B"H

THOUGHTS FOR THE MONTH OF ADAR 1

Dear Friends:

"Mishenichnas Adar marbim b'simcha."

"When Adar comes, joy increases."

Is there something intrinsically uplifting about Adar?  Is it just because of Purim?  Does Purim "just happen" to fall during Adar?  And what about this year, when there are two months of Adar? 

Why is a leap year called "Shana Me'uberes," a "pregnant" year?

What is it about Adar? 

Other questions: "joy increases" when Adar comes, but how can we be joyful at such a time in history?  Now not only our enemies are advocating cutting up the Holy Land, but the very government of Israel is considering giving away its heart, its limbs, its vital organs! 

The earth itself is responding: Israel has been experiencing tremors lately.  The headlines declare that a major earthquake is expected.  Not only that, but tremors are shaking the stock market and the dollar.  The geological, economic and social foundations of the earth are literally quaking. 

Is it possible for joy to increase when everything seems to be falling apart?

In my book, "WORLDSTORM: Finding Meaning & Direction Amidst Today's World Crisis," I discuss the Jewish calendar.  One can discover in the calendar the essence of our way of life and the differences that separate us from all other nations. 

In the Western World, there are three major calendar systems: the Gregorian, used in societies influenced by the Roman church, the Moslem calendar and - lehavdil - the Jewish calendar.  How do they differ?  It is truly amazing to contemplate, for in each one you can see the essential nature of those who live by that calendar.

The Roman calendar is based entirely on the sun.  What is Rome if not the descendant of Esau, the twin brother and nemesis of our Father Jacob?  Magdiel, the descendant of Esau, is the founder of Rome. [1] Magdiel's name means "great," a tower.  And this is the legacy of Rome: to labor under the sun, building great towers, roads, viaducts, bridges, ships, and - in later centuries - skyscrapers (later to be knocked down by the descendants of Ishmael), planes, rockets, space stations, shopping centers, in short to try to conquer the earth through science and technology. 

Watch out, Rome!  Listen to the words of Koheles: "All is futile.  What profit does man have for all his labor . . . beneath the sun?" [2]

The Moslem calendar, on the other hand, is based entirely on the moon.  What is the nature of the Moslem? His father, Ishmael, is called "pere adam," a "wild-ass of a man, [whose] hand is in everything, and everyone's hand [is] against him." [3] The children of Ishmael dwell in the half-light of the moon, inhabiting a world that is basically closed to outsiders.  Unlike the Western world, Moslem society is not known for its engineering feats, great permanent structures built in the predictable light of a nine-to-five business day.  Traditionally, they wander nomadically, pitching their tents in the shifting desert sands. 

Ishmael drifts in and out like the moon, visible today, invisible tomorrow.  Esau, on the contrary, is rigid like the sun, which rises and sets predictably every day.

In contrast to these two cultures is the Nation of Israel, lehavdil.  Our calendar is based on both the sun and the moon.  The difference is staggering.  Our months are lunar, but if they drift too far away from the vernal equinox, they are corrected, seven out of every nineteen years, by the insertion of an additional month. The vernal equinox, the spring day on which the sun stands opposite the equator and day and night are basically equal, is a function of the orbit of the sun, and so our Torah calendar takes its bearings from both moon and sun.  The moon, which is compared to the Children of Israel, appears unstable, but it is corrected by the constancy of the sun, which is compared to the light of Torah. 

In other words, we combine the stability of the sun with the fluidity of the moon.  The Written Torah was dictated in the light of day; the Oral Torah was taught at night.  The Written Torah has the stability of that which is firmly written in ink on parchment; it never changes, not one dot.  The Oral Torah is constantly evolving as our sages apply the teachings of Har Sinai to each new condition in the ongoing history of the world.  The generous heart and emotional warmth which characterize the Children of Israel is a function of our fluid nature, like the phases of the moon, which are always changing.  On the other hand, our intellectual stability resembles the totally stable light which emanates from the sun.

The personalities of the Children of Esau and the Children of Ishmael each reflect only one element of nature. The Children of Esau are forever bound to their sun-like rigidity.  The Children of Ishmael are forever bound to their moon-like instability. 

But the Children of Israel are not bound to the cycle of nature.  We reflect day and night, stability and fluidity.  The Torah personality operates in harmony with the total material world created by G-d.  Thus, we are not bound by it; we are not subservient to it; we are not slaves.  "[G-d] took [our Father Abraham] outside" nature, [4] raising us above the level of material existence, above the earthquakes and tremors that shake the earth. 

This is our simcha!  We are above the shocks of the material world!

Why is Adar a month of simcha? Why are we not afraid when the earth quakes and the markets shake?  Because the Children of Israel soar above the sun and the moon, above the stars and the material existence that binds other nations to the cycle of life and death. 

Why Adar?  Because Adar is the month that binds the sun and moon together in the calendar that elevates its People above the material world to the realm of ruchnius.  No wonder that Adar is the month of Purim, the paradigm of Redemption from Exile.  No wonder that Adar heralds the eternal Redemption of Pesach and the eternal march of our people to Mount Sinai.  Of course, the year is "pregnant": it is giving birth to Moshiach ben Dovid!

May we soon see the day of our Final Redemption, the day the moon will be restored to its full glory, the day the Children of Israel will be restored to our Torah, and the day the boundaries of Eretz Yisroel will be restored in peace to their eternal Biblical fullness.  Then we will truly know the meaning of "mishenichnas Adar marbim b'simcha."  May we see it soon, this year!

 

Roy S. Neuberger

 

© Copyright 2008 by Roy S. Neuberger

[1] Rashi on Breishis 36:43
[2] Koheles 1:2-3
[3] Breishis 16:12
[4] Breishis 15:5 with Rashi and Medrashi