🌙 Rosh Chodesh Adar: When Joy Becomes a Practice
- Sashya Clark
- Feb 17
- 2 min read
Rosh Chodesh Adar arrives like a whisper in the dark.
The moon is hidden, the sky is quiet, and yet our tradition teaches something bold and almost rebellious: “When Adar begins, joy increases.” Not when everything is perfect. Not when the moon is full. Not when certainty returns.
When Adar begins.
Joy Is Not a Mood — It’s Mussar
In the world of Mussar, joy (simcha) is not a personality trait and not a passing emotion. It is an avodah — a spiritual practice.
Just as we practice patience or humility, we practice joy.
That might sound counterintuitive. How do you practice something that feels spontaneous?
By choosing it.
Mussar teaches that joy expands our capacity for faith. It softens constriction. It loosens the grip of fear. In Adar — the month that carries the story of Purim — we remember that hiddenness does not mean absence. The Divine can be concealed, and yet everything can still turn toward redemption.
Joy, then, becomes an act of trust.
The New Moon & The Hidden Seed
Rosh Chodesh always meets us in darkness. The moon disappears before it re-emerges.
And Adar often arrives while winter still lingers. The trees look bare. The ground feels frozen. Nothing seems to be happening.
But beneath the soil, something is stirring.
Nature teaches us that joy is not dependent on visible bloom. The sap is already rising long before the buds appear. The seed does not wait to feel sunny to begin its quiet work underground.
Adar invites us to align with that rhythm.
Even before circumstances shift.Even before the miracle reveals itself.Even before we feel “ready.”
Joy increases.
Gratitude: The Root System of Joy
If joy feels out of reach, perhaps we begin one layer down.
Gratitude is the root system.
You cannot force a flower to open — but you can water the soil. When we name what is steady, what is present, what is already sustaining us, we create the conditions for joy to grow.
Gratitude grounds us in what is, instead of what is missing.And from that grounded place, joy can rise naturally — like sap in the tree.
Perhaps that is why Adar comes before spring. It trains our spiritual muscles. It teaches us to notice hidden goodness before the blossoms are obvious.
A Simple Adar Practice
This Rosh Chodesh Adar, try this:
Step outside, even for five minutes.
Notice one sign that the season is shifting — subtle is fine.
Name three things you are grateful for.
Then whisper (or declare boldly):“When Adar begins, joy increases.”
Not because everything is resolved.
But because you are choosing to live as if redemption is already underway.
Chodesh tov. May your joy grow quietly, steadily — like a seed preparing to bloom. 🌱 🌿 Join our Virtual Beit Midrash
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