Rosh Chodesh Adar - Thoughts About Joy
When I was growing up, my family would look forward to the kind of Shabbat we are having this week. You see, this Shabbat we take out t hree Sifrei Torah to read from.
The first is for Parashat Mishpatim, the second for Rosh Chodesh Adar, and the third for Parashat Shekalim. In our family we had a fun custom: whenever there were three Torah scrolls, we always had three kugels for Shabbat lunch. My mother allowed my siblings and myself to choose which kugels we would have: Potato kugel? Lukshen (noodle) kugel? Sweet with raisins or salt-and-pepper? Or maybe the house favorite - apple kugel! This minhag of having three kugels is actually a very old custom, quoted by the Be’er Heiteiv, in his 18th century commentary on the Shulchan Arukh1 , referencing a 17th century book called the Shayarei Knesset HaGedolah. The custom is to add a special cooked food in honor of Shabbat, an additional one in honor of Rosh Chodesh and one for the special portion of Shekalim r ead in conjunction with Rosh Chodesh Adar. Continuing a tradition that was over 300 years old is pretty cool, but for us - it was all about the fun and extra joy it brought to our Shabbat table. This custom feels particularly relevant on t his Shabbat, which is also Rosh Chodesh of the month A dar. The Mishnah in Tractate Ta’anit states: .When the month of Av begins, we decrease our joy ִמ ֶשׁנְִכָנס אָב ְמ ַמ ַע ִטין ְבּ ִשׂ ְמָחה ִמ ֶשׁנְִכנַס אָָדר ַמְר ִבּין ְבּ ִשׂ ְמָחה :The Gemara then adds this comment “In the month of Adar we must increase our joy.” This makes sense to us. The month of Av is arguably the saddest month of the year as it starts the period of the Nine Days and contains Tisha B’av, the saddest day of our Jewish year. Conversely, Adar contains Purim which is possibly the most joyful and happiest day of our year.
1 Be’er Heiteiv 419 Yehudah ben Shimon Ashkenazi (1730–1770), Germany on Laws of Rosh Chodesh.
______Rabbanit Bracha Jaffe | Misphatim-Rosh Chodesh Adar-Shekalim 5781-2021 | p. 1
Rosh Chodesh Adar - Thoughts About Joy
A question is raised: Why didn’t our Tannaitic sages mention Adar and increasing our happiness in the Mishnah? Only Av is mentioned regarding the decrease in happiness. Even Rambam (Maimonides) and the Shulchan Arukh (Code of Jewish Law) only mention Av, and the steps taken to decrease our happiness. They do not mention the flip side: Mishenikhnas Adar Marbin Besimchah. One answer given by some commentaries to this question, is that increasing happiness and becoming joyful depends on the nature and situation of each individual, whereas acts of sadness and mourning to d ecrease our happiness c an be clearly defined and stipulated. So, how do we increase our joy in Adar? I would like to address this question through a being in] joy," contains]" , ְבּ ִשְֹמָחה teaching from the Zohar2 . The Zohar notices that the word ."the Hebrew word for "thought , ַמ ַח ָשָׁבה the same letters as According to the Zohar, the scrambling of the letters from bisimchah to machashava, from “[being in] joy” to “thought” is understood to mean that the key to joy is found through our minds, by training ourselves to weed out any negative thoughts that may prevent us from experiencing happiness. The Sefat Emet3, a Hasidic master, explains that this wordplay is a hint to the month of Adar being similar to the month of Elul. The month of Elul is a time to be thoughtful and introspective as we prepare ourselves for the Days of Awe. Similarly, in Adar, we should be doing an internal cheshbon nefesh, an accounting of our actions, and finding ways to reconnect to God.
