It’s Adar.
Be Happy!
Tonight begins the new Hebrew month which is called Adar.
We are taught that as we enter the month of Adar we are to increase our joy.
There is only one another month where we are given instructions about joy.
That is the Hebrew month called Av which falls in the summer months.
When we enter the month of Av which is the month we suffered national tragedies of the destruction of our Temple in Jerusalem, the direction is to decrease our joy.
It therefore seems that as a people we are always supposed to be joyful.
Sometimes more.
Sometimes less.
It seems to be a counterintuitive direction for us right now.
We are going through such a difficult time.
The war continues.
The hostages are still not home.
Antisemitism abounds.
Yet we are supposed to be happy.
How are we to reconnect to joy?
This week’s Torah portion is called Mishpatim, which means laws.
This portion is chock a block full of laws regarding civil rights and torts.
Let me remind you that just last week we were at Mount Sinai.
There we stood as a nation at the foot of the mountain and experienced a national revelation of Gd.
It was a sound and light show of epic proportions that puts Stone Mountain to shame.
It is curious, perhaps even odd, that this elevated experience would be followed by 53 seemingly mundane laws which govern the daily grind of life.
These commandments which seem picayune, are in fact the rubric which allows us to live Mount Sinai every day.
These laws which instruct us how to be good neighbors, care for those who are vulnerable, and detail how we are to act with others, are the framework of kindness for our society. In this construction there will be a voice for the downtrodden and the mute while we spread light - because as a nation we know what it means to sit in darkness.
These commandments are the pinpoints of light which will disperse darkness.

Major Rotem Levi fell in Gaza.
One of the soldiers who served under him shared an interaction between them.
They were getting ready for a sortie in the pitch darkness. The soldier had a little, tiny flashlight and he couldn’t get it to turn on.
In deep frustration he said to Rotem, “enough, how much more is possible? Everything is dark here. (A comment which revealed not only the physical nature of the situation, but also the emotional despair).
Rotem, may his memory be a blessing, told his soldier,
“Look behind you, do you see Nir Oz (one of the Kibbutzim that was invaded on Oct 7)Nir Oz is our light, it is what shines for us”.
Rotem was able to emphasize the light that would shine through in the darkest of moments.
So it seems that even in dark times, our baseline emotion is meant to be happiness, and now in this month, we are supposed to amplify that feeling.
How are we to do so?
As the Torah portion outlines, we need the small actions that will give us the scaffolding to create the reality.
Yehuda Amichai, Israeli poet, wrote a poem entitled the Precision of Pain.
In his poem he compares the precision with which one describes their pain versus the blurriness of joy.
We are very articulate when we describe our suffering, but Amichai posits that when we describe a happy occasion we will say employ generalities such as the words awesome or heavenly. We leave out the details.
Therefore, one way to achieve a higher level of happiness is to notice it and then create a language that will express it. By saying the words and describing our joy we will begin to internalize those feelings and they will become more tangible.
This immediately leads us to the next step which is gratitude. When we focus our attention on the assets rather than the deficits, we will be suffused with joy.
There is so much to be thankful for, even in dark times.
There is always a point of light that can brighten the horizon.
Rabbanit Yemima Mizrachi, electric Torah teacher in Israel, shares the Chassidic teachings of Rabbi Nachman of Breslov who instructs us that dancing and clapping can sweeten the judgment and increase happiness.
What is R Nachman’s lesson?
When we dance and clap we create movement, both in our environment and within ourselves.
Rabbanit Yemima shared that she gave birth to a baby with a congenital heart condition. His fingers and toes were blue because the heart couldn’t pump blood to his extremities. When we clap and dance we move the blood to our extremities and bring them to life. When we clap and dance we also move the air around ourselves and the motion creates movement which is synonymous with life.
Our job is to get up and move.
In the messiness of life, with the mush of ingredients, we need to bake a cake. We don’t just leave the painful shards where they lie, we use them to create something nourishing and life giving. We don’t wait for it to happen. We do it. We serve others less fortunate. Nothing brings more joy than that.
We bake the veritable cake.
This is the story of the Jewish people.
We joke that each holiday is a celebration of
they tried to kill us, we won, let’s eat.
But there a deep lesson in that witticism.
The grand nations of the world the Romans, the Greeks, the Macedonians, have all disappeared.
But the Jewish nation has prevailed.
Now Hamas is trying to take their turn.
But we will survive.
That is what we mean when we say Am Yisrael Chai.
Because we keep moving, keep supporting, keep lighting the lights.
We are still in the middle of the story.
We haven’t reached the denouement.
But our existence is a source of happiness, because despite the darkness, and despite the illogical nature, we are still here.
That is actually a bit of a joke. The incongruity of it all has to make you laugh.
We can enter the month of Adar armed with our points of light, the kindnesses we hear about on a daily basis and the joy of knowing, this story is not over yet.
Let’s hold on to one another till we reach our destination.
A happy Adar to all.
May it be a month of true joy.
Shabbat Shalom and so much love!