The month of Adar

[1] (halacha 213)

Question: In what does the uniqueness of the month of Adar find expression?

Answer: A. The Gemara in Maseches Taanis¹ (29a) says: 'משנכנס אדר מרבין בשמחה אמר רב פפא: הלכך, בר ישראל דאית ליה דינא בהדי נכרי - לישתמיט מיניה באב דריע מזליה, ולימצי נפשיה באדר דבריא מזליה' ("When Adar enters we increase in joy. Rav Pappa said: Therefore, a Jew who has litigation with a gentile should avoid him in Av, when his fortune is bad, and should make himself available in Adar, when his fortune is sound"). [=A Jew who needs to litigate with a gentile should avoid him, and not litigate with him in the month of Av, since then his fortune is bad, whereas in the month of Adar, on the contrary, he should make himself available to litigate with him, so that he litigates with him then, since then his fortune is sound and good²].

This halacha is not mentioned in the Rambam and Shulchan Aruch³, but the Magen Avraham⁴ brought this ruling as halacha.

The Rebbe explains⁵ the reason that the Rambam omitted this ruling, namely because according to his view one must be 'joyful all his days', and nevertheless the Magen Avraham brought this ruling in any case, since it was an accepted tradition, and in the latter generations, when the darkness of the exile has intensified, there is difficulty in maintaining the constant joy that is felt in the emotion of the heart, and therefore the Magen Avraham wrote this ruling so that there should be an empowerment from the matter that when Adar enters we increase in joy, that a Jew should succeed in effecting joy within himself'.

And regarding the joy of the month of Adar the Rebbe wrote: 'When Adar enters we increase in joy' — this joy is not caused by some matter of mitzvah, but rather any joy whatsoever, even joy in optional matters. [Along the lines of the example brought in the Gemara of 'a building of joy' – 'one who builds a wedding house for his son', and 'a planting of joy' – 'one who plants an aborneki (a tree whose shade is pleasant) of kings⁶], for the essential thing is the joy⁷. And that every Jew should add in all matters of joy [and each day there should be a renewal in joy over the day preceding it] both with regard to himself and to others, and first and foremost through adding in the study of Torah, and that there should be an increase in joy also in physical matters, to gladden himself and others and his household members in matters that gladden them by their nature⁸.

In addition to the general ruling and the fortune in litigation, the poskim brought additional rulings for this month from the fact that it was transformed into joy, as follows:

B. The Mordechai⁹ wrote: 'בתוספתא דמגילה פ"ק היוצאין בשיירא והמפרשים בספינה קורין בי"ד וכ"כ בה"ג לא אמרו להקדים אלא לכפרים, ויש מרבותינו שאומרים שאם אין בידם מגילה מוטב שיקדימו ויקראו ממה שלא יקראו כלל וכן נראה בעיני דגרסינן בירושלמי דמגילה פ"ק תניא רבי נתן אומר כל החדש כשר לקריאת מגילה שנאמר והחדש אשר נהפך להם וגו' אמר רבי חלבו ובלבד עד ט"ו הא דתימא כל החדש כשר לקריאת מגילה בשביל הולכי דרכים שאין בידם מגילה..' ("In the Tosefta of Megillah, ch. 1: those who set out in a caravan and those who sail in a ship read on the 14th; and so wrote the Behag — they only spoke of bringing it forward for the villages. And there are among our teachers who say that if they do not have a Megillah in hand, it is better that they bring it forward and read than that they not read at all. And so it appears to me, for we learn in the Yerushalmi of Megillah, ch. 1: it was taught, Rabbi Nasan says, the entire month is fit for the reading of the Megillah, as it says 'and the month which was turned for them' etc.; Rabbi Chelbo said, provided it is until the 15th. This which you say that the entire month is fit for the reading of the Megillah is for travelers who do not have a Megillah in hand..').

