Adar

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Holidays in Adar

Adar in Jewish history

• The ninth plague to be cast upon the Egyptians
  Egyptians
  
  Egyptians is the name of the nationality and Mediterranean North African ethnic group native to Egypt.Egyptian identity is closely tied to the Geography of Egypt, dominated by the lower Nile Valley, the small strip of cultivable land stretching from the Cataracts of the Nile to the Mediterranean Sea and enclosed by desert both to the Easte...
   for their refusal to release the Israelites from slavery was a thick darkness across the entire land so "no man saw his fellow, and no man could move from his place" (Exodus
  Exodus
  
  Exodus is the second book of the Jewish Torah and of the Christian Old Testament. It tells how Moses leads the Israelites out of Egypt and through the wilderness to the Mountain of God Sinai....
   10:23). This started on the 1st of Adar, six weeks before the Exodus
  Exodus
  
  Exodus is the second book of the Jewish Torah and of the Christian Old Testament. It tells how Moses leads the Israelites out of Egypt and through the wilderness to the Mountain of God Sinai....
  .

• A highly regarded Biblical
  Bible
  
  The Bible is the central religious text of Judaism and Christianity. The exact Books of the Bible is dependent on the religious traditions of specific denominations....
   commentator, Rabbi Avraham ben Meir Ibn Ezra
  Abraham ibn Ezra
  
  Rabbi Abraham ben Meir ibn Ezra was born in Tudela, Islamic Spain, and died c. 1164 .. .He was one of the most distinguished Jewish men of letters and writers of the Middle Ages....
   (1089?-1164), died on Adar 1.

• Adar 1 is also the yahrtzeit (anniversary of the death) of the Halachist Rabbi
  Rabbi
  
  Rabbi , in Judaism, means a religious ?teacher?, or more literally, ?my great one?, when addressing any master. The word rabbi derives from the Hebrew root word , rav, which in biblical Hebrew means ?great?, used in many senses, including the sense of a ?master? and apprentice, whence someone who is a distinguished ?teacher?....
   Shabtai Hakohen Katz, who lived from 1621 to around 1663?, and was author of the Siftei Cohen commentary on Rabbi Yosef Karo
  Yosef Karo
  
  Joseph ben Ephraim Karo, also spelled Caro, or Qaro, was author of the last great codification of Jewish law, the Shulchan Aruch, which is still authoritative for Orthodox Jewry....
  's Code of Jewish Law. He is known as "Shach," which is an acronym of the name of his work, which still to this day serves as a primary source of Halachah (Jewish law).

• The dedication of the second Holy Temple (Beit HaMikdash) which was built by Ezra
  Ezra
  
  Ezra was a Jewish priestly scribe who led about 5,000 Babylonian captivity living in Babylon to their home city of Jerusalem in 459 BC. Ezra reconstituted the dispersed Jewish community on the basis of the Torah and with an emphasis on the law....
   on the site of the 1st Temple in Jerusalem
  Jerusalem
  
  Jerusalem is the capital of Israel and its List of Israeli cities in both population and area, with a population of 747,600 residents over an area of if Positions on Jerusalem East Jerusalem is included....
  , was celebrated on the 3rd of Adar of 515 BCE, after four years of work.

• The imprisonment of Rabbi Meir ben Baruch ("Maharam") of Rothenburg
  Meir of Rothenburg
  
  Meir of Rothenburg was a Germany rabbi and poet, a major author of the tosafot on Rashi's commentary on the Talmud. He is also known as Meir Ben Baruch, the Maharam of Rothenburg....
   came to a close when his body was ransomed 14 years after his death by Alexander ben Shlomo (Susskind) Wimpen.

• Adar 4 is the yahrtzeit (anniversary) of the death of Rabbi Leib Sarah's
  Leib Sarah's
  
  Rabbi Leib Sarah's was a Hasidic Judaism Rebbe and a disciple of the Yisroel ben Eliezer .External links...
   (1730-1796), a disciple of the Rabbi Israel Baal Shem Tov. One of the "hidden tzaddikim," Rabbi Leib spent his life wandering from place to place to raise money for the ransoming of imprisoned Jews and the support of other hidden tzaddikim.

