SKG Articles: Adar

The sages in the Gemara have said," Joy is increased in the month of Adar".

There is a heavenly joy available in Adar but we have to claim it for ourselves and then we
have to increase it. We begin by first giving ourselves the permission to be joyful this month. At
the time of the new moon and throughout the entire month of Adar, ask yourself what makes
you truly joyful and listen to what is revealed to you. Then exercise your powerful power of free
will and choose to think the thoughts, to feel the feelings, and to do what supports joy in your
life.

Too many of us have limited our capacity to be happy. It is helpful to remember that there is no
mitzvah (or connection to Light) in being sad or depressed. Quite the contrary, Reb Nachman
tells us, it is a great mitzvah to be joyful all the time. The Shechinah, the Divine Presence is
revealed in the presence of joy.

The joy of Adar is epitomized by the holiday of Purim when we feast, drink, play and wear
costumes. Purim is fun, it is silly, it seems like a child's holiday, there are not restrictions placed
upon us like in many other holidays yet kabbalah says that the holiness of Purim is even
greater than Yom Kippur. How can this be?

The month of Adar is the last month of the year according to Torah and as such it expresses
the culmination of the purpose of creation. God created this physical world as a dwelling place
for the Shechinah, not for suffering, but for joy and unfication. It is in this physical world that the
Holy One unites with the Shechinah.

The joy of this month of Adar comes from embracing the materiality and the physicality of the
world and experiencing its inner divinity. When we can see that the physical and spiritual
dimensions of life are separate and yet they are dancing and always together, we are filled with
joy and laughter.

God is looking for people who will be ambassadors of God's joy in this world, people who will
make unification for God in this world. Reb Shlomo used to say a person is so happy to feel
unified with one person, can you imagine the joy of feeling one with the very person in the
world. This is the taste of the kind of joy we can experience in this month.

This month is all about learning how to grow and heal through joy and laughter. Let's play a
little more this month, lighten up, let the inner child within us come out to play more, letting go of
how we think things should be and letting God to be more flowing in and through our lives.
Remember that God has a sense of humor, God likes fun and so must we if we are to know
God. As we grow spiritually we are in a state of joy more of the time. We see through the veil of
materiality and behold the Shechinah and this is the true foundation for joy.

Please feel free to share this message with my love and blessings to others inviting them to
also increase joy in their lives and in the lives of others this month. It is joy that will heal the
world. Joy creates a high enough vibration that the Shechinah can be revealed and this brings
peace and love instantly.

Love and blessings, Mindy Ribner of Beit Meriam

Books by Melinda Ribner can be found in our online store.
Kabbalah Month by Month also offers additional teachings, stories, and meditations about the energy of this
month.
New Age Judaism offers teachings about the intersection of New Age and Kabbalah, and most relevantly
about the paradigm shift that occurred after the Temple was destroyed and now once again we are undergoing
another paradigm shift after the Holocaust.
Everday Kabbalah offers numerous meditations, and teaching for healing.