“Misheh-misheh-misheh-misheh-misheh-misheh-misheh-misheh-miiiiishenichnas Adar…”
This familiar jingle begins ringing in our heads already on the first day of the month of Adar, and continues doing so through the celebration of Purim two weeks later (and for some, even beyond…). The words come from the Gemara (Ta’anit 29a), and instruct that “When Adar enters, we increase our joy.” Although the festive holiday of Purim is still nearly two weeks away, already on the first of this month, from the moment when Adar arrives, we are told to increase our joy, to be festive and to celebrate.
This “introductory” period of festivity is unique to Purim. No other holiday requires us to begin feeling joyous before the holiday begins. True, before Rosh Hashanah, we prepare for a month by reciting special Selihot prayers and making an effort to improve ourselves, but this is done so we are free of sin when we stand trial before Gd on Rosh Hashanah. There is no mitzvah to begin feeling joyous two weeks before Hanukah, before Pesach, or before Shavuot. What is unique about Purim that necessitates two weeks of “getting in the mood” by rejoicing?
The IDF’s Pre-Purim Megillah Reading
The source for this concept – beginning the Purim festivities already before Purim – can be found already in Megillat Ester.
Toward the end of the Megillah (9:22), we read of the establishment of the holiday of Purim, and the Megillah mentions that these two days (the 14th of Adar is most locations, and the 15th in walled cities) are celebrated during “the month that was transformed for them from anguish to joy, andfrom mourning to a holiday.” Curiously, the Megillah speaks of the entire month of Adar as having been “transformed” from anguish to festivity.
This strikes us as odd, because, seemingly, there was only one day – the 14th of Adar – that was “transformed.” Haman drew lots to determine the day on which he would annihilate the Jews, and the date chosen was the 14th of Adar. This day turned out to be a day of festive celebration, as the day before, the Jews successfully waged war against those in the Persian Empire who set out to exterminate them in accordance with Haman’s edict. Thus, there was just one day that was “transformed” from calamity to festivity as a result of the Purim miracle – the 14th of Adar. Why, then, does the Megillah describe the entire month of Adar as having undergone a transformation?
Even more fascinatingly, this point finds expression in practical halachah. There is a view that if a person knows ahead of time, before Purim, that he will be unable to read the Megillah or hear it read on Purim day, then he should do so before Purim, as early as the first of Adar. As the Megillah speaks of the entire month of Adar in the context of the Purim celebration, we can infer that in some sense, the time for celebration begins already with the onset of this month. Accordingly, one who will, due to circumstances beyond his control, have no possibility of reading or hearing the Megillah on Purim should ensure to read or hear the Megillah before Purim.
Lest one think this discussion is purely hypothetical, such a ruling was given as practical halachah last year, in Adar, 5784 (2024), to our beloved IDF soldiers who were on active duty in Gaza. Certain units knew ahead of time – or had reason to anticipate – that they would be participating in military operations on Purim, and would thus be unable to read or hear the Megillah on that day. A number of rabbis instructed them to read the Megillah prior to Purim, following the view discussed above.
This only reinforces our question: What significance is there to the month of Adar? If the day chosen by Haman for the Jews’ extermination turned into a day of celebration, why is the entire month of Adar affected?
Dividing the Months
The answer is rooted in a deep Kabbalistic concept. As with all teachings of Kabbalah, the profundity of this concept lies well beyond our grasp, but was can at least understand it on its most basic level.
The Kabbalists taught that Yaakov Avinu and his twin brother, Esav, made an arrangement whereby they divided the twelve months of the year. Yaakov took for himself the months of Nissan, Iyar and Sivan – months on which we celebrate Pesach, Pesach Sheni (the 14th of Iyar), and Shavuot. Esav then took to his side the next three months – Tammuz, Av, and Elul, which have no holidays. (In fact, Tammuz and Av mark periods of mourning for the destruction of the Bet Hamikdash. As for Elul, the Kabbalists teach that Yaakov insisted on seizing this month from Esav’s grasp, as otherwise we, his descendants, would be unable to properly prepare for Rosh Hashanah. Needless to say, this lies beyond the scope of our discussion here.) The months of Tishreh, Marheshvan, and Kislev – which include Rosh Hashanah, Yom Kippur, Sukkot, Simhat Torah, and Hanukah – belong to Yaakov, whereas the next three months – Tevet, Shevat, and Adar – are under Esav’s control. It thus turns out that six months belong to Yaakov, to the force of sanctity, whereas the other six are under the control of Esav, the forces of impurity.
