Embodying Joy (Shabbat Rosh Hodesh Adar)

Today begins the Hebrew month of Adar, which leads to Purim, at the end of the month. Last year, Purim was one of the last times we gathered. We sat and enjoyed Lydia’s Purim schpiel, sang Purim songs with Vivian and Fran, admired Glee and Esther’s reading of the Megillah. We wore costumes, took hamantaschen sealed in plastic, maybe avoided shaking hands or hugging.

How little we knew then about what was ahead!

Looking back, we’re more aware of the seemingly small daily pleasures we took for granted at that time. We grieve the lives lost since… and anticipate the life, the freedom we’ll begin to find in the weeks and days ahead, since we received our 2nd dose of the vaccine.

Much like the vaccine, the Jewish calendar repeats, administers a dose of hope or freedom – and then, because everything fades with time, delivers a “booster dose” the next year: spiritual practice, liturgy, and sacred story that help us integrate the experiences we had during the year. In this way, Yom Kippur is a “booster shot” for forgiveness, Sukkot a “booster shot” for gratitude, and Purim a “booster shot” for joy: Misheniknas Adar marbim b’simcha / "Whoever enters Adar," the sages declare, "increases in joy."

But what does it mean to be a nichnas Adar, one who enters Adar?

We know this month will arrive every year. The rabbis cannot simply be instructing us to do something that will happen on its own! No, they’re asking us to take an active role; after all, finding joy in difficult times, while possible, is not something that just happens by itself. adrienne maree brown, an black feminist author, defines joy not as something the world gives us, but as a choice we can make each and every day.

So, I invite you to join me today in a brief guided reflection so together we can take an active role in entering this month. As we begin, you can close your eyes if that’s comfortable for you.

…Now, ask yourself: “What has been the hardest part of this year? Notice where you sense that hardship in your body.

…Now how did you get through it? We somehow managed to make it to the end of this day, the end of this year.

…What was the most joyful part of this year? Every day and every year, no matter how hard, contains moments of joy. …Notice what made it joyful. Sense what joy feels like in your body. What did you learn from the joy? How can you bring more of it in?

If you closed your eyes, I invite you to open them now.

Congratulations! You are now a nichnas Adar, someone who is actively entering this month by opening your heart to joy!

As we approach Purim — our joy “booster shot” — at the end of this month, I invite you, over the next few weeks, to notice and tend to your joy. This might start with gratitude for small things: a hot cup of tea, a warm exchange with a neighbor, the voice of a friend or loved one. This may also include rest, and turning towards your community and loved ones when you need support. These actions, too, can be joyful.

In the weeks to come, may we find ourselves able to connect as a community, in whatever ways we can. And may next year’s Purim bring more joy and less suffering to all. May our attention to the little joys in our lives help us know this month the way our ancestors did, even in the most difficult of times, as it is described in the Book of Esther: “the month that was transformed for [us] from sorrow to joy, from mourning to festivity” (Esther 9:22).

May it be so.