Daylight Savings Time, "spring forward," "fall back," Eastern Standard Time, International Date Line are all part of our language referring to time. We could easily conclude that time is a completely relative and arbitrary concept that we create and manipulate to suit ourselves. And in a certain sense this is true in our "secular" relationship with time. For example, in the United States, this coming Monday we will celebrate Presidents Day, honoring the birthdays of Presidents Washington and Lincoln. Most Americans by now have forgotten the actual dates of their birthdays and appear to suffer nothing for having them combined into a convenient Monday holiday.

It is obvious that this would not be the way of commemoration in Jewish law because in Judaism time connects the physical and spiritual. The Jewish calendar is commanded by G-d in the Torah and is designed to honor the flow of time that underlies the experience of each of the Jewish holidays throughout the year--the spiritual dimension of time [There is a difference of opinion among the Rabbis as to the source of the teaching around the spiritual dimension of time-- which we are defining for our purposes as being in tune with the flow and energy of the moment and season--with some seeing its source in the command to follow the lunar cycle and others including the command to preserve that Passover fall in the
spring].

Integrating the Sun and Moon

Each of the holidays is designated to occur at a specific stage of the moon's cycle within a certain stage of the solar cycle. The cycle of the moon and the revolution of Earth around the sun are natural occurences that mark a certain rhythm of time. There are other cultures and
religions that follow lunar or solar cycles, but Judaism is distinguished by being responsive to both. The equilibrium that the Jewish calendar establishes, enables the unique flavor of each holiday to correspond to its appropriate season. While the Torah specifically designates that the celebration of Pesach must be in Chodesh Aviv, the Spring month, this also hints to us that all of the holidays have a corresponding expression in nature as established by the position of the earth relative to the sun and moon (and stars). What is further implied is that this correlation makes a difference in how we experience the holiday.

Even though people often will complain that Pesach is "early" or "late," no one would consider changing it to a more convenient date. We are challenged to bring ourselves into the flow of this sacred time; we don't ask sacred time to bend to us. When we consider the spiritual implications of the Jewish calendar, we can appreciate the value of preserving the sanctity of it. This month of Adar I is the month that is added seven times during a 19-year cycle as a leap month to calibrate the calendar to the rhythm of the sun and the moon. To be able to live in a natural flow of time and be present to the unique qualities that each of the Jewish months and holidays manifests is a lesson in living for all of us all the time. The Jewish months teach us to be aware and focused on what is happening right now -- what gifts does this time bring that another time won't have?

The Letter for the Month of Adar 1

In each of our previous Divrei Torah we have spoken of the Hebrew letter that energizes that particular month. The 12 "simple" Hebrew letters correspond to the 12-month cycle of the year. What letter, then, can be the letter for the month of Adar 1? Perhaps an intuitive answer
would suggest that the letter for Adar (the letter Kuf) applies to both Adars. Following our previous thinking we would like to offer an alternative that requires a brief introduction.

The Hebrew letters are divided into three categories; Mother letters, double letters and simple letters. There are three Mother letters and they are called Mother letters becase they give birth to the other letters (the letter Alef actually gives birth to its companion Mother
letters, the Mem and Shin). The letter Mem is the Mother for all 12 of the simple letters and therefore must be a source for the dimension of time. If, though, all time is accounted for by the 12 letters, what core time concept is revealed in the Mem. We suggest that the letter Mem is the letter of the "present moment" a concept that applies for all time and in all time.

In addition, the spiritual concept of living in the present moment has a "home" in a specific time location--the month of Adar 1. Because Adar I is the month that allows the proper flow of time for all of the other months and enables all of the holidays to come at their proper time, Adar I becomes the source of balance and equilibrium in time.

The designation of Mem for Adar I is further supported when we recognize that Adar I is the 13th month and Mem is the 13th letter of the Alef Bet. Two words used for time have Mems in them -- Moed (Mem-Vav-Ayin-Dalet) which is a set time as the holidays are referred to
-- Moadim l'Simcha -- and Z'man (Zayin-Mem-Nun) which is time that is more fluid.

If we are looking for direction as to "what to be" during Adar I, it is to heighten our awareness and capacity to live in the present moment and to resist the temptation to live in the past or anticipate the future. Adar I has no holidays in it. It is a month to regain equilibrium and learn to live in the natural and holy flow of time. If we are successful in this month, it will energize all of the months ahead just as this "leap month" will calibrate each of the months, with their holidays, with the natural flow of time.