לַעֲשׂ֣וֹת אוֹתָ֗ם יְמֵי֙ מִשְׁתֶּ֣ה וְשִׂמְחָ֔ה וּמִשְׁלֹ֤חַ מָנוֹת֙ אִ֣ישׁ לְרֵעֵ֔הוּ וּמַתָּנ֖וֹת לָֽאֶבְיֹנִֽים׃
They were to observe them as days of feasting and merrymaking, and as an occasion for sending portions to one another and presents to the poor.
עוֹד אָמְרוּ דּוֹרְשֵׁי רְשׁוּמוֹת, וּמָל ה' אֱלֹהֶיךָ אֶת לְבָבְךָ וְאֶת לְבַב זַרְעֶךָ, רָאשֵׁי תֵּבוֹת אֱלוּל. וְכֵן אֲנִי לְדוֹדִי וְדוֹדִי לִי, רָאשֵׁי תֵּבוֹת אֱלוּל. וְכֵן אִישׁ לְרֵעֵהוּ וּמַתָּנוֹת לָאֶבְיוֹנִים רָאשֵׁי תֵּבוֹת אֱלוּל. רֶמֶז לִשְׁלֹשָׁה דְּבָרִים, שֶׁהֵם, תְּשׁוּבָה, תְּפִלָּה וּצְדָקָה, שֶׁצְרִיכִין לְהִזְדָּרֵז בָּהֶם בְּחֹדֶשׁ זֶה. וּמָל ה' וְגוֹ' רוֹמֵז לִתְשׁוּבָה. אֲנִי לְדוֹדִי וְגוֹ' רוֹמֵז לִתְפִלָּה, שֶׁהִיא רִנַּת דּוֹדִים. אִישׁ לְרֵעֵהוּ וּמַתָּנוֹת לָאֶבְיוֹנִים, רוֹמֵז לִצְדָקָה.
by Rabbi Shlomo Ganzfried (19th c.)
The interpreters of allusions also commented: It is written (Deuteronomy 30:6) "And Hashem your God will circumcise your heart and the heart [Et L'vav'ha V'et L'vav]of your children;" the initials of the words form the acronym Elul. Also, the initials of Ani l'dodi v'dodi li, ["I am my Beloved's and my Beloved is mine,"] [Song of Songs 6:3] form the acronym Elul. Also, the initials of Ish L'rei'eihu Umatanot La'evyonim ["One to another and gifts to the poor"] (Esther 9:22) form the acronym Elul. These hint at three things: Repentance, Prayer and Tzedakah (teshuvah, tefillah, and tsedakah) which must be practiced zealously during this month. "Hashem will circumcise etc." hints at repentance, "I am my Beloved's etc." hints at prayer, for prayer is a lovers' song. "One to another and gifts to the poor," hints at tzedakah.
לכך תמצא בכל המגילה כאשר באו לנצח כתיב (למעלה ד, טז) "לך כנוס את כל היהודים", "נקהלו היהודים" (למעלה פסוק ב), וכל זה כי במה שישראל הם עם אחד, לכן עמהם השם יתברך שהוא אחד, ובזה הם גוברים על המן וזרעו, שהם הפך אחדות השם יתברך. ובשביל כך בפורים בפרט זאת המצוה; משלוח מנות איש לרעהו, ומתנות לאביונים, בשביל כי אלו המצות הם תלוים בזה במה שישראל הם עם אחד ....
by the Maharal mi-Prag
So you find that in the whole Megillah, what's written when they approached victory is, "Go, gather all the Jews together" (Esther 4:16) or "The Jews congregated" (Esther 9:2). This is all because the people Israel is one people, and so God, who is one, is with them. And that is how they triumph over Haman and his seed, who are the opposite of God's oneness. And so on Purim in particular, this is the mitzvah: sending portions one to another and gifts to the poor, for these mitzvot are based on Israel being one people.
(8) Haman then said to King Ahasuerus, “There is a certain people, separated and divided among the peoples in all the provinces of your realm, whose laws are different from those of any other people and who do not obey the king’s laws; and it is not in Your Majesty’s interest to tolerate them.
