How to Sing our Purim Songs in Adar Alef

It’s February.  In my family, February is known as the “gut” of the school year.  It’s dark, it’s cold and the spring seems far off.  For many, finding joy is hard in the doldrums of the February routine.  

Last week, as we were beginning to welcome Adar Alef*, someone started singing about joy.  Mi Shenichnas Adar, gets us into the spirit of welcoming Adar, the month of Purim, with happiness and simcha..  “Isn’t it a bit early?”, asked someone in the group.  The “real” Adar, is Adar Bet, where we celebrate Purim and truly get into that Purim spirit. This week began Adar Alef and  there are no festivities in the offing.

Is the rule of increasing joy for Adar applicable to both Adars or just for the second one?

R. Eval Vered insists that both Adars are ones that require us to increase our joy, yet there are two kinds of joy and each corresponds to the different Adars..  

While some events give us sadness and some give us joy, events are external.  Most moments of emotion are passive and stem from moments beyond our control.  Joy, according to R. Vered, is something we are used to having as a result of what happens outside of us. This is the type of simcha from Adar Bet–simcha that stems from the celebration of God’s salvation and the joy we feel from connecting to community through the mitzvot of Purim. Joy on the Second Adar is joy of a result.  

Adar Alef is more of a DIY joy — DIY joy comes from within, an internal challenge to each of us.   In our day-to-day routines it is not easy to attain happiness.  Some of us are more predisposed to internal happiness than others, but the joy of the Adar Alef according to Rabbi Vered is a goal—an emotional destination to which we all should strive.  

As we move toward the second anniversary of our COVID lives, we have all learned many important lessons.  Before COVID, we were programmed to look outside of ourselves and outside of our circles for events and activities to “give” us joy.  Yet, in the last two years, we have all pulled our family, social and communal circles a bit closer and we have realized the high quality of joy and satisfaction comes from our inner selves and our regular rhythms of life. The DIY joy is just as, if not more, valuable than joy dependent on outside events or peer approvals.  

So, while we will usher in Adar Bet in a few weeks with the joy of Purim, we should all be on the road for the joy from within, the joy from our own blessings,  the joy of Adar Alef.

*Adar Alef is the first month in the Hebrew leap year.