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Before the Jewish People received the Torah, they experienced unparalleled unity. As Rashi famously comments on parshas Yisro, they gathered together “k’ish echad b’lev echad— like one man with one heart.” Unity is always a wonderful objective, but why is it that, specifically at the moment of receiving the Torah, we find an increased emphasis on this ideal?

Similarly, we find the theme of unity at work in the Purim story, as the pasuk says: “lech kenos es kol haYehudim — go gather all the Jews.” This commonality is especially striking in light of the fact that the Purim story results in “kimu v’kiblu” — a renewed acceptance of the Torah. Thus, we see that in both instances of acceptance of the Torah, unity seems to be a prerequisite.

There is yet another common theme that seems to run between parshas Yisro and the Purim story. Yisro — whose name derives from the root yeser, meaning “addition” — is called so because his counsel to Moshe resulted in pesukim being added to the Torah. Another relevant fact is that Yisro is a convert — he “added” to the Jewish People by way of his conversion.

These two elements feature in the Purim story as well. The Gemara tells us in Megillah (14a) that the only mitzvah the Neviim added to the Torah is the reading of the Megillah. Additionally, the pasuk in Megillas Esther (8:17) says, “v’rabim mei’amei ha’aretz misyahadim — and many of the nations of the land became Jewish.” Once again, we find correlations between parshas Yisro and the Purim story: additions to the Torah along with additions to the Jewish People, through conversions to Judaism. What could be the connection between these various themes?