Month of Adar

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The Month of Adar

There is an obligation to increase one’s happiness in the month of Adar. The Rebbe of Munkacs explains that in Adar, every time one feels despondent and then stops himself with a conscious decision to be happy, he fulfills this obligation of ‘marbim b’simcha’.

The Gemara also teaches that Jews have an extra dose of good mazal throughout Adar. Therefore, if a person has a court case with a non-Jew, he should try to schedule it for Adar. If both parties are Jewish, there is no benefit in scheduling for Adar, as both of them have increased mazal.

There is also a custom to check one’s mezuzot in the month of Adar II whenever there is a leap year. This came about as an easy way to track that one’s mezuzot are regularly checked, in line with the halachic requirement of checking mezuzot at least once every 3.5 years.