• Moses
  Moses
  
  Moses is a Hebrew Bible Hebrews religious leader, lawgiver, prophet, to whom the Mosaic authorship of the Torah is traditionally attributed. Also called Moshe Rabbeinu in Hebrew , he is the most important prophet in Judaism, and also an important prophet of Christianity, Islam, the Bah?'? Faith, Rastafari movement, Chrislam and many ot...
   was born in Egypt
  Egypt
  
  Egypt is a country mainly in North Africa, with the Sinai Peninsula forming a land bridge in Western Asia. Covering an area of about , Egypt borders the Mediterranean Sea to the north, the Gaza Strip and Israel to the northeast, the Red Sea to the east, Sudan to the south and Libya to the west....
   on the 7th of Adar of the Hebrew year 2368 (1393 BCE) and is said to have died on his 120th birthday, Adar 7, 2488 (1273 BCE)

• On the 13th of Adar of the Hebrew year 522 BCE, battles were fought throughout the Persian Empire
  Persian Empire
  
  The 'Persian Empire' was a series of successive Iranian or Persianization empires that ruled over the Iranian plateau, the original Persian homeland, and beyond in Southwest Asia, South Asia, Central Asia and the Caucasus....
   between the Jews and those seeking to kill them in accordance with the decree issued by King Achashveirosh eleven months earlier. (Achashveirosh never rescinded that decree; but after the hanging of Haman
  Haman (Bible)
  
  Human is an individual who, according to Old Testament tradition, was a 5th Century BC Persian Empire noble and vizier of the empire under Persian King Ahasuerus, traditionally identified as Artaxerxes II of Persia ....
   on Nissan 16 of the previous year, and Queen Esther
  Esther
  
  Esther , born Hadassah, is a queen of the Persian Empire in the Hebrew Bible, the queen of Ahasuerus , and heroine of the Biblical Book of Esther which is named after her....
  's pleading on behalf of her people, he agreed to issue a second decree authorizing the Jews to defend themselves against those seeking to kill them.) 75,000 enemies were killed on that day, and 500 in the capital, Shushan, including Haman's ten sons (Parshandata, Dalfon, Aspata, Porata, Adalia, Aridata, Parmashta, Arisai, Aridai and Vaizata), whose bodies were subsequently hanged. The Jews did not take any of the possessions of the slain as booty, though authorized to do so by the king's decree. (The Book of Esther
  Book of Esther
  
  The Book of Esther is one of the books of the Ketuvim of the Tanakh and of the Historical Books of the Old Testament. The Book of Esther or the Megillah is the basis for the Jewish celebration of Purim....
  , chapter 9).

• The Maccabees defeated the Syrian General Nicanor
  Nicanor (Syrian general)
  
  Nicanor...
   in a battle fought four years after the Maccabee's liberation of the Holy Land
  Holy Land
  
  The Holy Land , generally refers to the geographical region of the Levant called Land of Canaan or Land of Israel in the Bible, and constitutes the Promised land....
   and the miracle of Hanukkah
  Hanukkah
  
  File:PikiWiki Israel 146 Hanukka ?????.JpgHanukkah , also known as the Festival of Lights, is an eight-day Jewish holiday commemorating the rededication of the Temple in Jerusalem in Jerusalem at the time of the Maccabean Revolt of the 2nd century BCE....
  .

• Moses
  Moses
  
  Moses is a Hebrew Bible Hebrews religious leader, lawgiver, prophet, to whom the Mosaic authorship of the Torah is traditionally attributed. Also called Moshe Rabbeinu in Hebrew , he is the most important prophet in Judaism, and also an important prophet of Christianity, Islam, the Bah?'? Faith, Rastafari movement, Chrislam and many ot...
   was born on the 7th of Adar of the Hebrew year 2368 (1393 BCE); accordingly, Adar 14 was the 8th day of his life and the day on which he was circumcised in accordance with the divinee command to Abraham.

