YeshivaThe torah world Gateway
Beit Midrash
- Shabbat and Holidays
- Purim & The Month of Adar
- The Month of Adar
Adar’s main claim to fame is naturally the fact that the holiday of Purim falls within the month. It is clearly identified by name in the Book of Esther itself. The month of Adar is identified in that book as being the twelfth month in the Jewish calendar. This year as is the case seven times in every nineteen year lunar-solar cycle there are two months of Adar. So Adar will not only be the twelfth month this year it will also be the thirteenth month of the Jewish calendar year. The rabbis who ordained and perfected the permanent Jewish calendar in the fifth century ordained that Adar is the only month that can be doubled up so to speak. There are many reasons given for this decision based upon weather, agriculture, travel conditions and other vagaries of life. But in a simple sense the rabbis wanted us to enjoy the atmosphere of hope and optimism that is the atmosphere of Adar a little longer. It has been a long exile and very difficult events have occurred to us. It would have been very easy to give in to sadness and depression, loss of hope and a feeling of despair. Adar came to dispel all of those feelings. Purim is the prototype of the Jewish spirit, of our indestructibility and eventual survival and eternity. We can always use a double measure of such spirit and atmosphere. Hence the rabbis in their wisdom decreed that only Adar was to be doubled up in a fairly regular sequence of years. For when Adar enters so does hope and joy and a feeling of eternity.
This month of Adar contains the day of Purim Katan - the minor Purim celebrated on the 14th day of Adar I. This is also to be seen as a harbinger of the great Purim that is yet a few weeks distant. The knowledge that there exists a small and minor Purim is itself a heartening message. Good tidings and hoped for redemptions do not always burst upon the scene suddenly. Rather they usually come incrementally, one step at a time. The preparation for the great Purim is encased in Purim Katan, the minor Purim. If one can commemorate minor achievements, small victories, gradual improvements then one can expect even greater achievements in the future. Life is never an all or nothing instant winner sum game. Purim Katan leads to the great Purim which in terms leads to the holiday of redemption and national freedom, Pesach. So Adar I has great lessons contained within its calendar days. The appreciation of its hopeful messages fuels our optimism even when apparently everything around us is falling apart and undergoing rapid and uncertain change. We should view the advent of Adar, even the first Adar, even the minor Purim as being positive promises of goodness and security and salvation from our enemies and all of the evil that is unfortunately so prevalent in our world. Yes, my beloved friends when Adar enters so does goodness and happiness.
Rabbis in Midrash
Lessons
fast navigation
The Land of Israel LGBT'S IN ISRAEL
The question was asked, how can one make Aliyah with the LGBT parades?
Kuzari -Rabbi Ari Shvat Kuzari class 7 - Five Accumulative Proofs of G-d
As a preparation for the Kuzari's classic proof of G-d from the mass-revelation at Sinai, we start here with 5 other directions to strengthen our belief which also contribute to what the Kuzari will present as well.
Ein Aya Muscle & Meaning: The Dual Nature of Gevurah (Physical Strength)
Is physical strength and fitness a necessity or an ideal? Although it if often totally overlooked among topics of Judaism, Rav Kook writes that it clearly is also a necessity to deter the many enemies of Israel, but even in Y'mot HaMashiach, in the Messianic era, to a certain extent, it's ideal continues even after our enemies will have been finished off.
Chukat "HOW ENTEBBE STOLE THE BICENTENNIAL
The Difference Between Historic & Eternal"
As we approach America's 250th birthday, it's worth remembering her 200th Bicentennial birthday, on Jul. 4th 1976, when Israel "stole the show" by shocking the world & miraculously saving 101 hostages in a foreign continent. As Pres. As Pres. Trump decides which countries get priority in his new Middle-East, it's worth reminding him of the difference between historic events and eternally historic ones. This obviously connects with this week's parsha, as well!
Kuzari -Rabbi Ari Shvat Kuzari class 6 - The Parable of the King of India
The advantages of testimony over circumstantial evidence or philosophical speculation.
Kuzari -Rabbi Ari Shvat Kuzari class 5- "Proofs of G-d"
This may be the most important class of the entire book, where we finally get to the Jewish proof of the existence of G-d and truth of the Torah. We should follow His own direction where He tells us how to get to Him: through the Nation of Israel: Jewish history, Jewish prophets (and today, prophecies fulfilled), and national reward & punishment towards Am Yisrael.
Ein Aya One Humanity, One Creator, One Jerusalem
Rav Kook innovatively and beautifully explains this aggadeta where our sages say that after Jerusalem was destroyed her cinnamon fragrance is only found locked in a particular kingdom's treasury.
