This Thursday is the 11th of the second Adar. As has been mentioned many times in this editorial space, according to the teachings of the Baal Shem Tov, one should draw a lesson from everything one hears or sees in service to God. Now then, what do we learn from the 11th of Adar?
This day is one of those referenced by our sages in the Mishnah (Megillah 1:1). The theme is the reading of the Megillah, the Book of Esther, one of the precepts of Purim. Now, our sages define three types of settlements: a rural village, a city, and a walled city in the days of Joshua bin Nun, the leader of the Jewish people who led them into the Land of Canaan after the death of Moses. Walled cities read the Megillah on the 15th of Adar. Ordinary cities read it on the 14th of Adar, and rural villages have several options, beginning on the 11th of Adar. Thus, the influence of Purim begins on the 11th of Adar.
Our sages learned the idea of anticipating the reading of the Megillah for certain villages from a verse in the Book of Esther itself, which speaks of "times" (plural, see Esther 9:31, Talmud Megillah 2a) to "fulfill the days of Purim." In practice, the days on which the Megillah was read in advance were due to the fact that the people of those villages, being far from the cities and not going to them frequently, had no other opportunity to hear the Megillah except on the days when they went to the cities anyway, for example, to settle legal matters or to sell their goods in the market. Therefore, our sages allowed them to have an advance reading so that they could participate in the mitzvah and not be excluded.
This matter, which is addressed in great detail by the Talmud and the Shulchan Aruch (Jewish legal code), exemplifies the very essence of Purim: love for one's neighbor. Just as the story teaches us to celebrate Purim by sending food to our loved ones (mishloach manot, edible gifts) and giving money to the needy (matanot la'evionim, gifts to the poor), our sages also took care of someone living far from Jewish centers and prepared additional, advance readings from the Megillah so that they could participate in Purim.
In short, this shows us how much care must be taken for someone who is "distant," physically and spiritually, from the source of "local" Judaism, that is, wherever they may be in the world, away from the synagogue or the center of Torah studies, to bring them closer and provide them with everything necessary so that they can participate properly and according to the rules of the Torah, in their heritage, and develop their connection with God to its fullest potential.