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With Torah and Love

Entering Adar with all the feelings

Published about 13 hours ago • 1 min read

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Later this week, we’ll enter the Hebrew month of Adar.

The Talmud teaches us to increase our joy during this month.

מִשֶּׁנִּכְנַס אֲדָר מַרְבִּין בְּשִׂמְחָה
When Adar begins, one increases rejoicing.

This seems unfathomable at this moment. How do we find space for joy right now? Should we even do that? Can't I just feel what I want?

The answer is yes to all of it.

And, I think there are some powerful lessons in our Tradition to help us navigate this tension, especially in ways that honor our feelings and don't push us to feel something inauthentic.

You can and should feel as you do. No one, including me, should tell you how to feel.

At the same time, this season calls for something that can feel misaligned with our reality. This begs us to ask: What do we do about it?

I sought to answer my own question and I've put together some sources and this Torah study video if you're interested in exploring this tension right now, too. Purim itself actually provides us with a key action we can take.

Some lessons I gleaned from this Torah were:

  • The power of a single spark of joy
  • Staying away from the far edges of darkness
  • Recognizing reality is a part of joy
  • Helping others is a joy in itself

To a redemptive Purim,
​Jeremy

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With Torah and Love

Rabbi Jeremy Markiz

Torah, Talmud, self-awareness, and an exploration of becoming our best selves for students of life and Judaism.

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