I
From when Adar enters, we increase joy (Ta'anis 29a). Is this true for the first Adar in a leap year as well? The Mishna (Megillah 6b) states that there is no difference between the first and second Adar except reading the Megillah and gifts for the poor. This implies that the increased joy applies to both Adars. Furthermore, R' Levi Yitzchak of Berdichev (Kedushas Levi, Parshas Ki Sisa, s.v. ta'am) writes that it is known that the twelve months correspond to the twelve tribes (see Tur, Orach Chaim 417). The mazal of Adar is dagim, fish (Esther Rabba 7:11), which corresponds to Yosef who is compared to fish that the evil eye does not harm. Rashi (Bereishis 49:22), cites the Gemara (Berachos 20a) that the evil eye does not affect Yosef or his descendants. When Yaakov blessed Menashe and Efrayim he said (48:16), "may they reproduce abundantly like fish", over which the evil eye has no effect, presumably because they are hidden underwater. [See Kedushas Levi, Tetzave, s.v. oh.] The Kedushas Levi concludes: Yosef fathered two tribes, Menashe and Efrayim, and therefore, there are two Adars [perhaps this is why the mazal is dagim, plural, not dag, singular like the mazalos all the other months] both of which have the mazal of dagim and increased joy (Nitei Gavriel, Purim 11:1, fn 2). The Chosam Sofer (Orach Chaim 163) agrees that the first Adar has increased joy as well.
He cites Rashi (Ta'anis 29a) on, "when Adar enters" who says, "Purim and Pesach were days of miracles for Yisrael." Rav Yaakov Emden (She'elas Yaavetz II:88) asks, why does Rashi include Pesach? It must be to teach us that increased joy applies only to the Adar that is close to Pesach, namely Adar II in a leap year.
Indeed, in determining which Adar the Megillah should be read in, the Gemara (Megillah 6b) rules that it is read in the Adar which is adjacent to Nisan, namely Adar II. The Gemara explains the reason for this is that it is preferred to "juxtapose redemption to redemption", which Rashi explains to mean juxtapose Purim to Pesach.
II
A deeper understanding of Rashi's inclusion of Pesach can refute the proof of Rav Yaakov Emden. There are two types of miracles, hidden and supernatural. Purim commemorates a hidden miracle in which no laws of nature were broken, while Pesach celebrates a series of supernatural miracles. Joy increases when we recognize Divine Providence in the hidden miracles as well, and seeing Divine Providence everywhere equally applies to Adar. Rashi mentioned Pesach to equate the two types of miracles as sources for increased joy.
The Ramban (Shemos 13:16) writes:
From the great and famous miracles (i.e. the supernatural ones of the Exodus), a person acknowledges the hidden miracles which are the foundation of the entire Torah. A person has no portion in the Torah of Moshe Rabbeinu unless he believes that all our things and happenings are all miracles, not natural and the [unguided] custom of the world, whether communal or personal.
The realization that nothing in our lives is left to chance yields the greatest possible joy. The connection of Purim to Pesach does not limit joy to Adar II, rather it explains the joy of both Adars. Adar II celebrates the hidden miracles of the Megillah, while Adar I goes further and acknowledges everyday events as reflections of Divine Providence. As the Mishna teaches, the two Adars are identical except for the Megillah and the gifts for the poor, which focus exclusively on the hidden miracles of Purim.
The connection to the mazal of dagim and to Yosef who is not subject to the evil eye may be explained as follows: fish are hidden from the human eye as Adar commemorates hidden miracles. Yosef merited the blessing of protection from the evil eye when he hid his mother Rachel from Esav's wanton gaze (Bereishis 33:7, Rashi there and 49:22).
III
What about Purim Katan, 14 Adar I? In the final section of Orach Chaim (697:1), the Rama states that some say that one is obligated to increase "mishteh v'simcha" (see Esther 9:22) on the 14th of Adar I. This is not our custom, but one should increase his se'uda a bit to satisfy the strict view; "a good-hearted person is always feasting - mishteh tamid" (Mishlei 15:15).
The Taz (697:2) invokes the aforementioned Mishna (Megillah 6b) in equating the two Adars regarding feasting on the 14th of Adar I, and endorses the Rama's conclusion of "mishteh tamid." The Birkas Yosef (2) cited in the Shaarei Teshuva (2) lauds the Rama's wisdom in concluding Orach Chaim similar to how he opened it: he began (1:1) "I have set Hashem before me always - tamid" (Tehilim 16:8), and ended with "mishteh tamid", thus two "temidim".
The passuk in Mishlei (15:15) begins: "All the days of a poor person are bad." The Vilna Ga'on cites the Mishna (Avos 4:11) "who is rich? One who is happy with his potion." If so, a poor person is one who has a greedy soul. All his days are bad, because he can never attain all that he desires. By contrast, one who is satisfied with what he has, his heart is always as happy as one who has a mishteh in his house. A person at a feast is very happy when he is a shasuy yayin, intoxicated by fulfilling mishteh literally with excessive wine. But his happiness is temporary and ends when the influence of alcohol subsides. The happiness of one who has a good heart is always as great as the momentary happiness of one who is intoxicated.
This interpretation leads to an opposite understanding of the Rama's conclusion. One who has a good heart has no need to drink wine. He is always happy, without artificial stimulation. This level of constant joy described in 697:1 reflects the opening of the Rama in 1:1. One who constantly sets Hashem before him realizes that his portion comes from Hashem and is satisfied with it. He thereby attains constant joy, equivalent to the temporary high of alcohol, without drinking.
In this way, the heightened joy of Purim Katan is based upon the joy of the entire month. Adar teaches that the hidden miracles of Purim are from Hashem just as the supernatural ones of Pesach are. The extension of the Ramban to everyday occurrences governed by Divine Providence is a source of constant joy. This makes drinking on Purim Katan superfluous.
IV
Am Yisrael is entering Adar reeling from the crisis in Eretz Yisrael. The realization that these tragic events are also manifestations of Divine Providence must lead us to teshuva which will bring the crisis to an end (Rambam, Hilchos Ta'aniyos 1:1). Even during this crisis, we increase joy in Adar by recognizing that all of our experiences, individual and especially communal, are miracles governed by Divine Providence, as the Ramban emphasizes.
"My anger will flare on that day, I will forsake them and conceal My face from them and they will become prey" (Devarim 31:17). The otherwise inexplicable events of October 7th, when over a thousand of our brothers and sisters became prey of vicious invaders, can only be a result of Hashem's decree. The passuk continues: "many evils and distresses (tzaros) will afflict [Am Yisroel]. They will say on that day, 'Because Hashem is not in our midst these evils have afflicted me.'" The declaration we will reportedly make mentions evils but not tzaros. Why the omission of tzaros?
There is a remarkable introduction (Avi Ezri, Nashim, Kedusha), written in a besieged Yerushalayim exactly one week after the state of Israel was declared. In it, Rav Shach describes the situation, "on the outskirts the sword kills, indoors there is dread" (Devarim 32:25), a terrible, evil plight. He asks, why does the passuk begin with ra'os (evils) and tzaros (distresses), and end with ra'os alone? Rav Shach answers that tzara, from tzar, narrow, is not the evil itself, but the despair it triggers. One feels pressed and depressed. However, when one says that it comes from Hashem, it is still evil, but it is no longer a tzara.
Knowing that everything, good and bad, is Divine Providence, enables a measure of consolation, and even joy in Adar I, even in times of suffering. We pray that Hashem will increase the joy of Adar by saving us from Hamas, the Amalek of today, just as he saved us on Purim from Amalek, Haman, of old.
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