This week began the month of Adar Sheni, the month in which Purim falls. The Talmud tells us, “When Adar begins, we increase joy.”  But why specifically in this month? If it is because the happy holiday of Purim falls in this month, what about the month of Tishrei when Sukkot falls? After all, Sukkot is referred to in our liturgy as the “day of our joy.”   

There is a difference between the simcha, the joy, of Sukkot and of Purim. Sukkot is a biblical festival, a joyous time due to the harvest and because of  our gratitude to God for what the holiday commemorates, God’s protection in the desert. But Purim is not just about joy; we read the megillah and it in fact begins with trepidation, though in the end, the Jewish people are saved and there is great joy. But as the megillah states, it is a joy which emerges from its opposite, “me’evel l’yom tov,” from mourning to joy.   

The watchword of Purim is v’nahafochhu – “and it was turned around.”   The Joy of Purim is not just the joy of a holiday as is Sukkot, but the joy of transformation, of sadness and destruction turning to joy. It is this kind of joy, says Rabbi Eliezer Melamed, that is, for some reason, the epitome of joy.   

Why is joy, which is a result of v’nahafochhu, more profoundly joyous than the joy of a biblical festival?  

Perhaps, because it is a joy in which we participate, a joy which can be integrated into every day of our lives.   A festival comes at a specific time, but transforming sadness into joy, Purim’s bringing of salvation from devastation, is what we are engaged in throughout history as Jews.  

Joy which is inherent in the cycle of time and harvest, like the festivals of Sukkot and Passover, are less personal. They exist outside of us and we must bring ourselves to them, we must cultivate festival joy with good food and wine. But Purim is not about cultivating joy, instead the overwhelming joy of personal salvation bursts forth. This joy is not only something we brought about in the time of Queen Esther, but which we can perpetuate in our own time, bringing salvation, speedily in our days.