Hodesh Tov.
As we know, the Gemara in Masechet Megillah tells us
מי שנכנס אדר מרבים בשמחה
When the month of Adar enters, one should increase his happiness.
Why? What exactly is the connection between Adar and happiness? We all know that on Purim, we are happy. And now, we’re obviously getting ready for Purim; but what is the happiness of Purim? Why is Purim specifically the holiday of happiness? All holidays are happy. What singles out Purim for adding Simcha?
Yes, Haman made a decree against the Jewish people and the decree was rescinded, but there were other times where decrees against us were rescinded. And finally, how specifically is the word “simcha” related to Purim?
I once heard an explanation, based on a line given by the Rishonim, who said:
אין שמחה כהתרת הספיקות
There is no greater happiness that the undoing of doubts.
When people are in doubt, there can be no happiness; their minds are all jammed up, as they say. For example, think of how a person feels when they are waiting for an acceptance letter, or when they’re waiting for an answer in a shidduch.
Think of how a girl would feel if she went out on a fourth date, and then didn’t heard back from the shadchan the whole next day. Imagine if the whole day went by, and she never got an answer. The girl would not be able to sleep that night. She’d be a mess. But, when the next day comes, and the shadchan calls back and the answer is “No,” she can sleep fine. Why? What happened? Why was she able to sleep with the “no” but not with the doubt?
Because we can’t live with doubt. It’s anxiety. It’s hard to live with doubt. We like things to be clear. We’d rather get a bad answer than no answer at all.
“Just tell me already,” we think.
A similar feeling occurred with a man going through a financial problem. He couldn’t sleep for weeks, because of the lack of clarity in the situation. Ultimately, it didn’t work out the way he wanted, but he slept well.
That’s the way it is. We don’t want to be in ספק safek/ doubt.
As we know, Haman descended from Amalek. We soon read about it in Parashat Zachor.
Interestingly, Amalek- עמלק is numerically equivalent to ספק Safek/Doubt!
Amalek introduces doubt/safek
How so?
The first time Amalek shows up in the Torah, the Jewish people say,
היש ה׳ בקרבינו אם אין
Is Hashem with us or is He not?
They had doubts.
And once they had doubts, Amalek stepped in.
Amalek thrives and grows on doubt.
It’s like a strep culture growing in a Petri dish. Everything needs a place to grow, and Amalek grows in doubt. When we’re in doubt, all the problems come. Amalek loves doubt.
And this was the whole story of Purim. G-d covered Himself. We didn’t know what was going on ... Esther, Haman, Mordechai,
We were living in doubt for nine years. And didn’t know the good guys from the bad guys. Then, the story ended and we saw that it was Yad Hashem (the hand of G-d) throughout. We saw that G-d was running the whole show for nine years without His name being mentioned. We suddenly had clarity, and that brought us simcha.
Not long ago, we lost a very special young lady, Sharon Ishay A”h.
When I walked into the mourner’s home to pay respects, her father, Rabbi Raymond Falack, may he live and be well, told me, “We’re in pain, but we’re not confused. We know exactly what is going on. We know where our daughter is, and how she is being taken care of.” He said many other things worth discussing, but because it’s Rosh Chodesh, we won’t elaborate today. For now, let’s focus on “We are in pain, but we aren’t confused.” This powerful line is the message of Adar.
That’s the power of
מי שנכנס אדר מרבים בשמחה
When Adar enters one should increase his happiness.
May He, his family and the entire Klal Yisrael only have simcha from here on. Hodesh Tov.