OU TORAH YU TORAH and NAALEH.COM Enhancing Exuberance By Shira Smiles

Adapted by Channie Koplowitz Stein “Mishenichnas Adar marbin b’simcha/From the arrival of the month on Adar we increase joy.” This well known Chazal seems to be the linchpin for all the Purim festivities. But, as Rabbi Rothberg notes in Moda Labinah.[quoting Rashi] the motto talks not about the one day of Purim, but rather about a continuous process that begins on Rosh Chodesh Adar and goes through Pesach, from the hidden miracles of Purim through the overt miracles of Pesach. What is the essence of this joy, and how can we keep it going?