Monday, February 26, 2007

Born again in Adar Sheni


In R' Nachum Chernobyler's Torah on Parshas Terumah in Meor Einayim, he says the following:

Why does it say in the gemara, "mishenichnas Adar, marbim b'simcha?" Since Purim isn't till either the 14th or 15th, why don't we start rejoicing then?

He says that Adar rishon and Adar sheni allude to every person's first ibur (gestation) and second ibur, as well as a person's first gadlus (maturity) and second gadlus.

Adar, he says, is a contraction of the words, "Aleph Dar." The "Aleph," or the "Alufo Shel Olam (Master of the world)" dar (resides). This means that Adar stands for the conciousness that the Master of the world resides in the world and in my life.

So the Adar rishon stands for the first gestation (the one in the womb). That is followed by the gadlus rishon, i.e. a person's coming of age, Bar mitzvah. Until a person is 13 years old, he's considered, "b'katnus," a minor, and not in his period of "gadlus." Until one is 13 years old he doesn't truly have Daas, even if he is a big genius. This can be seen from the fact that no matter how big of an ilui he may be, he lacks Daas (conciousness that Hashem is present in the world) to the extent that if he is mekadesh an isha, "ain chosheshin l'kedushav."

But even after one is 13 and reaches his gadlus rishon, that is till followed by an ibur sheni, a second period of development and katnus. This means that even after one has attainted a certain level of G-d conciousness in his gadlus rishon, he still falls to a lower level and loses his Daas, his conciousness of Hashem in everything about the world. This time is called his ibur (gestation) sheni. During this time, he still longs to re-attain a level of gadlus, of Daas, a gadlus sheni.

And the ibur shana (leap year) adds an extra month davka in Adar to teach a person that even though he's fallen, and lacks the spiritual feeling, don't get discouraged! There will be a second Adar, (Adar meaning the conciousness that the Aleph [Alufo shel olam] dar [resides]) and Hashem will reside with you again, and you will reach that state of spiritual gadlus again. This is the meaning of Adar sheni, and chizuk that the month of Adar gives us starting from the beginning of the month. That is why we rejoice at the beginning of the month of Adar, and don't wait for Purim.

-Dixie Yid

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