March 14, 2024 | 4 Adar II 5784
"One may lie down weeping at nightfall; but at dawn there are shouts of joy." Psalms 30:6
The Hebrew month of Adar is traditionally viewed as a particularly joyous month. This year, a Jewish leap year, we have two months of Adar — and the second one, which began this past weekend, contains the celebratory holiday of Purim.
מִשֶּׁנִּכְנַס אָב מְמַעֲטִין בְּשִׂמְחָה וְכוּ׳. אָמַר רַב יְהוּדָה בְּרֵיהּ דְּרַב שְׁמוּאֵל בַּר שִׁילַת מִשְּׁמֵיהּ דְּרַב: כְּשֵׁם שֶׁמִּשֶּׁנִּכְנַס אָב מְמַעֲטִין בְּשִׂמְחָה — כָּךְ מִשֶּׁנִּכְנַס אֲדָר מַרְבִּין בְּשִׂמְחָה.
§ The mishna teaches that from when the month of Av begins, one decreases acts of rejoicing. Rav Yehuda, son of Rav Shmuel bar Sheilat, said in the name of Rav: Just as when Av begins one decreases rejoicing, so too when the month of Adar begins, one increases rejoicing.
But what’s the right way to “increase [our] joy” in the context of loss and tragedy? Should we or can we celebrate during times of war? How do we properly tend to suffering, others’ or our own, when we’re supposed to be joyous?
If these questions have been on your mind recently, you’re not alone.
Below, we’ve compiled a few relevant sources from the Sefaria library. While they don’t necessarily provide straightforward answers, we hope they might spark some new ideas or connections as we move towards Purim.
Joy During Tragedy
How have Jews approached joyous occasions during past periods of communal hardship? Find one example in the Purim teachings of Rabbi Kalonymous Kalman Shapira’s Esh Kodesh, written in the Warsaw Ghetto.
(א) איתא בת״ז הק' שפורים כיום הכיפורים, אפשר מרמז גם לזה, שכמו יוה״כ התענית והתשובה ביום זה, לא אם רוצה אותם האדם לעשותם עושה, רק בין אם רוצה בין לא, מקיימם מפני גזרת הקב״ה, כן גם שמחת פורים, לא רק אם האדם מעצמו בשמחה או עכ״פ במצב שיכול לשמח א״ע צריך הוא לשמח, רק גם אם הוא בשפלות ובשבירת הלב, המוח וכל רוחו נרמס, חוק הוא שצריך עכ״פ איזה ניצוץ של שמחה להכניס אל לבו.
(1) It is found in the Tikkunei Zohar (57b:4) that Purim is like Yom Kippurim (an alternative way of referring to Yom Kippur). It could be that this also hints to the following: That just like on Yom Kippur, the fast and the repentance on that day are not [dependent] on whether a person wants to them; that he does them only then. Rather, whether one wants to or not, he has to do them because they are a decree of the Holy One, blessed be He. So too with the joy of Purim, it is not only if a person is joyful on his own, or at the very least is able to bring himself to joy, that he must rejoice. Rather, even if he is low and his heart is broken, his mind and all of his spirit trampled, it is a statute that he must, at the very least, bring a spark of happiness to his heart.
Defining Joy & Its Purpose
What kind of joy is Adar joy? The 20th-century Israeli rabbi Shimon Gershon Rosenberg (Rav Shagar) offers a short explanation in the sermon collection Panekha Avakesh.
(מח) כך מסבירים חסידים את העבודה של חודש אדר, משנכנס אדר מרבין בשמחה (תענית כט ע"א). השמחה היא ביטוי של ספונטניות ושל החופש שלי. אדם מרוצה כשהוא משוחרר וכשטוב לו. את הטוב הוא מביע על ידי שמחה ועל ידי שירה. העבודה היא להגיע אל האמת שלי, אל החופש שלי, ולגלות שאותו חופש ואותה ספונטניות מביאים אותי אל הקב"ה - משנכנס אדר מרבין בשמחה.
(48) The Chassidim explain the service of the month of Adar, "From when Adar enters, we increase joy" (Taanit 29a), like this: Joy is an expression of spontaneity and of my freedom; a person is satisfied when he is unburdened and things are well with him. He expresses this good through joy and through song. The service is to reach my truth, my freedom and to discover that that freedom and that spontaneity bring me to the Holy One, blessed be He. "From when Adar enters, we increase joy."
Giving Joy
One way to approach the celebratory nature of Purim might be to shift focus from ourselves to others. There are several mitzvot (commandments) that Jews are instructed to perform on Purim, including giving gifts to the less fortunate. In his foundational legal work Mishneh Torah, Rambam puts some of these commandments in order of priority.
(יז) מוּטָב לָאָדָם לְהַרְבּוֹת בְּמַתְּנוֹת אֶבְיוֹנִים מִלְּהַרְבּוֹת בִּסְעֻדָּתוֹ וּבְשִׁלּוּחַ מָנוֹת לְרֵעָיו. שֶׁאֵין שָׁם שִׂמְחָה גְּדוֹלָה וּמְפֹאָרָה אֶלָּא לְשַׂמֵּחַ לֵב עֲנִיִּים וִיתוֹמִים וְאַלְמָנוֹת וְגֵרִים. שֶׁהַמְשַׂמֵּחַ לֵב הָאֻמְלָלִים הָאֵלּוּ דּוֹמֶה לַשְּׁכִינָה שֶׁנֶּאֱמַר (ישעיה נז טו) "לְהַחֲיוֹת רוּחַ שְׁפָלִים וּלְהַחֲיוֹת לֵב נִדְכָּאִים":
(17) It is preferable for a person to be more liberal with his donations to the poor than to be lavish in his preparation of the Purim feast or in sending portions to his friends. For there is no greater and more splendid happiness than to gladden the hearts of the poor, the orphans, the widows, and the converts.One who brings happiness to the hearts of these unfortunate individuals resembles the Divine Presence, which Isaiah 57:15 describes as having the tendency "to revive the spirit of the lowly and to revive those with broken hearts."
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