Thank God, It’s Adar! The Transformative Power of Joy

Today and tomorrow we celebrate the beginning of the month of Adar, and it’s not a moment too soon. The Sages teach that “mi she’nichnas Adar, marbin b’simcha/when Adar enters, we increase in joy” (Taanis 29a:18), and we can all use a good does of happiness in our lives right about now. Rashi explains that our augmented joy is on account of the fact that “these were days of miracles for the people of Israel.” (Taanis 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 a profound twist to the Sages’ statement. In addition to the traditional translation of “when Adar enters, we increase in joy,” they expound further 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 or luck. It is a choice and a practice. As a matter of fact, it is a Torah directive: “ivdu es Hashem b’simcha/serve G-d with joy” (Psalms 100:2). When we do so, all of our blessings and spiritual powers increase.

Yet joy is not always easy to muster. How can we choose happiness in the midst of so much sadness and tragedy? First and foremost, it is imperative to feel the pain of our brethren and never to be insensitive to the very real suffering around us. Simcha does not mean that one ignores the hardship of others.

Nor does simcha mean that one is ecstatic at all times, without any concerns. The key is to know that simcha is joy, but it is not bliss. Simcha does not result only when everything goes as we desire. It is not predicated on the perfect fulfillment of our needs. If one is happy only when s/he attains a complete list of requirements, then s/he will never be happy because life is not perfect. Simcha is the ability to experience joy in imperfection, to see light even in the darkness.

Simcha 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 His children infinitely. This absolute faith brings us joy even when we do not yet see the goodness that is hidden beneath the surface. This joy in the midst of 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 His infinite goodness – then “it will be good,” the darkness will finally give way to the light that it conceals.

As Adar enters, we will iy’H see a tremendous increase of light, good fortune, and peace in Israel and throughout the world. What will precipitate this profusion of blessing? Our decision to peer behind the veil of darkness, to perceive and reveal God’s ubiquitous presence, and to thereby communicate and activate the joy that illuminates and transforms the creation.

— Pnei Hashem is an introduction to the deepest depths of the human experience based on the esoteric teachings of Torah.  www.pneihashem.com