For the Jewish people, the people of Israel, and people of conscience the world over, the past few weeks have been harrowing.
It thunders and sunders our hearts when the remains of a mother and her two children — Shiri Bibas and her sons Ariel and Kfir — were finally released by Hamas from Gaza, in locked coffins with mocking “arrest” papers, and an intentional, aggrieving initial swap of Shiri’s remains. Along with receiving other murdered hostages’ bodies and seeing those still captive looking emaciated and forced to watch Hamas’ show and plead for their lives, our minds, hearts, and souls go to very dark places.
The antidote to such legitimate righteous anger, which has the potential to poison our hearts and minds and compromise our values, is to shine light in our dark spaces. As Yarden Bibas said at the funeral for his wife and children: “Shiri, please watch over me…. Protect me from bad decisions. Shield me from harmful things and protect me from myself. Guard me so I don’t sink into darkness.”
Guard me so I don’t sink into darkness. Chilling. Heartbreaking.
Recently we celebrated Rosh Chodesh Adar, and sang Hallel again on Shabbat Rosh Chodesh. The Talmud teaches: “When Adar comes, joy is increased” (Taanit 29a). This Talmudic statement itself finds its expression in a context of moving from sorrow to joy. The Mishnah (Taanit 26b) first teaches: “When Av comes, joy is diminished.” Rav Yehudah, quoting his teachers, responds in the Gemara (29a) that just as there are times when we need to sublimate our joy, there must be times when we bring out and make abundant our dormant joy.
Adar is the last month of the Jewish calendar. It is the month of final chances. Our tradition challenges us to find joy in our lives and in our world — “If not now, when?” for the year is about to come to an end. At the end of the year, we must actively participate in redeeming ourselves, radiating light, and discovering our joy. It is for this reason that the theme of Adar is “VeNahafoch Hu: Turnabout.” We must turn ourselves inside out, we must turn our lives and world over and over to find its joy, we must pray for a reversal of fortune. While the name of the Hebrew month of Adar originally comes from the Assyro-Babylonian month Addaru, traditionally Adar is taken as cognate to the Hebrew adir, meaning “strength.” It takes strength to find joy.
May Hashem bless the people of Israel and the Jewish people with strength to embrace light and life.
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