וכבר פרשנו דמפוזר הוא בין אדם לחבירו שמפוזרין לכל רוח הן בגוף והן בנפש, מפורד הוא הלב מהמוח והיינו שאין הלב נשמע להשכל ואין השכל משכיל את הלב, ודוגמתו הפירוד בין העליונים לתחתונים,
by R' Shmuel Bornsztain, the second Sochatchover Rebbe (early 20th c.)
And we've already explained that "separated" means between one person and another, who are separated every which way, whether physically or spiritually. "Divided" means the heart from the mind, in that the heart doesn't pay attention to the mind and the mind doesn't consider the heart. And this is a mirror of the division between the upper worlds and the lower.
משלוח מנות איש לרעהו הוא היפוך מפוזר ומתנות לאביונים היפוך מפורד, שידוע מענין מצות צדקה הגורמת השפעה לעומתה מעולם העליון לתחתון, וזה עושה חיבור היפוך מפורד
"Sending portions one to another" is the opposite of "separated," and "gifts to the poor" is the opposite of "divided." And we know that the mitzvah of tzedakah causes a divine flow parallel to itself from the upper world to the lower, which creates a connection - the opposite of division.
In the following text by Rebbe Nachman, he's working on several levels at once and refers to a partial explanation of those levels earlier in the chapter. He's dealing with the Sefirot and the inner dynamics of divinity, the male and female aspects, which the kabbalists traditionally associated with giving and receiving aspects. He's dealing with the way that those divine dynamics map onto the relationship between God and us. He's dealing with faith and lack thereof. He's dealing with our physical and spiritual interactions with each other (which mirrors the divine world). And he's dealing with the Purim story. Let's not worry if we don't get all that, which we won't. He's Rebbe Nachman and we're not. I'm not going to try to explicate even the part of the multi-level act that I do get. I trust, though, that we all can learn some important things listening to and wrestling with this text.
רוּחַ נְדִיבָה שֶׁל צְדָקָה וּגְמִילוּת חֶסֶד הוּא בְּחִינַת רוּחַ הַצַּדִּיק דְּנָשִׁיב בְּיָדִין וְרַגְלִין שֶׁהֵם בְּחִינַת מָרְדְּכַי וְאֶסְתֵּר וְכוּ', עַיֵּן שָׁם. וְעַל כֵּן הָמָן הָרָשָׁע שֶׁרָצָה לְבַטֵּל, חַס וְשָׁלוֹם, הֶאָרָה זוֹ, עַל כֵּן אָמַר, "וַעֲשֶֹרֶת אַלְפֵי כִּכַּר כֶּסֶף וְכוּ'". כְּדֵי לְבַטֵּל הַשְּׁקָלִים שֶׁל יִשְֹרָאֵל, כְּמוֹ שֶׁאָמְרוּ רַבּוֹתֵינוּ זִכְרוֹנָם לִבְרָכָה, דְּהַיְנוּ כְּדֵי לְבַטֵּל כֹּחַ הַצְּדָקָה שֶׁל יִשְֹרָאֵל שֶׁעַל יָדָהּ מֵאִיר הָרוּחַ הַצַּדִּיק בַּיָּדִין וְרַגְלִין שֶׁהֵם מָרְדְּכַי וְאֶסְתֵּר שֶׁרָצָה לְבַטֵּל כֹּחַ הֶאָרָתָם. וְעַל כֵּן כְּשֶׁזָּכוּ לְהַפִּילוֹ צִוּוּ לְקַיֵּם בְּפוּרִים, וּמִשְׁלוֹחַ מָנוֹת אִישׁ לְרֵעֵהוּ וּמַתָּנוֹת לָאֶבְיוֹנִים. זֶה בְּחִינַת תִּקּוּן הַנַּ"ל הַנַּעֲשֶֹה עַל יְדֵי צְדָקָה וּגְמִילוּת חֶסֶד, כִּי מַתָּנוֹת לָאֶבְיוֹנִים זֶה צְדָקָה, שֶׁעַל יְדֵי זֶה מַעֲלִין אֶת הֶעָנִי מִבְּחִינַת נָטָיוּ רַגְלָי וְכוּ' וְכַנַּ"ל, אֲבָל צְרִיכִין גַּם כֵּן שֶׁיִּהְיֶה בְּחִינַת הִשְׁווּ אִשָּׁה לְאִישׁ וְכוּ' וְכַנַּ"ל, לְבַטֵּל בְּחִינַת מְקַבֵּל, רַק יִהְיוּ שְׁנֵיהֶם שָׁוִין, וְזֶה נַעֲשֶֹה עַל יְדֵי בְּחִינַת וּמִשְׁלוֹחַ מָנוֹת אִישׁ לְרֵעֵהוּ, כִּי זֶה שׁוֹלֵחַ לָזֶה וְזֶה לָזֶה. נִמְצָא, שֶׁכָּל אֶחָד שֶׁהוּא בְּחִינַת מְקַבֵּל אֵצֶל חֲבֵרוֹ אַחַר כָּךְ הוּא נַעֲשֶֹה נוֹתֵן, כִּי חוֹזֵר וְשׁוֹלֵחַ לַחֲבֵרוֹ. נִמְצָא, שֶׁהַמְקַבֵּל וְהַנּוֹתֵן שָׁוִין וְזֶה בְּחִינַת הִשְׁווּ אִשָּׁה לְאִישׁ וְכוּ' וְכַנַּ"ל. וְזֶה בְּחִינַת הַלְוָאַת גְּמִילוּת חֶסֶד וְכַנַּ"ל וְזֶה עִקַּר הַתִּקּוּן בְּחִינַת וְהָיָה אוֹר הַלְּבָנָה כְּאוֹר הַחַמָּה בָּרוּךְ הַשֵּׁם לְעוֹלָם, אָמֵן וְאָמֵן:
by Rebbe Nachman of Breslov (turn of 19th cent.)
The generous spirit of tzedakah and g'milut hasadim (caring deeds) has the aspect of the spirit of the Tsaddik that blows in arms and legs, which are the aspect of Mordecai and Esther etc (see above). And so wicked Haman who wanted to nullify, heaven forbid, their light-giving, said "I will weigh out ten thousand talents of silver...." in order to nullify the Jews' shekels. This is as our rabbis of blessed memory said, that it was to nullify the power of the Jews' tzedakah, through which the spirit of the Tsaddik gives light via ["to?] the arms and legs, which are Mordecai and Esther, in order to nullify the power of their shining. And so, when the merited to defeat him, the commanded that on Purim, we should send portions one to another and gifts to the poor. This is an example of the above-mentioned tikkun, which is accomplished the tzedakah and g'milut hasadim. For gifts to the poor is tzedakah, through which we raise the poor from the aspect of "misstep," as above. But we also need to have the aspect of 'they equated woman to man' as above, to eliminate the aspect of one being a recipient. Rather, they should both be equal. And this is accomplished by sending portions one to another, for this one sends to that one and that one to this. In that way, everyone who is a recipient from another then becomes a giver, since they also give to another. And so the recipient and the giver are equal, as in 'they equated woman to man,' etc. as above. And that is the aspect of offering caring deeds, as above. And that is the essence of the aspect of "And the light of the moon shall be as the light of the sun." May Hashem be blessed forever, Amen and Amen!
וְזֶה בְּחִינַת מִשְׁלוֹחַ מָנוֹת אִישׁ לְרֵעֵהוּ וּמַתָּנוֹת לָאֶבְיוֹנִים, זֶה בְּחִינַת רִבּוּי הַשָּׁלוֹם מְאֹד שֶׁכָּל אֶחָד שׁוֹלֵחַ מָנוֹת לַחֲבֵרוֹ, שֶׁזֶּה מַרְבֶּה שָׁלוֹם. וְכֵן מַתָּנוֹת לָאֶבְיוֹנִים, בְּחִינַת מַרְבֶּה צְדָקָה מַרְבֶּה שָׁלוֹם:
by Rebbe Nachman of Breslov (turn of 19th cent.)
And this is the aspect of "sending portions one to another and gifts to the poor," namely the aspect of very much spreading peace, for each one sends portions to the other and that spreads peace. And similarly with gifts to the poor as in [the teaching], "increasing tzedakah increaseses peace." (Pirkei Avot 2:7)