Dear Chevre (Friends):
Adar is the happiest month. “When Adar comes in, joy increases.” Why? Because Adar contains Purim, which celebrates the redemption of the Jews through the agency of Queen Esther. Even though it is forbidden “to be happy when your enemy falls,” (Pirkei Avot 4:24) an exception is made in the case of the Haman, who, like the Biblical Amalek with whom he is identified, very nearly represents pure evil. (Because we are in a leap year, we get two months to be happy this time around—Adar 1 and Adar 2.)
In the calendar, the opposite of Adar is the month of Av. “Just as joy is increased at the start of Adar, joy is reduced at the start of Av.” Why? Because Av contains Tisha B’Av, which commemorates the destruction of the Temple and all other national calamities that have befallen the Jews over the centuries (except for the Holocaust, which is in a class by itself). It is the distinctive yin-yang feature of the Jewish religion that it fails to recognize pure joy or pure sadness. All joy is mitigated by a teardrop of sadness, and all bitterness is alleviated by a touch of sweetness. Accordingly, a week after Tisha B’Av comes Tu B’Av, about which the Talmud records: “there was no happier day for all Israel, when the daughters of Jerusalem would go out dressed in white and dance in the vineyards.” And a week before Purim comes the Seventh of Adar, the yahrzeit of Moshe Rabbeinu (Thursday, February 10, this year).
So let’s go out and be happy—even as we acknowledge the pain that exists in our lives and throughout the world.
Rabbi Brian
rabbi.brian.besser@gmail.com
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