בס”ד 18 April 2024 - י׳ בניסן ה׳תשפ״ד‎

The month of Adar

Name of the month: ADAR
Other names of the month:
Mazal of the month: DOGIM (FISH)
Tribe of the month (according to the Arizal): NAFTOLI
Tribe of the month (according to the Zohar): BINYOMIN

question markQuestions on the month of Adar:

  1. What lies behind the name of “Adar”?
  2. What is the nature of this month?
  3. What are the special names of the Shabbosois associated with the month of Adar?
  4. When the month of Adar enters we are extra happy. Why?
  5. The six winter months parallel the six summer months. What is the parallel of the month of Adar and how is this significant?
  6. Some months either have a full 30 days or 29 days. What happens by the month of Adar?
  7. There are twelve months and twelve shevotim. What tribe parallels the month of Adar?

Questions on Adar Sheni:

  1. During a leap year when there are two months, which is the main one?
  2. What is the difference between the two months of Adar?
  3. In a leap year, what tribe does the thirteenth month parallel (especially since there are only twelve shevotim)?
  4. There are twelve mazolos that parallel the twelve months. What happens in a leap year with the thirtienth month – does it has a mazal or not?
  5. Why is there a need for a leap year?
  6. How often does a leap year happen?
  7. How many days in each month of Adar?
  8. In a leap year, the idea of extra rejoicing, does that only apply to the second one or even the first Adar?
  9. When did the actual miracle of Purim happen – in the first or second Adar?
  10. When did Moshe die – the 7th of the first or second Adar?

The nature of Adar

The month of Adar is the last month of the year when counting from the month of Nissan. It is the only month that can be doubled over in a leap year, known as Adar Sheini – the thirteenth month.  The mazal, astrological sign, for Adar is Dogim, Fish. The tribe that this month parallels is Binyomin, according to the order of birth, or Naftoli, according to the Degolim, camps.

The nature of this month is one of rejoicing to the extent that we are told to increase happiness from the start of the month (in contrast to the month of Av that we decrease enjoyment from the start of the month). The jubilation is from our escape from death to life as seen through the miracle of Purim.  The height of this joy is translated into elation through intoxication when done in the right way.  It is also celebrated with the dressing up and doing actions that increase and strengthen unity amongst Jews. It is also a time for preparation for Pesach, in the next month of Nissan.

The special Shabbosois of Adar

Revolving around the month of Adar comes the “Daled Parshious”. These are four weeks when on Shabbos, besides for the weekly parsha, a second sefer Torah is taken out to read a special Torah Portion. The first week is usually the Shabbos before Rosh Chodesh Adar and is known as Parshas Shekolim. The Shabbos before Purim is known as Parshas Zochor. After this is Parshas Poro and the week before Rosh Chodesh Nissan is Parshas HaChodesh. We see from here that not only is there the usual unique nature of each month but the month of Adar also acts as a preparation for the month of Nissan.

The reversal in Adar

The Zohar tells us that the twelve months of the year where to be split between Yakov (representing the Jews) and Esav (representing the other nations of the world). They were to each have three months in the summer and three months in the winter. The summer months of Nissan–Iyar–Sivan to Yakov while the months of Tammuz–Av–Elul to Esav. In the winter months, Tishrei–Cheshvan–Kislev to Yakov while Teves–Shevat–Adar went to Esav. However, Yakov won over the month of Elul and this is why the nature of this month is dedicated to teshuva, symbolised by the switch from Esav and sinning to Yakov and doing good. In a similar way the whole month of Adar, the parallel sixth month in the winter, also has this switch over seen in Purim, the reversal from bad to good.

Adar as the last month

Nissan is called the first month, named after being a month of miracles. Adar being the twelfth month, is the furthest away from it and symbolises the closest to nature – the covering over of miracles. The last month always has 29 days. In a leap year this is the second month of Adar.

Adar and the tribe of Binyomin

The tribe that parallels Adar according to the Zohar is Binyomin. This is reflected in the heroes of the Purim story. Ester descended from Shaul HaMelech who came from the tribe of Binyomin (Gemora Megilla 13b). Mordechai also came from the tribe of Binyomin (See Gemora 12b). The Midrash brings that when Yakov met Esav, he and his sons bowed down to him. However, the only son who didn’t was Binyomin who had not yet been born. This is why his descendent Mordechai was able to defeat Esav’s descendent, Homon.

Adar and the tribe of Naftoli

According to the Arizal, the tribe of Naftoli parallels Adar. This is seen in the name of Naftoli. Rashi (Bereishis, 30:8) associates the name of Naftoli with tefilla. The Gemora Megilla 12b connects all the names together with Mordechai to tefilla. It was through the power of tefilla that the Jews davened to Hashem and fasted that resulted in the great miracle.

Adar Sheni

The leap year has the addition of a month that is also called Adar. The reason for the need for a leap year is because the Torah says to ensure that the festival of Pesach takes place always in the month of Aviv, Nissan. Since the Jews go by the lunar year of 354 days and the solar year has 365 days, ever so often an additional month is needed to reconcile the two. The leap month occurs 7 times in a 19-year cycle.

The Gemora (Rosh Hashana 19b) brings three opinions of the number of days in the two months of Adar. The way our calendar is fixed is that there are 30 days in the first one and 29 days in the second one. There are different opinions about the mazal for the leap month. Some say the first Adar shares the mazal of the previous month of Shevat, the Deli (bucket) while the leap year has the mazal of the dogim (fish) (Levush 685:1). The Chizkuni (end of Parshas Beshalach) (and the Bnei Yisoschor) hold that the first one has the mazal of dogim while the extra month has no mazal at all! The Yaras Devash (2 Derush 2) brings that the mazal dogim apply to both of these months.

There are different opinions as to when exactly the Purim story happened. The Yerushalmi (Megilla 1:5) brings that it happened in the second Adar. The Chasam Sofer says that the decree was for the first Adar but in the end they Sages decided it should not be a leap year. Another opinion is that the decree was for a normal year but Mordechai pushed it off to land in the second Adar. Others says that it happened in the first Adar.