2 Zohar: the foundational work in the literature of Jewish mystical thought known as Kabbalah. Ascribed to R Shimon bar Yochai who lived in Israel after the destruction of the 2nd Temple in 70 CE. 3 Sefat Emet: R Yehudah Aryeh Leib Alter, The Gerrer Rebbe, 1847-1905, Poland, Hasidic master
______Rabbanit Bracha Jaffe | Misphatim-Rosh Chodesh Adar-Shekalim 5781-2021 | p. 2
Rosh Chodesh Adar - Thoughts About Joy
I would like to suggest a slightly different interpretation by interweaving these two ideas, bisimchah and machashavah: We should think about being joyful. We should be thoughtful about being joyful. In a beautiful book on mussar (Jewish ethics) called Pele Yoetz4 the author acknowledges and validates the ups and downs of our emotional states, how sometimes we feel happiness and joy while at other times we feel sadness. Yet in Adar we receive the c harge to actively i ncrease our feelings of joy. Perhaps we need to think about how to be more joyful. Do we look to pop culture? Do we search out the latest self-help books on how to find happiness? Do we turn to expert or celebrity endorsements? These are of course options, but I would rather suggest that an understanding of this concept of joyfulness - simchah - can be found when we tap into our own Jewish traditions and teachings, particularly during the month of Adar. Here are three of those teachings. ִע ְבדוּ ֶאת-ה' ְבּ ִשׂ ְמָחה; בֹּאוּ ְלָפָניו, ִבְּרָנָנה [In Psalms [Ps 100:2 :#1 “Serve the Lord with gladness; come before God with joyful song.” “The joy that a person takes in performing a mitzvah and in loving God Who commanded it - is itself a great [divine] service.” — Maimonides5 From these two quotes we learn that serving God with joy, observing mitzvot with joy, particularly praying with joy - service to God - is an imperative and a goal in and of itself. Some even consider that the joy itself is fulfillinga mitzvah! #2: The Baal Shem Tov6 , father of Chassidic thought, taught: "The ability to be joyous, by discerning the good and joyous within every experience, is considered by chassidim as a Biblical command!”
4 Pele Yoetz: Jewish Musar literature (Ethics) Constantinople, 1824 by Rabbi Eliezer Papo. 5 Rambam Mishneh Torah, Laws of the Lulav 8:15. 6 Baal Shem Tov: Israel ben Eliezer, (1698-1760, Ukraine), a Jewish mystic and healer, regarded as the founder of Hasidic Judaism.
______Rabbanit Bracha Jaffe | Misphatim-Rosh Chodesh Adar-Shekalim 5781-2021 | p. 3
Rosh Chodesh Adar - Thoughts About Joy
#3: Rabbi Sacks defined simchah - joy - this way: “S imcha in the Torah is never about individuals. It is always about something we share with others. - A newly married man may not serve in the army for a year, so that he can stay home and “bring joy to the wife he has married” (Deut. 24:5) . - You shall bring all your offerings, says Moshe, so that “There, in the presence of the Lord your God, you and your families shall eat and rejoice in all you have put your hand to, because the Lord your God has blessed you.” (D eut. 12:7). The festivals are days of joy, precisely because they are occasions of וְָשׂ ַמ ְח ָת ְבּ ַחֶגָך - collective celebration: “you, your sons and daughters, your male and female servants, the Levites in your towns, and the strangers, the fatherless and the widows living among you” (Deut 16:11). “Simcha is joy shared. It is not something we experience in solitude.”
”In the month of Adar we should increase our joy“ ִמ ֶשׁנְִכנַס אָָדר ַמְר ִבּין ְבּ ִשׂ ְמָחה Coming full circle, let us use these teachings to increase our joy: - From D avid Hamelekh in Psalms & Rambam: Pick a mitzvah - any mitzvah - and be mindful and thoughtful about observing it with simchah - joy! - From the Baal Shem Tov: Turn your focus to see the good and joyous in every experience. - And finally, from Rabbi Sacks: Find ways to connect more deeply to community and appreciate what shared simchah can mean.
Shabbat Shalom and Chodesh Tov!
______Rabbanit Bracha Jaffe | Misphatim-Rosh Chodesh Adar-Shekalim 5781-2021 | p. 4