And the Beis Yosef¹⁰ wrote: 'And so wrote the Hagahos Asheri¹¹ in the name of the Or Zarua¹² that if one knows that he will not have a Megillah on the 14th, he is obligated to read it before he sets out on the way, even from the beginning of the month: … And it seems to me that this matter from the Yerushalmi, that the entire month is fit for the reading of the Megillah, our Talmud [Bavli] does not hold this view¹³, since it does not cite it; and in any case, in a pressing circumstance where it is altogether impossible in any other manner, the Yerushalmi is worthy to be relied upon. However, anyone who read not in its proper time, if a Megillah became available to him in its proper time, he reads again, as is the law of a villager who brought it forward to the day of gathering, that if he was in the city on the 14th he reads again with them'.

And so it was ruled in the Shulchan Aruch¹⁴: 'One who sails on the sea and one who sets out in a caravan and does not find a Megillah to carry with him, should read it on the 13th or the 12th or the 11th, without a bracha; and if it is impossible to wait until these days, there are those who say that he reads even from the beginning of the month. And the Rema wrote in his gloss: 'And so is the practice; however, if a Megillah later became available to him, he reads it again'.

And the Magen Avraham¹⁵ wrote: 'For a gathering of ten, when it is not in its proper time we require ten'. And the Pri Megadim there wrote: 'And it is to be considered, since he reads without a bracha, he should read with fewer than ten if it is impossible to find ten'.

¹ כט, א ↩

² הגם שאין מזל ישראל, ראה מ"ש בזה רש"י שבת קנו, ב ד"ה אין מזל לישראל. ריטב"א ומהרש"א בחידושים על הגמ' תענית שם. ובשיחה מלילות וש"ק פ' תרומה תשנ"ב ס"ז ואילך ↩

³ וראה שו"ת חתם סופר ח"א או"ח סי' קס שני טעמים לכך, נמוקי או"ח סי' תרצו ↩

⁴ סי' תרפו סק"ה ↩

⁵ במכתב מאדר תשל"א - לקו"ש חי"א ע' 338. ובשיחת ויק"פ תשל"א ↩

⁶ לקו"ד ח"ד ע' 1274 ↩

⁷ לקו"ש חט"ז ע' 345 ↩

⁸ שיחת לילות וש"פ תרומה תשנ"ב ↩

⁹ מגילה רמז תשעד ↩

¹⁰ או"ח סי' תרפח ↩

¹¹ פ"א סי' א ↩

¹² ח"ב שסז עז ע"ג ↩

¹³ עפ"ז תרצו (שו"ת התעוררות תשובה סי' תעג, ובשו"ת אור לציון ח"ד פנ"ג הערה ו) למה לא הביא הרמב"ם דין זה משנכנס אדר, כי אינו לפי הבבלי ↩

¹⁴ סי' תרפח ס"ז ↩

¹⁵ ס"ק יא ↩

[2] (halacha 214)

Question: What other halachic implications does the ruling that 'when Adar enters we increase in joy' have?

Answer: It is known that there are those who have the practice¹ not to hold weddings on the days following the middle of the month².

But even with respect to those who are stringent in this, the Sdei Chemed wrote³: 'And some years ago, in a letter that my friend, an exceptional rabbi near this country, sent me, namely the great Rabbi Mohar"r Shneur Zalman Pinsker⁴, the Av Beis Din of the holy community of Cherson, may his Rock protect him. I saw that he excluded from this category (weddings during the time of the waning of the moon) the month of Adar and the month of Elul, for in both of them there is no concern for this matter of the waning of the moon, and he testified that many times it happens that they marry women on the Adar Kallah and on the Elul Kallah, even during the days of the waning; and he testified thus in the name of the great rabbis in large towns, and the master said that it seems to him the reason that they were lenient in them is because regarding the month of Adar it is said 'and the month which was turned for them from grief to joy and from mourning to a festival', and the entire month is implied, and 'when Adar enters we increase in joy', and 'a Jew who has litigation with etc., when his fortune is sound'.' And in the continuation of his words the Sdei Chemed mentioned it again and wrote: 'And behold, the great rabbi R. Shneur Zalman, may his Rock protect him, the Gaon Av Beis Din of Cherson, wrote to him to testify that he saw an actual case that in the months of Adar and Elul they marry throughout the entire month, and even among the great rabbis he saw that they are not particular about this; and the aforementioned great rabbi gave a reason, that regarding the month of Adar it is said 'and the month which was turned for them from grief to joy' etc.; and the conclusion of his words: hold this principle in your hand, all the practices of groom and bride we learn from the giving of the Torah — thus end the words of the great rabbi Moh' Sh"z, may his Rock protect him. And behold, although the superiority of the months of Adar and Elul regarding weddings during the days of the waning of the moon is not mentioned in the poskim, nevertheless the great rabbi Moh' Sh"z, may his Rock protect him, is trustworthy to us, and his words are words of reason and good sense⁵.

