By: Kevin Ary Levin, Latin American Jewish Educator

Rosh Chodesh Adar I

The Talmud tells us: “When Adar enters, joy increases”. Not satisfied with specific days of the year where we are commanded to be happy (can a person be happy on command, anyway?), we Jews also get a full month associated with happiness: Adar. And it’s not just any month: Adar has the privilege among Hebrew calendar months of sometimes repeating. Every Jewish “leap year” (shanah me’uveret) has a second Adar (Adar Bet) which allows the mostly lunar Hebrew calendar to resynchronize with the solar cycle and thus get all holidays fall in the same season every year. It’s complicated math, but the less you think about it, chances are you will find more joy. Double joy, in fact. Adar’s joy reaches its climax on the 14^th day of the month, Purim, a holiday uniquely associated with joy in our calendar. The fact that we remember a whole generation of Jews who heard an evil decree calling for their annihilation, and nevertheless overcame these circumstances, speaks of a joy which might be the best remedy against hate. On Purim, we are not just our normal selves (and in some circumstances, being ourselves can be challenging enough), we strive to be an even happier version of ourselves. Anyone who has had to hide their identity will sympathize with Esther’s experience hiding her Jewishness. Anyone who has been able to stop hiding will probably have felt a huge burden taken from their shoulders, and that is a wonderful cause to celebrate. In the face of intolerance and hate, surviving is good, but celebrating our uniqueness is even better. May we all find in this Adar the freedom not just to be ourselves, but to rejoice in it.