• The festival of Purim
  Purim
  
  Purim is a Jewish holiday that commemorates the deliverance of the Jewish people of the ancient Persian Empire from Haman 's plot to annihilate them, as recorded in the Hebrew Bible Book of Esther ....
   celebrates the salvation of the Jewish people from Haman
  Haman
  
  Haman can be a surname which is a corruption of the German language Hamann. It is also a biblical surname as described below. It also refers to:...
  's plot "to destroy, kill and annihilate all the Jews, young and old, infants and women, in a single day." See Timeline
  Book of Esther
  
  The Book of Esther is one of the books of the Ketuvim of the Tanakh and of the Historical Books of the Old Testament. The Book of Esther or the Megillah is the basis for the Jewish celebration of Purim....
  .

• King Agrippa I
  Agrippa I
  
  Agrippa I also called the Great , King of the Jews, was the grandson of Herod the Great, and son of Aristobulus IV and Berenice . His original name was Marcus Julius Agrippa, and he is the king named Herod in the Acts of the Apostles, in the Bible, "Herod " ....
   (circa 21 CE
  Common Era
  
  Common Era, abbreviated as CE, is a designation for the calendar system most commonly used in the Western world, and also internationally, for numbering the year part of the calendar date....
  ) began construction of a gate for the wall of Jerusalem
  Jerusalem
  
  Jerusalem is the capital of Israel and its List of Israeli cities in both population and area, with a population of 747,600 residents over an area of if Positions on Jerusalem East Jerusalem is included....
  ; the day used to be celebrated as a holiday.

• "One year, most of Adar went by and it didn't rain. They sent for Choni the Circle Maker. He prayed and the rains didn't come. He drew a circle, stood in it and said: 'Master of The World! Your children have turned to me; I swear in Your great name that I won't move from here until You have pity on Your children.' The rains came down." (Talmud
  Talmud
  
  The Talmud is a record of rabbinic discussions pertaining to Halakha, Jewish ethics, customs, and history. It is a central text of mainstream Judaism....
  , Taanit
  Ta'anit (Talmud)
  
  Ta'anit or Taanis is a volume of the Mishnah, Tosefta, and both Talmuds. In Judaism these are the basic works of rabbinic literature....
   23a)

• Adar 20 is the yahrtzeit (anniversary of the death) of Rabbi Yoel Sirkes
  Yoel Sirkis
  
  Yoel Sirkis, , also known as the Bach - an abbreviation of his magnum opus, Bayit Chadash - was a prominent Jewish posek and Halakha....
   (1560?-1640), who authored of the Bayit Chadash ("Bach") commentary on the Halachic work, Beit Yosef
  Beit Yosef
  
  Beit Yosef may refer to:* Beit Yosef , a moshav in the Beit She'an Valley* Beit Yosef , a book by Rabbi Joseph Caro...
  .

• During the week of Adar 23-29, the Mishkan was erected each morning and dismantled each evening; Moses
  Moses
  
  Moses is a Hebrew Bible Hebrews religious leader, lawgiver, prophet, to whom the Mosaic authorship of the Torah is traditionally attributed. Also called Moshe Rabbeinu in Hebrew , he is the most important prophet in Judaism, and also an important prophet of Christianity, Islam, the Bah?'? Faith, Rastafari movement, Chrislam and many ot...
   served as the High Priest and initiated Aaron
  Aaron
  
  In the Hebrew Bible, Aaron , or Aaron the Levite , was the brother of Moses. He was the great-grandson of Levi and represented the priestly functions of his tribe, becoming the first Kohen Gadol of the Hebrews....
   and his four sons into the priesthood. Then, on the "eighth day," the 1st of Nissan, the Mishkan was "permanently" assembled (that is, put up to stand until the God-given command would come to journey on), Aaron and his sons assumed the priesthood, and the divine presence came to dwell in the Mishkan.