And so it is written in the Sefer HaMinhagim⁶: 'In the month of Adar, and likewise in the month of Elul, the chupah is held on all the days of the month'.

And in conclusion we will note an ancient Jewish minhag stemming from this ruling of the joy in the month of Adar:

The minhag of hanging signs of 'when Adar enters we increase in joy'.

It is written in the Sefer Yalkut Avraham⁷ that in various communities they had the practice at the beginning of the month of Adar to hang in synagogues and in homes a sign on which is written 'when Adar enters we increase in joy'. And there are those who had the practice that this sign is placed in the spot where they leave an unplastered cubit as a remembrance of the destruction, and this matter is founded upon that which the Shaarei Teshuvah wrote, siman 695: 'And the Mor U'Ketziah wrote, it appears to say that one need not be careful to make in the Purim seudah a remembrance of the mourning of Jerusalem'; so too they had the practice to allude that 'in the place of grief, there in that very place and at that very time there shall be joy and gladness for the Jews'.

And it is written in the Shu"t Afarkasta De'Anya⁸: 'And as for what you sought from me, whether I have found a reason for the custom of the world to paste upon the doorways 'when Adar enters we increase in joy'. And if it is in order to recall the ruling, why do they not paste in Elul 'when Elul enters we increase in teshuvah'. Behold, I have neither seen nor heard a reason for this minhag, and in the great books of minhogim that I have, I think it will not be found'; however, that which his honor wrote, why do they not do so in Elul, is no difficulty at all. Firstly, this statement is not found anywhere in Shas⁹. Even though the truth is so, in any case the Maharsha wrote in his Chiddushei Agados at the end of Maseches Megillah that the reason it does not count there the 30 days before Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur is because in truth the time of teshuvah is throughout the entire year, the matter of each day on its day, see there ... whereas 'when Adar enters' etc. is an explicit statement in Shas, Taanis 29, end of side a. But the Rif and Rambam and Shulchan Aruch did not transcribe it in any place, and it is obvious that this is because there is no practical halachic ramification. But there is room at the outset to say that there is a practical ramification regarding weddings during the waning of the moon, that in Adar and Nisan (as is proven from Rashi Taanis there, and examine it well) throughout the entire month there is no concern'.

There are those who wrote¹⁰ that because this halacha of the joy of Adar was not written in the Shulchan Aruch, therefore in order to publicize it they hung these signs as a remembrance.

¹ ראה שו"ע יו"ד סי' קעט ס"ב. רמ"א אבה"ע סי' סד ס"ג ↩

² בעז"ה נכתוב בהמשך לגבי הלכה זו ומנהגה כיום ↩

³ ח"ו ע' א'רנו מערכת חתן וכלה אות כא ד"ה ולפני ↩

⁴ מחסידי הרבי הצ"צ והרבי מהר"ש והספיק להיות מאלו שהפצירו ברבי הרש"ב לקבל על עצמו את הנשיאות ↩

⁵ ראה גם ערוה"ש אבה"ע סי' סד סי"ג ↩

⁶ עמוד 76 ↩

⁷ סי' תרפד דף עד ↩

⁸ ח"ב או"ח סי' לו ↩

⁹ וראה במהרי"ל (מנהגים) הלכות ימים הנוראים 'טעם התקיעה משנכנס אלול, כדאמרינן משנכנס אלול מרבין בתשובה' ↩

¹⁰ עלי תמר עמ"ס מגילה פ"א ה"א בשם הרה"ק רבי זאב מזבארז ↩

From the 'Shoneh Halacha' project - Daily halacha with reasons and sources

Link to the (silent) group: 'Shoneh Halacha - Chabad Minhogim'