Why is a leap year determined by adding a month of Adar, why not any month? Why is the leap month referred to as a second Adar, why not give a new name? The Sefer Yetzirah associates the month of Adar with laughter. What is the connection? And why do we add in rejoicing already from the beginning of Adar?
The Gemarah Betzah (15b) says אמר רבי יוחנן משום רבי אליעזר ברבי שמעון: הרוצה שיתקיימו נכסיו יטע בהן אדר, שנאמר אדיר במרום ה. Rashi explains אילן חשוב הוא יש לו שם למרחוק ואומרים פלוני יש לו אדר בשדהו ומתוך כך היא נקראת על שמו ואם הולך למדינת הים ובא אחר והחזיק בה יש לו עדים הרבה שהיתה שלו ואילו מכרה היה הקול יוצא להיות נקראת על שמו של שני. On the possuk the Gemarah cites אדיר במרום ה, Rashi explains שאדר לשון קיום וחוזק ולכך נקרא אדר. We see the word אדר means a form of strength (the Bnei Yissachor in maamer 1 cites this Gemarah in connection to Adar and explains the Gemarah לפי דרכו, עיי"ש.) For further elucidation of the word אדיר the Maharsha in Menachot (53a) says מבואר לשון אדיר מלשון חוזק ואומץ בדרך הידור במתחכם להתחזק על דבר מה (see there his explanation of the Gemarah.) The word Adar means to not just stand up to something but to have the strength to overcome an opposing force. That is why planting the Adar will give one the capability to overcome claims against the person's ownership of the field. It is the ability to be able to reverse the fortune of the the natural flow of events and turn things over.
With this we can understand the laughter of Adar. As explained on the blog in the past ('The Laugh Of Yitzchak', 'Laughter') laugher is evoked when there is a curveball. When things don't follow the path that they seemed, but there is a punchline that introduces something else. ונהפוך הוא, when everything is overturned is the greatest joke. This is the joy and the laughter of the month of Adar. It is part of the essence of the month that it is a time of rejoicing. The Purim story with the נהפוך הוא ending happened this month because Adar is the month of rejoicing, it is not a month of rejoicing because of Purim.
The Kedushas Levi (Parsshas Teruma and Purim) related the word אדר to the אדרת אליהו, the special garment Eliyahu word and he interprets Adar to mean a form of clothing and interprets לפי דרכו עיי"ש. However, that interpretation doesn't fit with Rashi and the Maharsh"a. However, it can be explained in reverse, the word אדרת is related to the word אדר because it was a garment designated for a prophet. When one received prophesy as is clear from pessukim and described by Rambam (Yesodey HaTorah 7:1 וּבָעֵת שֶׁתָּנוּחַ עָלָיו הָרוּחַ, תִּתְעָרֵב נַפְשׁוֹ בְּמַעֲלַת הַמַּלְאָכִים הַנִּקְרָאִים 'אִישִׁים' וְיֵהָפֵךְ לְאִישׁ אַחֵר, the person immersed in prophesy becomes transformed into a different person. The middah of אדיר is present when the person receives prophesy and is given the power to transform his being, ונהפוך הוא לאיש אחר (based upon Rav Moshe Shapiro with added sources.)
There is another word which shares the last tow letters of the word אדר and that is the word הדר. The Ketav V'kabbalah on the possuk והדרת פני זקן (Vakira 19:32) quoting Shadal says the word הדר is related to the Aramic word הדר (to return) and explains in context there, that when one is in awe of someone else they back off, return, out of fear. Presumably one would say that is why something that is beautiful, הידור מצוה, is the same word, for one steps back to admire the impressive view. The ultimate beauty, the ultimate הדר is when everything is shown to have its purpose. As the Leshem explains this is what תחיית המתים means. It is not merely people coming back to live but as the words say תחיית מתים, giving life to what was dead already. All past events, that which was long left for dead, will be rejuvenated, will be dusted off from the tumah attached to them, and play a role in the ultimate tikkun.
The ultimate joy, the שחוק that we are awaiting is the אז ימלא שחוק פינו. Purim is a taste of that final joy. The world that seems to be an entity devoid and separate from G-d is revealed to be the place to bring the ultimate tikkun. That is the final laugh. This is why the month of Adar is the leap month. The idea of the leap year is to unify between the solar and the lunar year. To remove the divisions that exist. The division of sun and moon represent the greater division of the world and G-d. The lining up off the schedules of the solar and lunar system represent a מעין of the greater joining of the future. This experience is felt during the Adar month.
After Adam sins, he is told קץ ודרדר תצמיח לך. The sin of the eitz haddas led to tumah being introduced into the world and now there was a need for a process of birur, to get through thorns and bristles to obtain food. The sin of the eitz haddas is the root of the power of המן as the Gemarah (Chullin 139b) says המן מן התורה מנין? המין העץ. The tikkun to דרדר is אדר when the דר is adjoined to א - אלופו של עולם. And ultimately the דר will turn into a מקום דירה לו יתברך בתחתונים. The month of Adar gives us the ability to turn everything around and bring it back to its ultimate purpose.
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