The first of Adar is a very special day. “Just as when Av begins one decreases rejoicing, so too when the month of Adar begins, one increases rejoicing” (Taanit 29a).
A Jew is supposed to be happy at all times. The Torah defines happiness as being in the presence of G-d, “And you shall rejoice in the presence of G-d” (Vayikra 23:40). This is one of the reasons Yom Kippur, the day we most feel the presence of G-d, is meant to be the happiest day of the year. As one should always feel the presence of G-d[1] one should always be happy. Adar perforce must be a time we feel closer to G-d. It is the month “that had been transformed for them from one of grief and mourning to one of festive joy” (Esther 9:22). In Adar we are to give thanks to G-d for our survival against all odds. We are meant to feel that G-d has our back.
If we are to be closer to G-d then surely we must also be closer to man, created in the image of G-d. As the verse continues “They were to observe them as days of feasting and merrymaking, and as an occasion for sending gifts to one another and presents to the poor”.
This extra joy that we must feel is to last for some seven weeks. As Rashi notes, we rejoice when Adar enters, because they “are days of miracles for the Jewish people, Purim and Pesach”. These two holidays that serve as bookends to the Jewish year are linked in the extra joy they engender as we recount G-d’s protection of the Jewish people, first in Egypt and then some 1,000 years later in Persia.
It was easy to feel close to G-d on Pesach – with so many overt miracles even the non-believers were awestruck by the power of G-d (at least temporarily). “The peoples hear, they tremble; Agony grips the dwellers in Philistia. Now are the clans of Edom dismayed; The tribes of Moab –trembling grips them; All the dwellers in Canaan are aghast. Terror and dread descend upon them; Through the might of Your arm they are still as stone” (Shemot 15:14-16). But on Purim man took centre stage with G-d receding to the background – though with a watchful eye. In such a situation – one we have been in ever since – it is harder, but even more important, to feel the presence and closeness of G-d. When man takes an active role in history, cognizant that G-d is close at hand, there is great joy.
Sadly, there is so much suffering in the world and Jewish history is not a series of Purim-like events. Our Sages link the increased joy of Adar with the diminished joy of Av, the month of Tisha B’Av as we mourn the tragedies of Jewish history. We dare not get carried away with excessive joy. “Az yemaleh shecok peinu” (Tehillim 126:2), only “then” in the messianic era will be able to have complete joy[2]. The joy of Adar is tempered with the sadness of Av. Yet we dare not let the sadness of Av define us. In moments of great despair, the Jewish people find the strength to rebuild and grow. Av is not meant to be a month of mourning, it is to be a joyous month, just with diminished joy[3].
During Temple times the first of Adar had greater significance. “On the first of Adar [the courts] proclaims [the collection] of shekels” (Mishna, Shekalim 1:1), As we will read in shul on Shabbat all over the age of 20 are to donate a half shekel a year for the upkeep of the Temple. With the Temple fiscal year beginning on the 1st of Nissan, people were given a month notice (with actual collections beginning on the 15th of Adar). And here too our service to G-d must, by definition, include service to man. The Mishna continues that “they repair the roads and the streets, and the cisterns. And they perform all that is necessary for public welfare. And they mark the gravesites".
The Temple is the place where the Divine presence rests and is most manifest. It is thus the place where Jews come together to celebrate our most joyous occasions. It is the place where man and G-d rejoice together.
The Purim story happened far away from the Temple (and according to the standard view of our Sages during the time period between the two Temples). Having a Temple is nice but Jews “sending gifts to one another and presents to the poor” is even nicer. And that can and must happen everywhere and anytime. May we merit that this Adar, when there is the so much darkness in the world, will herald days of “ora, simcha sason veyekar, light and gladness, happiness and honour” (Esther 8:16).
[1] It is precisely because a mourner feels distant from G-d – rightfully so – that they are obligated to be sad.
[2] This is why we break a glass at a wedding,
[3] With the many restrictions of the three weeks and nine days it may not feel like just slightly less joyous days. Much of this I believe is the result of the excessive tragedies over 2,000 years of exile.
The vast majority of the restrictions of the three weeks and pretty much all the restrictions of the Omer period are post-Talmudic and developed after periods of suffering. Rav Soloveitchik in arguing against Yom HaShoah felt that Tisha b’Av should be the one and pretty much only day of national mourning. All other days are days of joy. Yet the unprecedented suffering is such that the people have determined the need for such a day.