Adar is the twelfth, last month in the Hebrew calendar. It is immediately followed by Nisan, which is “the beginning of months” (Exodus 12:2).
In Jewish tradition, there is a saying “when the month of Adar arrives, we increase in joy” to welcome a season of miracles. The Hebrew name “Adar” is related to the word “adir,” which denotes strength and power. Adar was the last month the Jewish people spent in slavery in Egypt before the Exodus. Adar’s joy is so great, in part, because it serves as the opening to an even greater rejoicing: the miracles of Passover. However, it starts on a completely different note.
The dominant feature is the holiday of Purim, which is celebrated on the 14th Adar. The story is found in the scroll of Esther. The plot is set in the Persian empire in the 5th century BC. Haman, a descendant of the Amalekites, the advisor to king Ahasuerus, had planned to kill all the Jews in Persia. But his plans were foiled by a Jew Mordecai and his cousin Esther, who had become the Queen of Persia. The reason of the feasting and gladness is the sudden change of fortune: the enemies of the Jews had hoped to overpower them but the opposite occurred. The threat of annihilation of the Jews in Persia turned miraculously into deliverance. Literally everything turned upside down, into the opposite. From massacre to deliverance, from defeat to victory, from sorrow to joy, and from mourning to a holiday. That great deliverance is the source of joyful celebration.
One quite conspicuous fact is that Esther is the only book in the whole Bible where the name of God does not appear at all. As if God hid His face from His people. They cry out to Him, but nothing happens. Jewish commentaries even use a play on words: the name Esther, which itself is of Babylonian origin, sounds like the Hebrew word “histir”, which means “to hide”. We can find it for instance in Deuteronomy 31:17-18 in the context of a punishment meted out by God to His rebellious people. Jews have indeed suffered terribly in the course of history. However, the point is that this is not the end. God will have compassion on them again. It is beautifully expressed in the very same song of Moses, which concludes with these words (Dt 32:43):
Rejoice, O Gentiles, with His people; for He will avenge the blood of His servants and render vengeance to His adversaries; He will provide atonement for His land and His people.
God is in control even when people do not see it, do not recognize it: God’s hand is still protecting them. Even if we feel that things did not work out as we expected, we think that God did not hear our prayers, that He abandoned us – the Bible teaches us that it is not as it seems.
The lesson of Purim is that even though God’s hand may at times not be visible in history, He is at work, to deliver and to confirm His word. And this is the lesson of the month of Adar.
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