Days of Joy

art by Laya Crust

Parsha- Terumah (Exodus 25:1 – 27:19)

Haftarah-  Kings I,  5:26-6:13

This year the month of Adar began on the evening of February 9, 2016. And, we don’t have one Adar, but 2 months of Adar. Yes- it’s a Jewish leap year, a year when we add another month so that our lunar calendar lines up, more or less, with the solar calendar. It’s an interesting topic and you can read about it at  Months of the Jewish Year – My Jewish Learning  or for a more mind boggling explanation you can go to Leap years , an article from wikipedia.

Terumah might just be a perfect reading for the beginning of Adar. The parsha deals with the instructions Gd gives for building a holy sanctuary. The haftarah parallels this with a description of the work King Solomon instituted for building the Beit haMikdash, the Temple in Jerusalem.

At the beginning of the parsha Gd says, “Tell the Israelite people to bring Me contributions; you shall accept contributions for Me from every person whose heart so moves him.”  (25:2) The gifts Gd is referring to are precious building materials for the sanctuary .

The wording is precise, “אשר ידבנו ולבּו”.  “Those with a willing heart” are invited to contribute to the building of this important sanctuary.  The building materials are given with generosity and joy. Resentment won’t taint the sanctuary of prayer and guidance. The idea of giving with generosity and joy rather than giving through coercion or compulsion (like many taxes and levies) fits nicely with the joy of Adar.

Adar is called the month of joy, and so having 2 Adars means we get to celebrate 60 days of joy. What could be better? My friend Esther Gur gave a talk in which she discussed the meaning of “simcha” (joy or happiness) in the month of Adar. My interpretation of what she said is that joy or happiness is not the simplicity of laughing at jokes. It’s not the fleeting pleasure of drinking a good glass of wine; or buying a new book, piece of clothing or electronic device.  “Simcha” is related to fulfillment. When we create something beautiful or do something good- doing it from a place of generosity not from a feeling of duty- we feel “simcha” or heartfelt joy.

In these two months of Adar I hope you give yourself the opportunity to do things you really love and give you great satisfaction. Enjoy and HAPPY ADAR!

Have a Shabbat Shalom

Laya

P.S. The painting at the top is based on a ketubah from 1853 Istanbul, Turkey. It shows boats floating on the Bosphorous River. I f you want to enlarge the image at the top or the ketubah below you can click on them.