Musar על מגילה 32:26

When the gifts Joseph sent to his father are described in 45, 23, and the Torah says: ולאביו שלח, the word לאביו is mentioned twice. The first time it probably teaches us the above described unique relationship between Jacob and his son Joseph. Our sages in Megillah 16b elaborate on the significance of the various gifts listed in that verse. They find an allusion to יין ישן, aged wine, in the words מטוב מצרים. We must realize that there were two categories of wine. One category is called by our sages יין המשומר. This wine has a mystical dimension to it, it is made from grapes saved since the six days of Creation, and it will be served to the צדיקים in the World to Come. It's potency is associated with the emanation בינה, the root of the auxiliary emanation דעת. When this kind of wine is drunk in our world it has a beneficial effect on the clarity of mind of the זקנים, and it puts their minds at ease concerning the Hereafter; it enables the one drinking it to penetrate with his mind up to the כתר, the root of roots of all the emanations. This root is called עתיק יומין, עתיקא קדישא, "The venerable One, the Holy One of antiquity."

The purpose of our joy on Purim is to achieve harmony of body and soul, as we have mentioned. Our sages read this into the words ליהודים היתה אורה i.e. Torah, and ששון, i.e. joy that we have accepted Torah voluntarily in the fullest sense of the word. Torah is good for both body and soul, it has revealed as well as hidden meanings. The Torah contains elements that address themselves to the sphere of action and elements that address themselves to the sphere of meditation. Haman intended to wipe out the Jews bodily as well as spiritually. This is why the Book of Esther describes his plan as a dual one, i.e. להשמיד ולהרוג. The word להשמיד with its connotation of Shemad, alludes to the destruction of the Jews as a spiritual force, whereas the word ולהרוג, refers to the physical destruction of the Jews. This is the way the author of Manot Ha-Levi explains these words.