• Chassidic Rabbi Yitzchak Meir Altar
  Yitzchak Meir Alter
  
  Yitzchak Meir Alter , is considered to be the first Rebbe of the Ger Hasidic Judaism dynasty, which he founded in the town of G?ra Kalwaria , Poland....
   (1799-1866), author of Chiddushei Harim (a commentary on the Talmud
  Talmud
  
  The Talmud is a record of rabbinic discussions pertaining to Halakha, Jewish ethics, customs, and history. It is a central text of mainstream Judaism....
   and Shulchan Aruch
  Shulchan Aruch
  
  The Shulchan Aruch is a codification, or written manual, of halacha , composed by Rabbi Yosef Karo in the 16th century. Together with its commentaries, it is considered the most authoritative compilation of halakha since the Talmud....
  ), was a disciple of the Maggid of Koshnitz and Rabbi Simcha Bunim of Peshischa, and the founder of the "Ger" (Gerer) Chassidic dynasty
  Ger (Hasidic dynasty)
  
  Ger, or Gur is a Hasidic Judaism dynasty originating from Ger, the Yiddish language name of G?ra Kalwaria, a small town in Poland.Prior to the Holocaust, Ger was the largest and most important Hasidic group in Poland....
  . All his 13 sons had died in his lifetime, and he was succeeded (in 1870) by his young grandson, Rabbi Yehudah Leib Alter
  Yehudah Aryeh Leib Alter
  
  Yehudah Aryeh Leib Alter , also known by the title of his main work, the Sfas Emes, was a Hasidic Judaism rabbi who succeeded his grandfather, Rabbi Yitzchak Meir Alter, as the av beis din and Rav of G?ra Kalwaria, Poland , and succeeded the Rebbe, Reb Heynekh of Alexander, as Rebbe of the Ger ....
   (the "Sefat Emmet").

• On Adar 24, Czar Alexander I of Russia declared the Blood Libel
  Blood libel
  
  Blood libels are sensationalized allegations that a person or group engages in human sacrifice, often accompanied by the claim that the blood of victims is used in various rituals and/or acts of cannibalism....
  , the infamous accusation that Jews murdered Christian
  Christian
  
  A Christian is a person who adheres to Christianity, a Monotheism#Christian view religion centered on the life and teachings of Jesus and interpreted by Christians to have been prophesied in the Hebrew Bible/Old Testament....
   children to use their blood in the baking of matzah
  Matzo
  
  Matza , in Ashkenazi Hebrew matzo or matzoh, and, in Yiddish language, matze) is a cracker-like flatbread made of white plain flour and water....
   for Passover
  Passover
  
  Passover is a Jewish and Samaritan holy day and festival commemorating God sparing the Israelites when He killed the first born of Egypt, and is followed by the seven day Feast of the Unleavened Bread commemorating the Exodus from Ancient Egypt and the liberation of the Israelites from Judaism and slavery....
  , for which thousands of Jews were killed through the centuries, to be false. Nevertheless, nearly a hundred years later the accusation was officially leveled against Mendel Beilis
  Menahem Mendel Beilis
  
  Menahem Mendel Beilis [sometimes spelled Beiliss] was a Ukrainians Jew accused of ritual murder in a notorious 1913 trial, known as the "Beilis trial" or "Beilis affair." The process sparked international criticism of the antisemitism policies of the Russian Empire....
   in Kiev
  Kiev
  
  Kiev, also known as Kyiv , is the Capital and the largest city of Ukraine, located in the north central part of the country on the Dnieper River....
  .

• Death of King Nebuchadnezzar, the Babylonian emperor who conquered Jerusalem
  Jerusalem
  
  Jerusalem is the capital of Israel and its List of Israeli cities in both population and area, with a population of 747,600 residents over an area of if Positions on Jerusalem East Jerusalem is included....
   and destroyed the first Holy Temple 26 years earlier, died on the 25th of Adar. (Jeremiah
  Jeremiah
  
  Jeremiah was one of the 'greater prophet' of the Hebrew Bible. He was the son of Hilkiah, a priest of Anathoth.His writings are put together in the Book of Jeremiah and, according to tradition, the Book of Lamentations....
   52:31)

• Zedekiah
  Zedekiah
  
  Zedekiah was the last king of Judah before the destruction of the kingdom by Babylon. He was the third son of Josiah, and his mother was Hamutal the daughter of Jeremiah of Libnah, thus he was the brother of Jehoahaz ....
   was the last king of the royal house of David to reign in the Holy Land. He ascended the throne in 597 BCE, after King Nebuchadnezzar
  Nebuchadnezzar
  
