From the Rabbi
Posted by webmaster on February 3rd, 2008
It’s Adar. But where’s Purim?
I know you immediately asked the question once you saw that Rosh Chodesh
Adar occurs on February 7, and Purim is the 14th of Adar.
This year is a leap year in both the Gregorian and the
Jewish calendars. In our case, we add one month in seven
years of a 19-year cycle in order to keep the lunar year (354
days) in sync with a solar year (365-1/4 days). When this
occurs, Purim is in Adar II.
But the real question is why all the fuss over the calendar?
Once again, I harken back to my comments to you this
past Yom Kippur. We live in the realm of the holy – the kadosh.
Holiness extends to person, to time, and to space.
We sanctify time through each sacred occasion, through
each step in the life cycle, and even through each step in our process of mourning.
We sanctify space through making our homes a mikdash m’at – a small sanctuary.
We combine the holiness of time and space through participation in communal
prayer in a sacred space, the synagogue.
The notions of sacred time and sacred space also combine to force us to
realize that we are not always in total control of our time, space, and circumstances.
Purim, just as an example, represents yet another unsuccessful attempt
against our lives. The observance, then, of Purim, is the most ancient way that
potential victims lorded over their failed oppressors – they mocked them.
So just hold your Purim joy back for a month. We’ll read the Megillah on
Thursday evening, March 20.
– Rabbi Ned J. Soltz
