Chazal tell us "Mishenichnas Adar Marbim B'simcha". As soon as the month of Adar starts and throughoout the entire month, we must strive to constantly increase our level of 'Simcha'. Why are we given a whole month, and specifically the month before Pesach, the time of redemption, to work on, of all things, 'Simcha'. Why if it seems to culminate on Purim, the middle of the month, do we have to keep going until the end. What role does the alcohol we use on Purim, play in the achievement of our goal of 'Simcha'. What is the Torah definition of this concept of 'Simcha' - yes Simcha is 'happiness' but what feeling do we need to have in order to feel and be happy?                                                                                                     

It is hard to be brief when there is so much to say, but I"ll try. When Chazal tell us "Who is a rich man - he who is happy with what they have", the word "happy" means satisfied i.e. even though he may want other things, he does not feel like he is missing anything - he feels complete - he feels that his world is good and as it should be. The same could be said in a spiritual sense - whereas there are times in the Jewish calendar year when we must look deep inside and do T'shuvah for our misdeeds, Adar and Purim are given to us as a chance to magnify the positives in our lives - Adar on the spiritual side and Purim adding the dimension of bringing on board the feeling of physical well being too. Rashi (Berachos 4B) tells us in the name of the talmud Yerushalmi that the proper design of davening is to say Shmoneh Esrai immediately after speaking of Ge'ulah (redemption), because if you praise Hashem for redemption and don't ask for your needs right away, it is like knocking on the castle doors and when the king comes to open the doors, you run away before he gets there. My pshat in that B'EZ"H, is that the person speaks of the greatness of Ge'ulah and then gets scared - I am not worthy of all that and certainly not worthy of asking for anything personal - I'm running away. Chazal are telling us that we should not think like that but rather focus on the positive and know that just like Hashem wants to redeem us and bring Moshiach, H-E wants us to ask for personal things and relate to him as a father.Think about the parts of Torah and Mitzvos that we are comfortable with, that are natural for us by now. We can be confident if we take a reckoning of all those things, that we can face The King when H-E opens the doors and H-E will respond positively.                        

 

There was a very frum doctor who lived in Germany. He had never been to Poland but had heard so much about the great yeshivos there, the high levels of learning, of soaring levels of spirituality, etc. He decided to see for himself and toured all the great yeshivos and their communities. By the end of his trip he became depressed - how could he return to his life in Germany? Before seeing what he did, he thought he was a fantastic Jew - frum, a ben Torah, professional and well-off. Now after seeing such total dedication to Hashem, how could he ever be satisfied with his lifestyle? He decided that before going home, he would visit the Chafetz Chaim and pour out his heart to him. The Chafetz Chaim smiled and told the doctor a vort. The Torah makes a point to tell us that the 'Tree of Life' was in the center of Gan Eden - why is it so important for us to know that? He answered that the Tree of Life symbolizes life in the world to come - Olam Habah. The Torah is telling us that the path to Olam Habah is equidistant to everyone. All Jews, whether they be Rosh Yeshivas or working people, whatever situation they find themselves in, have the same access to redemption. We can all accomplish our missions and feel accomplished in doing so. The key is to be cognizant of where you are and work with your strengths to bring praise to Hashem in whatever you are doing.                                                 

 

 Adar and Purim are about just that. We need a whole month to raise our own self-awareness of our strengths and to whatever degree we can, feel good and complete about our spirituality. On Purim, the Megilla story reminds us of a time when we sat at home with a decree of death on our heads - all was lost. Suddenly, Hashem manipulating the whole story in the background, turns everything around and everything is restored to us. From the darkness into the light, we take stock of all that could have been lost and all that we actually have. What a shame that sometimes us humans need to feel like we've lost everything before we can appreciate what we have ( alcohol, the 'feeling no pain' drink, can jumpstart these thoughts for those that need it ).         I hope I was clear as a lot of these ideas are my own thoughts for a change. I bless all of you with the message - may we be zocheh to 'use' the month of Adar and the great eternal message of Purim to learn and experience true happiness, satisfaction and a sense of completeness that will enable us to experience the Geulah Shelaima very sooon.                               

Have a wonderful Shabbos and whole month. I love you all, 'd'