By Rabbi Yair Hoffman for 5TJT.com

There are a remarkable pshatim that one can think about when preparing the Shalach Manos.� But first a question.� With what power did Haman succeed in getting his agenda passed?

The answer is that he pointed out to Achashveirosh � �yeshno am echad mefuzar umeforad bein ha’amim bechol medinos malchusecha � there is one nation scattered and separated from all the nations in all the states of your realm.�� He pointed out the division within us.� The Chasam Sofer points out that the word yeshno means that we are sleeping � we are thus sleeping in our achdus.

What does mishloach manos do?� It points out that we are indeed, One � we have an Achdus that no other nation has and this mishloach manos awakens us to it.� We are united in our love for each other.� This undoes the power of Haman and Amalaik.

There is a fascinating Targum Yonasan that is found in a different megillah that of Megilas Rus.� Boaz mentions the fact that Rus both joined up with the Jewish nation (an amazing thing � being that she was a foreign princess) as well as did chessed with her mother-in-law.� The fact that they were both mentioned together indicates that they were both on the same level of piety.

Now hold on one second.� Imagine if a British princess, Princess Diana or someone like her, were to leave her royalty and join up in Lakewood as �kollel wife � availing herself of WIC and HUD.� It would be earth-shattering news.� And yet it did happen.� It happened with Rus.� What a remarkable accomplishment!

But from this Targum Yonasan we see an even more remarkable chidush.� The chessed she did with her mother-in-law was equal to the first accomplishment!� What we see from here is that there is no limit to what we can put into a Mitzvah.

Let�s think about what we can, therefore, accomplish with Mishloach Manos.� In preparing them, we can counter the power and tumah of the sonai Yisroel � of the Hamans of the world, by showing our achdus.

So let�s prepare, bake new, repackage, whatever it is that we do – all with intense kavana.� We should have the kavana of achdus.

Now just one more pshat.� The Nesivus HaMishpat in his sefer on Megilas Esther explains that Purim is different from all the other yomim tovim � in that the ge�ulah did not come on account of zchus avos like on Pesach.� Rather, it came from the individual teshuvah of each member of Klal Yisroel.� He, therefore, explains that they enacted Mishloach manos as an expression of Hakaras haTov to each other � a manifestation of the gratitude we need to show all of our brethren for bringing about the ge�ulah then.� We can also have this idea in mind too.� And the sky is the limit in terms of the intensity of the kavanah that we have.

Everyone should have a freilechen and dveikus-filled Purim!

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