Adar I, the leap month of the Jewish calendar, falls just before Adar II, the final month, during which PurimLit. "Lots." A carnival holiday celebrated on the 14th of the Jewish month of Adar, commemorating the Jewish victory over the Persians as told in the Book of Esther. Purim is celebrated by reading the megilla (Book of Esther), exchanging gifts, giving money to the poor, and holding a festive meal. At the megilla reading, merrymakers are dressed in costumes, people drink, and noisemakers (graggers) are sounded whenever the villain Haman's name is mentioned. is celebrated. Adar I is added in certain years in order to keep lunar time balanced with solar time, so that holidays fall in their proper seasons, yet the months always correspond to the moon’s phases. A year with a leap month is called “pregnant.” Tradition holds that the twelve months of the year represent the twelve tribes of IsraelLit. ''the one who struggles with God.'' Israel means many things. It is first used with reference to Jacob, whose name is changed to Israel (Genesis 32:29), the one who struggles with God. Jacob's children, the Jewish people, become B'nai Israel, the children of Israel. The name also refers to the land of Israel and the State of Israel., Jacob’s sons. Adar I, the thirteenth month, represents DinahDina is Jacob's only daughter and the sister of the twelve tribes., Jacob’s daughter.
Adar Aleph is the month most often missing
as you are most often missing, your story
lacking like a year without a season,
your life events reduced
to a syrup of rape and vengeance,
a place to pour out anger.
Did you love the man the way some say you did
or is that too a lie, a mask for what really happened?
Was there something else you loved –
An idea, a mother, a scent, a woman with black hair,
a crescent moon, an orange, an amulet,
or a pearl a trader carried to you on his camel?
Could anyone among the ragged wanderers
who bore your thousand names across six continents
put a face to you?
Have we tried enough to find one thread of your garment –
The shawl SarahThe first matriarch, wife of Abraham, and mother of Isaac, whom she birthed at the age of 90. Sarah, in Rabbinic tradition, is considered holy, beautiful, and hospitable. Many prayers, particularly the Amidah (the central silent prayer), refer to God as Magen Avraham – protector of Abraham. Many Jews now add: pokehd or ezrat Sarah – guardian or helper of Sarah. left with her sister
saying she wouldn’t wear it now that she was a pioneer
that RebekahThe second Jewish matriarch, Isaac's wife, and mother to Jacob and Esau. Rebecca is an active parent, talking to God when she is pregnant and learning the fate of her children, then ultimately manipulating Isaac and the children to ensure Jacob's ascendancy. Her Hebrew name is Rivka. brought to wrap herself in the fragrance of the old land,
the one LeahThe third of the Jewish matriarchs, Lead is the eldest of Lavan's daughters and one of the wives of Jacob. She is the daughter whom Lavan tricks Jacob into marrying instead of his younger daughter Rachel, whom Jacob has requested to marry. Leah is mother to six of the the twelve tribes and to one daughter, Dinah. swathed herself in like a laundered self,
The soft old shawl maybe you loved, though it did not save you?
We have sewed you into the calendar, though we see you
sporadically, when the year spreads open its days like legs
and the fog lifts from our own ancient bodies.
You are our leap month –
Our years are pregnant with you,
Dinah daughter
of a woman veiled by darkness, daughter
of a woman veiled by memory,
daughter of a woman veiled by time.
