolves the difficulty: acceptance and fulfillment are not two separate stages but one unified process.

כמ"ש בזוה"ק פירוש הקדמת נעשה לנשמע עושי דברו לשמוע כו'.

As the Zohar HaKadosh explains the placing of "na'aseh" before "nishma": "those who do His word, to hear [the voice of His word]" (Tehillim 103:20).

The Zohar reads the pasuk to mean that the very doing ("osei devaro") is itself what enables the hearing — action awakens the capacity to receive.

שבנ"י שואגין ככפירים כו' ומעוררין בחי' הדיבור ע"ש.

That Bnei Yisrael roar like young lions… and arouse the aspect of the Divine speech (dibbur); see there.

By their longing and "roaring" below, Bnei Yisrael awaken the higher dibbur — the divine word and command — drawing it into the world.

והפי' שקיום המעשה הוא בגשמיות. ויש בו אור שלמעלה מהטבע והמעשה עצמו נוגע בבחי' הדיבור והציווי.

The meaning is that the fulfillment of the deed is in physicality, yet there is within it a light above nature, and the deed itself touches the aspect of the dibbur (speech) and the command.

Though a mitzvah is performed in the physical world, it contains a supra-natural light; the act itself reaches up and connects to the divine word that commanded it.

והרצון של האדם נוגע למעלה יותר שהרי הרצון לקיים רצונו ית' גם במה שלמעלה מהטבע רק שא"א.

And a person's ratzon (will) reaches even higher — for the will is to fulfill His will even in that which is above nature, only that it is impossible [in practice].

One's inner will to serve Hashem reaches higher still than the deed, because the will would carry out even supra-natural commands, were that within human power.

ונמצא רצון האדם נוגע בשורש הדיבור שהוא רצונו ית"ש.

It emerges that a person's will touches the root of the dibbur, which is His blessed will.

Because human will aspires without limit, it connects to the very source of the divine word — the ratzon Hashem itself.

ונמצא ע"י אמירת נעשה שחפצים לקיים רצונו ית"ש מעוררין רצון הנ"ל.

It emerges that through saying "na'aseh," by which they desire to fulfill His blessed will, they arouse the aforementioned [divine] will.

Declaring "na'aseh" expresses the wholehearted desire to do Hashem's will, and this awakens the corresponding divine ratzon above.

ונעשה הדיבור ושומעין אח"כ ומקיימין בפועל כנ"ל.

And the dibbur comes into being, and afterward they hear and fulfill it in actuality, as above.

The aroused will brings the divine speech into being; only then do they "hear" and carry it out in practice — so "na'aseh" truly precedes "nishma."

וז"ש קימו הרצון לעשות ועי"ז קימו למעלה ונעשה דיבור וקיבלו כנ"ל.

This is the meaning of "kiyemu" — the will to do; and through this they "established above," and the dibbur came into being, and "they accepted," as above.

"Kiyemu v'kiblu" thus describes one flow: the will to act establishes the divine word on high, which is then received below.

ובאור חדש ממהר"ל הביא בשם מדרש תנחומא פ' נח שהדר קבלוה קאי אתורה שבע"פ ע"ש:

And in the Or Chadash of the Maharal, he brings in the name of Midrash Tanchuma, Parashas Noach, that "they accepted it again" refers to the Torah she-be'al peh (Oral Torah); see there.

The Maharal adds that the renewed acceptance on Purim was specifically of the Oral Torah, which is acquired through love and toil rather than coercion.

Summary: The renewed acceptance of Torah on Purim, born of love for the miracle, is "na'aseh" before "nishma" in essence: the human will to do Hashem's ratzon reaches the very root of the divine word, awakening the dibbur above so that the Torah is established on high and then received below — and, per the Maharal, this love-driven acceptance was of the Oral Torah.