The light of Torah internalized

וכתיב ליהודים היתה אורה.

And it is written: "For the Yidden there was light (orah)." (Esther 8:16)

The Megillah describes the redemption of Purim as a revelation of light that came to Bnei Yisrael.

דרשו חז"ל זו תורה דכתיב תורה אור.

Chazal expounded: this refers to Torah, as it is written, "Torah is light."

The "light" of Purim is the light of Torah, for a verse identifies Torah itself with light (Mishlei 6:23).

וכאן כתיב אורה הוא התמשך אור תורה בנפשות בנ"י.

And here it is written "orah" (a feminine form of light) — this is the drawing-down of the light of Torah into the souls of Bnei Yisrael.

The slightly altered word "orah" hints that on Purim the light of Torah was actually absorbed and internalized within the neshamos of Bnei Yisrael, not merely shining from above.

כי נר מצוה שהמצות עושין לנפשות בנ"י כלים לקבל אור תורה ע"י תיקון הרמ"ח איברים של אדם ותורה אור בעצמו א"י לאחוז בעצם האור רק ע"י הפתילה.

For "a mitzvah is a candle" — the mitzvos make the souls of Bnei Yisrael into vessels to receive the light of Torah, through the rectification of the 248 limbs of a person; and "Torah is light" itself, but one cannot grasp the essence of the light except by means of the wick.

The mitzvos (the 248 positive commandments correspond to the 248 limbs) prepare a person to be a fitting receptacle. Just as a flame can only be held and sustained through a wick, the radiant light of Torah can only be "caught" and contained in this world through the practical performance of the mitzvos.

וזה תלוי בברית מילה שהיא שורש כל המצות.

And this depends on bris milah, which is the root of all the mitzvos.

Milah is the foundational mitzvah etched into the body itself, and from it all other mitzvos draw their power to make a person a vessel for Torah.

שעי"ז מתחבר התורה שבכתב לתורה שבע"פ.

For through it the Written Torah is joined to the Oral Torah.

The bris, sealed in the flesh, is what unites the higher revealed Torah (Torah Shebichsav) with its application in the life of a person (Torah Shebe'al Peh).

וכ' כתבו לכם כו' השירה כו' ולמדה את בני ישראל שימה בפיהם.

And it is written: "Write for yourselves… this song… and teach it to Bnei Yisrael, place it in their mouths." (Devarim 31:19)

The Torah commands both writing it down (the Written Torah) and placing it "in their mouths" (the Oral Torah) — the very joining of the two that the Sefas Emes is describing.

ס"ת מילה.

The final letters of "place it in their mouths" (שימה בפיהם) spell "milah."

A hint embedded in the pasuk: the union of Written and Oral Torah is accomplished specifically through the power of milah.

שע"י ברית המעור נתקן ברית הלשון וזה בחי' הצדיק כל בשמים וארץ דאחיד בשמיא וארעא.

For through the bris of circumcision the bris of the tongue is rectified, and this is the aspect of the tzaddik who is "all, in heaven and earth," who grasps both heaven and earth.

Guarding the bris of the body brings a person to guard the bris of speech (proper, holy speech and Torah). The tzaddik who is whole in both is called "kol" (all) and binds the upper world (Torah Shebichsav) to the lower world (Torah Shebe'al Peh), heaven to earth.

ואחר מפלת עמלק נעשה חיבור זה:

And after the downfall of Amalek this union was accomplished.

Only once Amalek — the force of spiritual coldness and doubt that severs heaven from earth — was defeated on Purim could this complete binding of Written and Oral Torah, of body and speech, be realized.

Summary: The "light" of Purim is the light of Torah drawn down and internalized within Bnei Yisrael. The mitzvos, rooted in bris milah, make a person a vessel to "hold" that light, uniting the Written and Oral Torah and binding heaven to earth — a union made possible only after the defeat of Amalek.