“…from sorrow into gladness and from mourning into a holiday”—that’s the famous line from Ester (9:22), but last night it was the reverse. On Rosh Chodesh Adar Sheni 5768, our gladness turned to sorrow and our holiday into mourning with the horrific news of the massacre at Yeshivat Merkaz HaRav. 8 young students, all but one of whom were teenagers, were mercilessly gunned down by an Arab from East Jerusalem who had worked as a driver for the yeshiva. He fired 600 bullets in 4 minutes, and he would have killed more had neighborhood residents not shot him dead. The images are unspeakable, and they leave us wondering, questioning, demanding: how could it happen? Isn’t this the “lucky” month?
That idea comes from a famous statement of Rav Yehuda, son of Rav Shemu’el bar Shilat, quoting Rav: “Just as ‘we reduce our joy when Av begins’ (Mishna, Ta’anit 4:6), so too we increase our joy when Adar begins.” Based on this, Rav Pappa advises one who has a court case with a non-Jew to avoid Av and to schedule it for Adar, “as its fortune is healthy (bari mazaleih)” (Ta’anit 29a-b). We all know this famous line about rejoicing in Adar, but it actually does not appear in the major halakhic works of the Rambam, Tur or Shulchan Arukh—although the ruling about Av (e.g., Orach Chayyim 551:1) does! How can that be? Aren’t they two sides of the same coin?
Another Adar-related statement of Rav Yehuda, son of Rav Shemu’el bar Shilat, quoting Rav, may shed some light on this. In Megilla (5a), he rules that when Purim falls out on Shabbat (as in Jerusalem this year), the reading of Ester on Thursday night and Friday morning is considered “on time,” allowing even an individual to recite the blessings before and after; we rule against this, that in the case of an “early reading,” the blessings can be recited only if ten people participate (Orach Chayyim 690:18, Mishna Berura 66). This law is also puzzling, until we recall what “the day before” was like for the Jews: it was a day of battle. The Jews had to take up arms against their mortal enemies, fighting throughout the Persian empire on the 13th of Adar, and in Shushan on the 14th as well (Ester 9:16-18). When we try to extend the Purim spirit, we encounter the very real tension and apprehension that our ancestors experienced, which we now commemorate with a fast day, Ta’anit Ester. This may be why we reject both rulings of Rav Yehuda: starting Purim early means forgetting some of the trepidation which preceded it.
These are sobering thoughts, but we may perhaps find some comfort in them. In the days of Mordekhai and Ester, the Jews spent the beginning of Adar praying, fasting and preparing themselves for battle. They faced a world filled with enemies and knew that their foes could not wait to kill and pillage. Nevertheless, because they maintained their faith and put their lives on the line to defend their families and property, Adar became a month of victory and joy. We hope and pray that this will recur in our generation.
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