Reb Shlomo zt”l taught:
The Ishbitzer Rebbe zt”l, points out that on Purim, among the four mitzvot of Purim, we have two unusual mitzvot . These are the mitzvot of “mishlo’ach manot”, sending a gift of two foods to a friend and “matanot lo’ev’yonim”, gifts [ofmoney] to at least two poor people. The rule is “kol ha’posheit yad notnim lo”,everyone who stretches out his hand (for a gift of charity on Purim), you are to give him (i.e. without verifying if they are really needy or worthy of support).
We do not have any similar mitzvot on any of the other holidays. To be sure we always have to give gifts to the poor, but this is not a mitzvah which is specific to any holiday. But it is specifically commanded that we do so on Purim. And surely we have no mitzvah that is comparable to “mishlo’ach manot” at any other time.
These two mitzvot are essentially active fulfillments of the mitzvah: “v’ahavtah l’rei’acha kamocha”. And so the Ishbitzer Rebbe asks, why did the Rabbis [at the request of Mordechai and Ester] instruct us to specifically fulfill these two mitzvot on Purim?
The Ishbitzer explains that the “People of the Great Assembly” realized thatHaman’s evil decree came about because we were afflicted with the illness of”tzarut ayin”, a narrow eye. This is the [spiritual] illness of looking at others with a narrow eye i.e. begrudgingly, it bothers you that someone else has something, be it material or spiritual. You want to be the only rich person, or you simply want to have more than the other.
To bring about the annulment of Haman’s evil decree, the Rabbis of the Great Assembly instituted these two mitzvot, these two acts of loving kindness: “mishlo’ach manot” and “matanot l’ev’yonim”. To fulfill “matanot l’ev’yonim” we have to give gifts to at least two poor people. To fulfill “mishlo’ach manot” we have to give at least two different readily edible foods to at least one friend.
Why two different foods? So that you should give with both hands! Now Reb Shlomo zt”l further explained that Mordechai and Ester, through their “ruach hakodesh” [spirit of holiness; an ability to perceive almost prophetically] perceived that the second Beit Hamikdash which was soon to be rebuilt, would eventually be destroyed because of “sinat chinam”, baseless hatred. That is why they asked that these two mitzvot should be instituted for all further generations, to let us know that we must be very careful to fulfill these practices of “ahavat Yisrael”, for they are the foundation o
