Laws of Purim #1

It is well known that the Jewish months are fixed by the lunar cycle, whereas years follow the solar cycle, because Pesaḥ must always be in the springtime, as the Torah says, “Observe the month of Aviv (spring) and offer a Pesaḥ sacrifice to the Lord your God, for it was in the month of Aviv, at night, that the Lord your God freed you from Egypt” (Devarim 16:1). In order to keep the lunar months in sync with the solar year, leap years, in which an extra month is intercalated, must be declared occasionally. This means that some years have thirteen months. The only month that may be intercalated is the second Adar, meaning that Nisan is postponed to ensure that it coincides with spring. In the past, a beit din would decide on leap years based on agricultural concerns and astronomical calculations. Today, however, since we do not have a court with the power to declare months and years, the Sages established a fixed cycle of nineteen years, of which twelve are ordinary years and seven are leap years.

In a leap year, we celebrate Purim during Adar II, in order to juxtapose the joy of the Purim redemption with the redemption from Egypt. We also read the Four Parshiyot during this month, because Parashat Shekalim, Parashat Para, and Parashat Ha-ḥodesh were instituted as a preparation for the month of Nisan, and Parashat Zakhor must be read immediately before Purim, which we celebrate in Adar II (see Megilla 6b).

Nonetheless, the Adar I still has a certain degree of festiveness. Therefore, we do not fast, eulogize, or recite Taḥanun on the fourteenth and fifteenth of Adar I. It is also proper to enhance the meal that one eats on the fourteenth of Adar I, which is called Purim Katan (“Small Purim”) (SA, Rema 697:1).

Moreover, the Sages statement about increasing joy when Adar arrives implies that Adar I ushers in joy (observance of a bar mitzva or yahrzeit is discussed in the footnote).

The Sages said, “When Av arrives we curtail [our] joy, and when Adar arrives we increase [our] joy” (Ta’anit 29a). In saying this, the Sages teach us that nothing happens by chance and that every season has its own character and nature. If both Temples were destroyed on the ninth of Av, it is a sign that the beginning of Av is naturally predisposed to calamity. And if the miracle of Purim occurred in the middle of Adar, it is a sign that this month has the capacity to transform bad into good. We feel ordinary joy over the good that exists in the world, but our joy is not complete, because there is still evil and pain in the world. However, when even the bad turns into good, our joy increases and becomes complete. This is what happened on Purim: God turned the bad into good and saved His people, Israel. This teaches us that everything that happens in the world – even the bad – will eventually become good. The greater our faith and our commitment to Torah, the closer we bring the ultimate redemption, when all evil will turn into good, and when joy will abound in the world. Since the month of Adar has the unique character of transforming bad into good, “when Adar arrives we increase [our] joy.”

The Sages further recommend (ibid. 29b) that a Jew who has a legal dispute or business deal to settle with a non-Jew should avoid him during the month of Av, because that month portends misfortune. Instead, he should try to make himself available for litigation or a business deal during Adar, when the Jewish people experiences good fortune.