Be Joyous!

Shabbat Terumah, Rosh Chodesh Adar February 28, 2025 | 1 Adar 5785

Chodesh Tov Adar! You may not be aware that in addition to this evening marking the beginning of Shabbat, with the setting of the sun, we also welcome the Hebrew month of Adar. Thank God it’s arrived, and not a minute too soon! Between the upheaval in our own country and the unending tragedy continually unfolding in Israel, despair and hopelessness threaten to overwhelm even the most resilient among us. 

Thank goodness for Jewish tradition! Our Sages teach, “mi she’nichnas Adar, marbin b’simcha” when Adar enters, we increase in joy (Taanit 29a:18). Is there anyone who couldn’t use a good dose of happiness right now? And it’s not just something that happens by chance, we are in fact commanded to increase joy through the month of Adar! But how?

The great Medieval Torah scholar, Rashi, teaches that our augmented joy is because, “these were days of miracles for the people of Israel.” (Taanit 29a:63). The miraculous deliverance of the Purim story occurred in Adar, and as we commemorate these events and revisit them energetically, our joy and good fortune increases.

The Chassidic masters add the following profound twist to the Sage’s statement. In addition to the traditional translation of “when Adar enters, we increase in joy,” they clarify that, “when Adar enters, we increase. How? With joy.”

Happiness, the mystics teach, is not happenstance. It is not something that we experience by chance or fate. It is a choice, and a practice found in Torah as a commandment: “Ivdu et Hashem b’simcha” serve G-d with joy, and when we do so, all our blessings and spiritual powers increase.

Awesome! Except, joy is not always easy to cultivate. How can we choose happiness with so much sadness, hate, anger and tragedy all around us? First and foremost, it is imperative we feel the pain of our neighbors and are sensitive to the very real suffering around us. Simcha does not mean ignoring the hardship of others or our own challenges.

Nor does simcha mean that one is ecstatic all the time without any concerns. Remember, simcha is joy, not bliss. Simcha is not contingent on everything going our way. It is not dependent on the perfect fulfillment of our needs. If we are happy only when we get everything we need, then we will never be truly happy because life is not perfect. Simcha is the ability to experience and embrace joy in imperfection, to see light even in the darkness.

Joy is attainable even when circumstances are far from perfect, because it is the awareness that every detail of creation is directed by God who loves us infinitely. This deep faith brings us joy even when we cannot see the goodness hidden beneath the surface. This joy amid hardship is precisely what will enable the hidden goodness to be revealed, as the mystics teach, “tracht gut vat zein gut” think good and it will be good. When we “think good” – when we fully internalize the reality of God’s Oneness and infinite goodness – then “it will be good,” the darkness will finally give way to the light it conceals.

Adar brings with it the possibility for a tremendous increase of light, good fortune, and peace, in Israel, in our own country, and throughout the world. Our choice to peer behind the veil of darkness, to perceive and reveal God’s ubiquitous presence is key to that light and joy manifesting in our lives and everywhere. It is up to each of us to communicate and activate the joy even when it feels impossible. Knowing that we are bidden by God to do so makes it that much easier to try in the first place!

May you all be blessed with a joyful Shabbat Shalom….