“Purim is also a special day of teshuva, a miniature Yom Kippur. Yom Kippurim, the name of Yom Kippur in Hebrew, means ‘A day like Purim.’ Just as teshuva, prayer, and charity invoke Divine compassion and atonement on Yom Kippur, they act the same way here on Purim. Yet, Purim is more difficult than Yom Kippur. It’s easy to do teshuva when you’re fasting. It’s a lot more challenging to do teshuva when your table is laden with delicacies and when you’re drinking wine. In that respect, we should take advantage of the Fast of Esther to do complete teshuva, just like on Yom Kippur, so we can enter Purim day with pure and unblemished souls. – Rav Shalom Arush