  Nebuchadnezzar was the name of several kings of Babylonia.* Nebuchadrezzar I, who ruled the Babylonian Empire in the 1100s BC. His death causes the Chaldean Empire to crumble and fall 30 years after his death....
   of Babylonia
  Babylonia
  
  Babylonia was a state in Lower Mesopotamia , Babylon as its franklin. Babylonia emerged when Hammurabi created an empire out of the territories of the former kingdoms of Sumer and Akkad....
   (to whom the Kingdom of Judah
  Kingdom of Judah
  
  The Kingdom of Judah existed at two periods in Jewish history. According to the Hebrew Bible, a kingdom emerged in Judah after the death of Saul, when the tribe of Judah elevated David to rule over it....
   was then subject) exiled King Jeconiah
  Jeconiah
  
  Jeconiah , also known as Jehoiachin , was a king of Judah. He was the son of Jehoiakim with Nehushta, the daughter of List of minor Biblical figures of Jerusalem and was a contemporary of the prophets Jeremiah and Ezekiel....
   (Zedekiah's nephew) to Babylonia . In 588 BCE Zedekiah rebelled against Babylonian rule, and Nebuchadnezzar laid siege to Jerusalem (in Tevet
  Tevet
  
  Tebet is the fourth month of the civil year and the tenth month of the ecclesiastical year on the Hebrew calendar. It follows Kislew and precedes Shebat....
   10 of that year); in the summer of 586 BCE the walls of Jerusalem were penetrated, the city conquered, the (first) Holy Temple destroyed, and the people of Judah exiled to Babylonia. Zedekiah tried escaping through a tunnel leading out of the city, but was captured; his sons were killed in front of him, and then he was blinded. Zedekiah languished in the royal dungeon in Babylonia until Nebuchadnezzar's death in 561 BCE. Meroduch, Nebuchadnezzar's son and successor, freed him (and his nephew Jeconiah) on the 27th of Adar, but Zedikiah died that same day.

• In Talmudic times, Adar 28 used to be celebrated to commemorate the rescinding of a Roman
  Ancient Rome
  
  Ancient Rome was a civilization that grew out of a small agricultural community founded on the Italian Peninsula as early as the 10th century BC....
   decree against ritual circumcision
  Circumcision
  
  Male circumcision is the removal of some or all of the foreskin from the penis. The word "circumcision" comes from Latin ' and ' .Early depictions of circumcision are found in cave drawings and Ancient Egyptian tombs, though some pictures may be open to interpretation....
  , Torah
  Torah
  
  The term "Torah" , or Five Books of Moses or Pentateuch, refers to the entirety of Judaism's founding Halakha and ethical religious texts....
   study and keeping the Shabbat
  Shabbat
  
  Shabbat or Shabbos , is the weekly day of rest in Judaism, symbolizing the seventh day in Genesis, after the six days of creation. Though it is commonly said to be the Saturday of each week, it is observed from sundown on Friday until the appearance of three stars in the sky on Saturday night....
  . The decree was revoked through the efforts of Rabbi Yehudah ben Shamua and his fellow rabbis. (Megillat Taanit
  Megillat Taanit
  
  Megillat Taanit is chronicle which enumerates 35 eventful days on which the Jewish nation either performed glorious deeds or witnessed joyful events....
  , Rosh Hashanah
  Rosh Hashanah (Talmud)
  
  Rosh Hashanah is the name of a text of Jewish law originating in the Mishnah which formed the basis of tractates in both the Talmud and the Jerusalem Talmud of the same name....
   19a)

Other uses

• Azar or Adhar is the name for the month of March in the Levant
  Levant
  
  The Levant describes, traditionally, the Eastern Mediterranean at large, but can be used as a geographical term that denotes a large area in Western Asia formed by the lands bordering the Eastern shores of the Mediterranean, roughly bounded on the north by the Taurus Mountains, on the south by the Arabian Desert, and on the west by the M...
  .
• Adar or Ada is Sindarin for "father"