With this in mind, we easily understand why the Megillah speaks of the “transformation” of the month of Adar.
This month is included in the domain of Esav, Haman’s evil ancestor. As such, Haman’s edict should have succeeded. The lots fell on an inauspicious time for the Jewish People, a month which was under the power of Esav, when Am Yisrael was thus vulnerable to Haman’s efforts to destroy it. In order to rescue His beloved nation, Gd needed to do more than just foil Haman’s scheme. He first needed to transform the month of Adar, to transfer it, as it will, to Yaakov’s domain. Gd essentially upended the spiritual makeup of all of creation, shaking the very foundations of the universe so that Adar would no longer be under Esav’s control.
This is why “mishenichnas Adar marbim besimhah” – we begin our joy and festivity already at the beginning of Adar. The Purim miracle began with Adar’s transformation from a time cut out for disaster to a time of immense spiritual potential. Before Mordechai’s call to Ester to intervene, before she approached the king unannounced at the risk of death, before the banquet with Haman – the first step was changing the essential nature of the month of Adar, from a month of danger to a month of greatness.
The Backfiring of Haman’s Plot
Among the questions raised about the Purim story is why Haman decided to allocate just a single day for the extermination of the Jews. Why did he not do what his ideological successor – Hitler, ym”sh – did many centuries later, and devise a program of extermination that would be carried out over the course of an extended period? Would this not be far easier? What advantage was there to planning the annihilation for a single day?
One of the commentators offered a creative answer – one which sheds new light on our discussion. Haman knew Jewish history, and realized that his plan could backfire. He knew about the miraculous survival of Am Yisrael, and so he himself had some doubts about the prospects of his plot’s success. And, Haman knew that if his plan backfired, the period that had been designated for the Jews’ annihilation would be celebrated as a holiday. He therefore designated just a single day – so that in the event that his plan failed, the Jews would not have more than one day to celebrate!
Remarkably, even this aspect of Haman’s nefarious plot backfired sensationally. He did not take into account the transformation of Adar from a month of tragedy into a month of festivity, such that his edict not only gave us the joyous day of Purim, but an entire month of joy and celebration!
We are Never “Stuck”
The theme of transformation, which features so prominently in the Purim story, can be truly “transformative”for each and every one of us. When we understand how far Hashem went to protect His beloved nation, changing the order of the cosmos, upending the fundamental nature of an entire month of the Jewish year, we are reminded that anything in our lives – and, collectively, anything affecting the Jewish Nation as a whole – can be transformed. If Adar can be transformed from a month of calamity to a month of immense joy, then any situation we ever find ourselves in can similarly be transformed.We are never “stuck.” There is no problem that has no solution. The fact that we see no solution is owed to our human limitations. Gd, however, is unlimited, and is thus able to solve any problem in ways that we could never imagine.
When Beneh Yisrael were trapped against the sea, they never imagined that the water would split and then fall back on the Egyptians. When they found themselves without food, they never imagined nourishing food falling from the sky each morning. When Haman decreed the Jews’ annihilation, they never imagined that days later he would be hanging from the gallows, and Mordechai would be serving his position as second to the king.
No matter what we are struggling with, and no matter what difficult challenges we jointly face as a nation, either in Israel or here in the Diaspora, we must believe that Hashem has an infinite number of ways to help. We of course must do whatever we can – just as Ester was called upon to approach King Ahashverosh – but with complete faith in Hashem’s unlimited capabilities.
May the merit of our faith and hope bring the transformation of all our sorrow to joy, all our struggles to triumph, and all our anguish to festivity, and the arrival of our final redemption, speedily, and in our times, amen.