A message from Rabbi Sara Abrams
On Friday, we began the month of Adar, a month in which winter goes out, and spring comes in. The rabbis say, “One who enters Adar, multiplies his/her joy.” Adar is the month in which we celebrate Purim and it is also the month that precedes Nissan, the month of Passover.
Adar, this month of joy, asks us to embrace the opposites within ourselves, death and life, winter and spring. It is where, in the book of Esther, good meets evil, and the few triumph over the many. It is when the underdog tops the overdog, where the gentle intelligence and beauty of a woman stands up to the sinister functionings in the king’s court. It is a place where the end meets the beginning. Opposites reconnect, cycles come full circle as we get ready to begin again in the first Jewish new year – the first of Nissan. We get to ask ourselves what are our wishes for spring? How will we come out of the cocoon of winter into the blossom of April? What can we do to get ready for a new season in a new time? Tradition asks us to examine the opposites through joy, whether that means personally meditating, walking, listening to music and dancing, playing with children and dogs, we are commanded to have fun!
Well here at TBT we are getting together on March 13 to celebrate the holiday with a shpiel, appetizers, games, hamantaschen and gathering. Space is limited so please sign up as soon as possible and help us to laugh, eat, drink, and be merry during this upside down holiday! I look forward to seeing you soon and wish you many blessings in this month of joy!
B’virkat Shalom,
Rabbi Sara