This is a leap year on our Jewish calendar — thus, we will celebrate not one, but two Hebrew months of Adar (Adar-Aleph and Adar-Bet). The majority of the Adar-Aleph will take place during February and then in March, we will mark the arrival of Adar-Bet, which contains the most joyous of our festivals, Purim.

The reason we have an extra month during a Jewish leap year has to do with the fact that the Jewish calendar depends simultaneously on two somewhat contradictory factors. For the purpose of accounting for the months of our Jewish year, it relies on the lunar cycle, whereas for the purpose of numbering our Jewish years, it turns to the solar cycle. 

Interestingly, the 12 lunar months are several days shorter than the solar year, so we add an additional month (seven times in every 19-year period) in order to guarantee that the Holy Days like Pesach — Chag HaAviv, the quintessential Spring Festival — always remain in their Biblically appointed seasons.

The choice of Adar as the month to be doubled during a Jewish leap year belies the uniquely Judaic predisposition towards always striving to increase our joy — especially our Simchah Shel Mitzvah, the elation that emerges when we engage passionately in the ways of our Sacred Tradition. In fact, our Sages teach that: “MeeShenichnas Adar, Marbim BeSimchah — When Adar arrives, one’s quotient of joy is increased” (Babylonian Talmud, Page 29, Side A).

But what is it, specifically, about Purim that leads us to feel joyous? What secret “ingredient” does this holiday posses that leads the Midrash on the Book of Proverbs (Section 9) to go so far as to suggest that in the Messianic Era all the other festivals are destined to be nullified except for Purim, which is eternal?

To my mind, the greatness of Purim lies in one rather simple verse found in the Scroll of Esther: “The Jews affirmed and accepted upon themselves, upon their descendants, and upon all who join them that they will — without fail and in perpetuity — engage in these two days according to their writing and their time, each and every year” (Megilat Esther, Chapter 9, Verse 27).

Purim is the festival of joy because, unlike most of our other holidays, it self-consciously reminds us that in every generation we need to renew our commitment to Jewish tradition. It is not sufficient to passively observe the Holy Days based on what we have inherited from those who came before us. We must — in our own day and age and each and every year — rededicate ourselves to active involvement and engagement. And when we do this, when we reaffirm and reaccept the beauty, significance and consequence of Torah and God’s presence in our lives, our quotient of joy is profoundly enhanced. By virtue of our own dynamic participation in Jewish living, our lives are ennobled and elevated and we experience a profound sense of bliss, delight and glee.

Ashraynu — How fortunate are we! How blessed are we, especially this year, to have an additional Adar in which to prepare ourselves to experience a truly inspiring and transformative Purim. May our celebrations be filled with boundless joy!