Seeing hidden miracles and joy during the month of Adar
Dr. Wayne Dyer said, “Don’t die with your music still in you.”
By DEVORAH KURESTHER’S TRANSFORMATION begins when she steps up to her role as queen. (Pictured: Queen Mary’s Crown, (photo credit: Wikimedia Commons)
The Jewish month of Adar is when we celebrate the Purim story that took place between the years 366-357 BCE. The entire story occurred over a nine year period with the culmination of the Jews being saved in the month of Adar. There are two themes connected to the month of Adar: 1) the ability to see and experience hidden miracles in our lives, and 2) to be happy and increase our joy.Looking from the end of the story when the Jews were saved, we read about all the amazing “coincidences” that led to them escaping annihilation. From this perspective, we see that these cumulative events are not occurrences that happened by chance, they are essentially hidden miracles taking place one after the other. God’s name isn’t actually written in Megillat Esther at all, but by the end of the story we can see how everything was precisely orchestrated by God from behind the scenes. It is not by chance that the name “Megillat Esther” means “revealing the hidden.” This Adar monthly energy of seeing hidden miracles offers us an ability to look at the drama, challenges or chaos taking place in our own lives and find the hidden miracles. We might think that God is hidden from our lives, but the Purim story comes to show us that He is there, behind the scenes, and always has been.Another aspect of “revealing the hidden” can be seen on a personal level. What is hidden in you that needs to be revealed? Dr. Wayne Dyer said, “Don’t die with your music still in you.” We have all come here with a unique gift to offer the world, and if we keep it hidden within us, then the world misses out on that gift, and we might lose out on fulfilling our purpose.In Chapter 4 of Megillat Esther, we see a transformation taking place in Esther. Up until this point, she has been very passive, living her life quietly behind the scenes in the palace, showing up only when she is called upon. The situation for Jews is becoming increasingly dire as Haman’s intention to destroy them grows into reality. Esther is fearful about approaching King Achashverosh to petition for the Jews when Mordechai says to her, “For if you remain silent at this time, relief and rescue will arise for the Jews from elsewhere, and you and your father’s household will perish.” (Esther 4:14). This statement shifts something inside Esther and she steps up to her role as queen and is transformed. It is an exquisite logotherapy moment where she sees a greater picture than just her life, and connects to the meaning and purpose of her role as queen, and the opportunities that this role can give her.From this point on we see Esther as an active leader who is prepared to sacrifice her life for the Jewish people. She says in Esther 4:16, “I will go to the king contrary to the law, and if I perish, I perish.” She had this greatness inside her all along but it just lay dormant. It was the challenge of the moment that enabled her to reveal of what she was really made, and to this day, we are still reading about her. So I wonder what our challenges can reveal about us, and how the month of Adar can inspire us to offer our ‘music’ to the world.THE SECOND THEME for the month of Adar is joy. The Talmud (Ta’anit 29) says, “When Adar enters, increase in joy.” Rabbi Simon Jacobson from The Meaningful Life Center discusses the placement of this statement. It is not included in the tractate of Megillah, rather it is found in the section about fast days discussing Tisha Be’av, which happens during our saddest month of the year, Av, when our Temples were destroyed. About Av, it says “When the month of Av enters, decrease in joy.”It is interesting to note that for the “happy” month of Adar we are told to increase our joy, and for the “sad” month of Av, we are told to decrease our joy. We can surmise from this that the normal way to live is from a space of joy.This idea resonates with me so strongly. Imagine what our lives could look like if our baseline of how we live is from a place of joy? Megillat Esther 9:22 says, “The month of Adar… was transformed for them from sorrow to joy.” This month is offering us an opportunity to shift from a “sorrow” mind-set to a “joy” mind-set. This energy is in the air. We see that the joy that they are experiencing is the joy of their bitter circumstances turned to sweet. So, how do we do this?When the month of Adar begins, we are told, Mi she’nichnas Adar marbim b’simcha (When you enter the month of Adar, increase your joy). If you rearrange the letters of the Hebrew word for joy (b’simcha), it hints to the process of how to achieve this happiness. Rearranged, these letters spell machshava (thoughts). Our thoughts determine our happiness.Happiness doesn’t come from something external, happiness is something that comes from within, it comes from our thoughts. It is not something that we achieve, it is an internal state of being, a way that we can choose to show up in this world. We all know people who seem to have the best of everything yet are miserable even in good times, and others who seem to get knocked down at every moment yet are happy in hard times. Why is this? It’s not about what they are experiencing that is causing them to be happy or sad, it is about their internal attitude to what is going on in their lives. There is a quote by James Allen that I find powerful, “Circumstances don’t make a man, they reveal him.”Every moment in our lives we make choices. The choices we make are not connected to the circumstances themselves, they are connected to the attitude with which we live our lives. If we live our lives from a core place of happiness, then this is how we will respond to life situations whether they are good or bad. This is our choice. We can’t decide what happens to us in life; we are in control only over our responses.The Torah states many times that we should choose life. But the choice is actually up to us what kind of life we are going to choose. What are we going to do with the circumstances that are given to us and how are we going to live that life?The important thing to understand is that we need to be active participants in our own lives. Life isn’t something that happens to us, life is a journey that we get to truly experience. Let us connect to the energy of the month of Adar, to finding the hidden miracles in our own lives and to look for the opportunities for growth that challenge brings. When we do this, and resonate from a place of joy as our baseline, then – just like Esther – we will be able to leave our mark on the world around us. It is Adar, time to be happy and to celebrate life.The writer runs an integrative wellness clinic offering reflexology, mental imagery for healing, logotherapy and bereavement counseling. She is an international motivational speaker, lecturing on meaning and personal growth. www.dkwellness.co.il, devorah@dkwellness.co.il
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