B"H
Tuesday, Adar 4, 5785 / March 4, 2025
We are now in the Hebrew month of Adar. Our sages instruct us that when the month of Adar enters we should increase in simcha-happiness. One of the greatest miracles happened to the Jewish people in this month, the miracle of Purim, when the Jewish people were saved from annihilation.
In the Torah, where the months are identified not by names, but by numbers from one to twelve, the month of Adar is the twelfth month of the year.
The holiday of Purim is celebrated each year on the evening of the 13th of Adar and the next day, the 13th of Adar. This year we celebrate Purim Thursday night, March 13, and Friday, March 14.
Q. How can Adar, which is the sixth month from Rosh Hashana, (New Years), be the twelfth month?
A. According to the Torah, the calendar year doesn’t begin in the first month, only in the seventh month. The months and years are independent of each other. The month of Nissan is considered the first of the twelve months of the year, although it is seven months after Rosh Hashana.
Q. This sounds a bit confusing… Why did the Torah establish a different beginning for the months and a different time for the beginning of the year?
A. The years are counted according to the creation of the universe. Rosh Hashana is celebrated on the day when Adam and Eve were created. The month of Nissan became significant only later at the time of the Exodus. In special recognition to the importance of the Jewish people and their Exodus, which took place in the month of Nissan, G-d assigned Nissan as the beginning and head of the months of the year.
Q. Why is the miracle of Purim, which happened over two thousand five hundred years ago, so special?
A. In the Megilah, which records the story of Purim, we are told that Haman wished to annihilate the entire Jewish people. He influenced Achashverosh, King of Persia, to decree, "To destroy, slay, and exterminate all Jews, young and old, children and women, in a single day... and to plunder their possessions..." Had it not been for the miracle of Purim, this evil decree would have, G-d forbid, wiped out the entire Jewish nation, because at the time, all the Jewish people lived under his rule.
Thus, Purim commemorates the greatest miracle in Jewish history when we were saved from total annihilation. Over two thousand five hundred years have gone by since the story of Purim, but very little has changed in the Persia-Iran-Hamas of today. They still want to wipe us out… But G-d is with US.
The miracle of Purim should serve as a wake up call to all those who spread hate and incitement against our people. Purim reminds us that our existence has always been a miracle and with G-d’s help, the miracle continues. Am Yisrael Chai – the Jewish people will live on forever!
HAVE A VERY GOOD, HAPPY, HEALTHY AND SUCCESSFUL DAY
OUR HEARTS ARE WITH OUR BROTHERS AND SISTERS IN CAPTIVITY - MAY THEY ALL BE RELEASED NOW