Adar and Joy

Mishe’nichnas Adar Marbim B’simcha. We read in the Talmud: when the month of Adar arrives, simcha, joy, increases. We announced the coming of the month of Adar in our service this morning, and according to tradition, this brings with it a sense of excitement and anticipation to celebrate, act silly and very simply, have a lot of fun.

Purim comes on the 14th day of this month. The celebration is based on the book of Esther, the careful reading of which cries out “farce.” The story is silly, filled with exaggeration: a six month feast, a 7 day drinking bacchanalia; a beauty contest in which the women primp and powder for a full year for their single night with the king. And of course, there is the pledge by a Persian official to annihilate all the Jews in the kingdom because a single Jew didn’t bow down to him in the street. The bad guy gets tricked and his evil plan foiled and the Jews celebrate their salvation without a single reference to God, a bit odd for a Biblical book but perhaps not so odd for this type of story.

We read the Book of Esther because it’s fun. We dress up in costumes, we gragger enthusiastically with mention of the name of Haman, we eat sweets, we feast and drink and joke and put on silly plays. It’s all about joy: mishenichnas Adar, marbim b’simcha: when Adar arrives, joy increases.

We use the word “simcha,” all the time in Judaism. It is a Hebrew word that almost every Jew knows: we are celebrating a simcha today, with the Bar Mitzvah of Spencer Soicher. Last week, we had three “simchas” on the bema: anniversaries and birthdays. We sing siman tov and mazal tov: we celebrate. The birth of a child, a Bar Mitzvah, a wedding. Every chance we get in Judaism, we smile and have a good time. With a history of persecution and stress, we don’t want to miss even a single opportunity to feel and express joy.

Purim has four mitzvoth: four observances that we are obligated to perform. Each of them legislates, in a sense, the enhancement of simcha. The first is the reading of the Megillat Esther itself. We can’t do this alone: we have to be together with other Jews to read the Megillah --the more the better. In the text, Haman says to the king regarding the Jews, “there is a certain people who are scattered and dispersed amongst the people in the states of your rule.” The commentators seize on this statement ---the people are scattered, which means that they are distant from one another, there is no sense of community with them, no unity. So the Rabbis require that the community in the present, now, does the opposite; we come together for the reading of the Megillah: and create a celebration together. There is a sense of power and a sense of belonging to something greater than the self, when the community assembles. Unity and connection to others feels good. The Rabbis in the Talmud knew this; when we come together, we experience joy.

The second mitzvah: matanot l’evyonim: giving to the poor. Here again, the enhancement of joy: certainly in the life of the needy recipient of tzedakah whose burdens are eased, at least for the moment. But joy also in the life of the giver as well. Nothing feels better than giving to those in need. To help another gives one’s life a sense of meaning and purpose. If you want to feel better about yourself, give of yourself. Giving tzedakah, increases joy.

The third mitzvah: mishloach manot. This is giving gifts to your friends. One of the plagues of our society is alienation from others. If we so desired, we would never have to leave our homes. Most everything in our lives need not be personal --we can shop, bank, work and be entertained, with virtually no human interaction. But there is a much better way, of course and that is to reach out and connect with others, to enhance friendships. In our community, there are couples that meet each other at a program called Baby University: which is a prenatal Jewish lamaze, of sorts. It is Jewish education and planning for the coming of a new baby. Couples in this program, perhaps most importantly, meet at the class and make friends at this formative experience in their lives and many of them remain friends for decades. They celebrate the bris or baby naming together; they send their kids off to preschool together; they join synagogues together; they celebrate holidays, and life cycle events, together, and so on through their lives. And it makes them happy! Friendships are the lifeblood of community and it brings joy to our lives. Mishloach manot: at Purim time, we increase joy by sending gifts to our friends.

And finally: the seudat Purim: the Purim feast. During Purim: we eat together. Purim is the story that defines the joke: at Jewish holidays, “the bad guy wants to kills us, we win and then we eat.” This Purim, the synagogue is sponsoring a community dinner: we will all come together to feast on great food, to watch a Purim speil, to laugh and joke and have a lot of fun. Jewish eating has never been about nourishment; it’s about building relationships and transmitting our culture and our values. The Purim feast does just that in an atmosphere of simcha: of joy.

With all of that in mind, I have to confess that I am uncomfortable with the phrase: mishenichnas adar, marbim b’simcha: when Adar arrives, joy increases. And I am uncomfortable with it because it implies that joy is somehow unique to Adar, only one of the twelve months of the year. But it’s not. We read in one of the zemirot, one of the songs traditionally sung at Shabbat dinner on Friday night: menucha v’simcha, or l’yehudim: “the rest and joy of Shabbat, illuminate the Jewish people. The deep spiritual rest of the Sabbath brings joy, perhaps an even deeper and more abiding joy than the celebrations which come in Adar. Shabbat is the foundation for the spiritual existence of all Jews who observe it.

There are about 350 of us here in our synagogue community that understand this; we are here every Shabbat morning for a spirited service and we remain, sometimes for hours, at our kiddush: connecting with friends and building our community. It’s very simply, fun and people do it each week. But we have a little over 2000 adults in our congregation and we are concerned about them too. We want to bring to at least some of them the deep joy that comes from Shabbat prayer, services and community.

As most of you know, the Cantor and I went to New York this past Shabbes to see some shuls that are doing innovative Shabbat services that attract hundreds of worshippers of all ages on Friday nights. In particular, we went to a congregation called B’nai Yeshurun, on the upper west side of Manhattan, to see what they do on Friday nights. They have a very soft and soulful service with voices accompanied by a variety of instruments that bring a full and joyous sound to the traditional prayers. Everybody in the congregation sings and sings loudly. The congregation has come to know the prayers and the melodies by coming often and their voices fill up the sanctuary: as do ours here at the Alliance on Shabbat morning. I had the sense as I sat there at B’nai Yeshuran, at this Friday night service, that my prayers were carried heavenward with the power and presence of the whole community singing as one. If one were to use just one word to describe the service, that word would be “joyful.”

As you might imagine, we were impressed. We want to bring that sense of joy to our Friday night experience, for all of you to come and for those in the congregation who might not feel that the Shabbat morning service is accessible to them, but are searching none the less for a deeper connection to the shul and to Shabbat. Perhaps what makes this service accessible to many is not only the great music and spirit in the sanctuary, but also the fact that Friday night services last just one hour.

We will call our service, “Nashira,” which means, “let us sing.” We will use instruments to accompany our voices for Kabbalat Shabbat until we come to the prayers that begin Shabbat proper and then we will put our instruments aside and chant the prayers together a cappella. The first service will be on April 9th and more information about “Nashira,” can be found in the March Highlights.

“Mi shenichnas adar, marbim b’simcha: Adar is upon us and we focus on the joy of living as a Jew. We will enjoy Adar and Purim this year, but we will continue with on simcha on Shabbat as well. We invite you all to this new service so that joy in our community will increase for us on Shabbat and indeed, all year round.

Shabbat Shalom.