“During the month of Adar, joy increases (BT Ta’anit 29A).”
During the Jewish lunar leap year, similar to the Babylonian lunar leap year, a thirteenth month is added to the calendar: Adar, the final month in the Babylonian and Biblical Jewish calendar, is repeated. In Babylonian, the name Adar refers to the darkness created by cloud cover during the last month of winter. In Hebrew, Adar is most closely connected to adir, meaning strength. The sages teach that joy increases during the month of Adar, doubly so in a leap year, when there are two months of Adar.
The joy we experience during the months of Adar, according to the sages, affects both matters of spirit and matters of commerce. The Talmud even encourages Jews engaged in litigation with non-Jews to pursue such litigation in Adar, as the months promise good fortune for the Jewish people.
The association between Adar and good fortune likely arises from Purim, celebrated during the second Adar during a leap year. The festival owes its name to the game of chance played by Haman, the mortal enemy of the Persian Jewish community, in the Book of Esther. He casts lots (purim) to determine the month and day to hatch his plot against the Jews, but fortune favors the Jews, as Esther delivers them from Haman’s plans.
Often, the concept of fortune is one easily dismissed in American culture. We Americans often treat success as nothing more than the result of diligence, intellect, or daring. However, each of our lives rests heavily upon many factors outside our control, from our birthplace, to our parentage, to our education, to our shared infrastructure, to our shared values, and more.
Perhaps the greatest way to increase joy in this first month of Adar—as we lead up to Purim—is to engage in a practice we often associate with Shabbat, enumerating and considering the good fortunes we have experienced and continue to experience as part of our daily lives. By doing so, we may fully appreciate the role fortune plays in our existence, and experience the blessings of gratitude and joy on this Shabbat.
Shabbat Shalom,
Rabbi Joshua Knobel