The Gemara in masechet (tractate) Ta'anit, Daf (page) Kaf Tet (twenty-nine), very famous Gemara that tells us: “Mishenichnas Adar, Marbim Besimcha.” At the time of Adar, when Adar comes, Marbim Besimcha, we increase the Simcha, the happiness.
Now, I never understood what the Torah means whenever it tells you about feelings. You have to love—okay, press the button, we love. That He should show. It doesn't work like this. You have to be happy. To be happy is a feeling; it's not something the Torah could command you to do, like putting on tefillin (phylacteries). The Torah could command you to do certain things, to make kiddush (sanctification), whatever you want. We could do it. When it's an action, you could do it. But when it's a feeling, how is the Torah commanding you to have a feeling? It's a very difficult thing.
The truth of the matter is that the Shulchan Aruch does not bring it in his book of Halacha (Jewish law), that when Adar comes, one has to increase in Simcha. What exactly does this Mishnah mean when it says that a person has to be Marbim Besimcha, to increase the Simcha? For that, we have to first know what Simcha is: what is happiness? So I think translating Simcha as happiness is actually wrong. There are several words that describe happiness and joy. There's a Malbim who talks a lot about this subject, and he actually points out the difference between Sasson and Simcha. Famously, for the Chatan (groom) Kallah (bride), called Sasson, they call Simcha. What is the difference between Sasson and Simcha? He says that really what we call Simcha is Sasson, which is joy, and when people are very happy, that's Sasson. Simcha is not happiness. Maybe Simcha is serenity, more like Shalva (serenity). And I'll prove it to you.
There are two instances where we talk about Simcha very much. The most common one is Simchat Chatan Kallah (joy of the groom and bride). The great Mitzvah (commandment) is to go and rejoice the Chatan and the Kallah. Why is there such a big Mitzvah to give happiness to the Chatan and the Kallah when it's the happiest day of their life? They don't need you to be happy. Even if you don't come, they'll be happy. So clearly, the Sameach Chatan and Kallah doesn't mean to rejoice the Chatan and Kallah, because they are happy without you. Maybe what it means is to give them confidence—the confidence that their choice is the right one. They had to make a choice at one point: to pick this person over another person. The whole world is open. There are millions of males for millions of females. People could find somebody. How do you know this is the right one? If I took the time and effort to go to your wedding, get dressed, give you a present, and stay with you a couple of hours, that means I am with you in your choice. And that's what the Chatan needs. And that's what the Kallah needs. They need to know that the choice they made was the right one. You will prove that when you go there, because if you're against that wedding, you wouldn't go. So therefore, the Sameach Chatan and Kallah means to give them confidence that what they're doing is good. And when a lot of people do it, it brings them a lot of internal joy, something that will calm them. Confidence—maybe confidence is the word for Simcha.
Another example of Simcha is the Gemara that tells us there's no happiness like getting rid of doubts. When a person is in doubt and doesn't know—for example, in medical fields, waiting for a diagnostic to come back and not knowing—when they get the results, there's a Simcha. And it doesn't say it's only Simcha when it's a positive result. It says Simcha when you get rid of the doubt. The Simcha is not to dance, and it's not to jump. Simcha is to have a Derech, to have a path, to know now what you're doing, to have calm, to have confidence that now you have a plan forward. That's what Simcha is.
Perhaps now we understand better. The Torah is not asking you to be happy. The Torah is asking you to be more confident that there is a Derech. And when Purim is about to come, and Pesach is about to come, as Rashi says—because Purim and Pesach are coming, therefore Mishenichnas Adar—it's more revealed that God shows you that there is a Derech, and He gives you His presence during the months of Adar and Nisan. These are months of Yeshua (salvation). These are months in which Hashem revealed Himself to the world in a pretty open way. And because of that, the Chacham (sage) is just telling you these months are coming, when you're going to be able to almost touch God's presence, to be able to feel God's presence in a deeper way. And that should calm you. And when it calms you, the prediction is that you're going to be Sameach. Sameach again: it's not jumping, it's not smiling, and it's not dancing. Sameach is having this calmness, this Shalva, this confidence that Hashem is there controlling the world more than ever.
We need that. The Klal Yisrael is upside down. The world is upside down. In Israel and outside of Israel, we need that confidence, where Hashem shows physically, almost, that He's running this world and brings Yeshua to Klal Yisrael. And that's really not only our prediction but also our prayer, that the month of Adar has started. Purim will be soon, in about 10 days, and we pray to Hashem, Be'ezrat Hashem (with God's help), His control of the world for the favor of the Klal Yisrael, and that will bring internal Simcha to the entire Klal Yisrael.