Rayanot

Passover marks the birth of the Jewish nation.  Since then, we Jews are a singular united entity; not just a collection of individuals. The purpose of the exodus was the receiving of the torah at Mount Sinai and it is this relationship with G-d and the Torah which binds as together as a nation. The focus of Passover therefore ought to be on Jewish unity; and its Mitzvoth and traditions should be of the kinds that emphasize our commonalities and oneness. However when we analyze some of the core Passover traditions we find the opposite to be true. We seem to highlight the individual with his uniqueness and differences, rather than the unity and oneness of our nation. Firstly: the korban pesach. One of the essential biblical mitzvoth of Passover is the paschal sacrifice. Every single individual had to participate in this sacrifice and personally eat from its meat. By nature it was not a communal sacrifice (offered on behalf of the entire nation) as were most of the sacrific...

http://m.chabad.org/holidays/purim/article_cdo/aid/2515587/jewish/Making-Sense-of-the-Madness.htm Purim  is a day of extreme joy, easily one of the most joyous days in the Jewish calendar. But it’s not just the joy that is extreme; everything on Purim seems to take on an exaggerated form. The four major observances of Purim are: reading the  Megillah (Scroll of  Esther ), giving gifts to the poor, sending edible treats to our friends, and feasting. In essence, these are things we do on every Jewish holiday--we read the portions of scripture that deal with that holiday, we give charity before the holiday to help the poor with their holiday expenses, and we eat festive meals. What is unique on Purim is the way we amplify and dramatize these  mitzvahs . What is it about Purim that makes everything so dramatic? On any other  yom tov ,  we read the Torah  once during the day. On Purim we read the Megillah twice: once at night and once again during t...