The month of Adar brings with it the winds of joy, as the sages say, "When Adar enters, joy abounds." But how do we rejoice in a painful reality, when we are engaged in a difficult struggle and when there are dear brothers and sisters who have been held in hell for more than five hundred days?
Perhaps we should first clarify what joy actually is. Not everything that people call 'joy' is really joy. Light-headedness and 'taking life easy’ are not joy. Nor are foolishness, tension, pranks at the expense of others, or just plain falling apart. All of these bring a smile to the face for a moment, but they do not fill the heart with true joy.
An elusive feature
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Hasidism distinguishes between joy and revelry. Joy is a noble, pure, holy, and exalted emotion, while revelry is the release of a burden and the giving of free rein to the passions. It is not always easy to distinguish between the two, and then instead of positive joy, one may slip into empty revelry.
Think about the feeling that fills us with the birth of a child or grandchild; the marriage of a son or daughter; the inauguration of a new home; the winning of a coveted job. It is a feeling of inner happiness, of expansion of the soul.
In contrast, revelry has no real content behind it. You can revel all night, without any real joy. It's basically a kind of escape. People feel an emptiness, and try to cover it up by drinking alcohol and going wild. Sometimes this 'joy' ends in a detention cell.
Joy is a rather elusive quality. A person may be rich, able to buy everything they want, and yet have no joy in their heart. On the other hand, there are those who lack everything and are always full of joy and cheerfulness. How does one acquire this wonderful gift?
Happiness is not a derivative of what is and what is not. It stems from the approach to life, from the perspective, from the way of relating. The happy person sees the positive side in everything. He always finds the bright spots, and reduces the weight of the less good things. This way he can always be happy, because he gives excess weight to the good and the positive.
And what should someone who is born a pessimist do? Indeed, innate character certainly influences a person's ability to feel joy, but it is not just a matter of character. It is mainly a matter of upbringing, worldview, and approach to life.
The question of whether you will be a happy person is in your hands. If you want to, you will be happy; if you don't want to, joy will be far from you. By your behavior and approach to life, you determine whether you will be a happy person or not.
Joy from faith
Joy is based first and foremost on faith. If you believe that God runs the world, it is clear to you that everything He does is for the good. This faith also fulfills itself, according to the Hasidic proverb: "Think well - it will be good." Even when reality is difficult and painful, we know and are confident that good will come from it for the people of Israel.
The month of Adar opens the gates of joy to us. Let us fill our hearts with true joy, out of firm confidence in the Creator of the world, and with His help we will merit that the reality we live in will also become a joyful and joyful reality, until true and complete redemption.
