Maybe this is the reason why the month of Dec is full of wonders, signs and miracles. After all it is a good month when light broke out of the darkness. To me, it signified a turnaround, a change in the spiritual atmosphere. Things are getting brighter and better from now onwards. After this festival, the next one would be Purim on 24 Mar 2016, which is in the month of Adar. I researched about Adar and found this.
Adar is the twelfth month of the Jewish calendar. The word Adar is cognate to the Hebrew “strength”. Adar is the month of good fortune for the Jewish people. The sages say of Adar: “Its mazal [fortune] is strong.” Purim, the holiday of Adar, commemorates the “metamorphosis” of the Jews’ apparent bad fortune (as it appeared to Haman) to good. “When Adar enters we augment with joy.” The festival of Purim marks the high point in the joy of the entire year. The Jewish year begins with the joy of the redemption of Pesach and concludes with the joy of the redemption of Purim. “Joy breaks through all barriers.”
The joy of Adar is what makes the month of Adar the”pregnant” month of the year (i.e., seven of the nineteen years in the cycle of the Jewish calender are “leap years,” “pregnant” with an additional month of Adar). When there are two Adars, Purim is celebrated in the second Adar, in order to link the redemption of Purim to the redemption of passover. Thus, we see that the secret of Adar and Purim is “the end is wedged in the beginning.” There are two Adars next year because it is a Jewish leap year.
Laughter is the expression of unbounded joy, the joy which results from witnessing light issue from darkness–“the advantage of light from darkness”–as is the case with regard to the miracle of Purim. The epitome of laughter in the Torah is that of Sarah at the birth of Isaac whose name derives from the word for laughter: "God made me laugh, whoever hears shall laugh with me." Giving birth at the age of 90 (and Abraham at the age of 100), after being barren and physically unable to have children, is witnessing Divine light and miracle emerging from total darkness.
The word in Hebrew for “barren” is composed of the same letters (in the same order) as the word for “darkness.” Purim comes from the word meaning “be fruitful [and multiply]”. Of Isaac, the archetype personification of laughter in the Torah, it is said “the fear [source of awe, i.e. God] of Isaac.” This phrase can also be read as: “fear shall laugh”–the essence of fear shall metamorphize into the essence of laughter. In relation to Purim, the fear of (the decree of) Haman transforms into the exuberant laughter of the festival of Purim.
Adar is the twelfth month of the Jewish calendar. The word Adar is cognate to the Hebrew “strength”. Adar is the month of good fortune for the Jewish people. The sages say of Adar: “Its mazal [fortune] is strong.” Purim, the holiday of Adar, commemorates the “metamorphosis” of the Jews’ apparent bad fortune (as it appeared to Haman) to good. “When Adar enters we augment with joy.” The festival of Purim marks the high point in the joy of the entire year. The Jewish year begins with the joy of the redemption of Pesach and concludes with the joy of the redemption of Purim. “Joy breaks through all barriers.”
The joy of Adar is what makes the month of Adar the”pregnant” month of the year (i.e., seven of the nineteen years in the cycle of the Jewish calender are “leap years,” “pregnant” with an additional month of Adar). When there are two Adars, Purim is celebrated in the second Adar, in order to link the redemption of Purim to the redemption of passover. Thus, we see that the secret of Adar and Purim is “the end is wedged in the beginning.” There are two Adars next year because it is a Jewish leap year.
Laughter is the expression of unbounded joy, the joy which results from witnessing light issue from darkness–“the advantage of light from darkness”–as is the case with regard to the miracle of Purim. The epitome of laughter in the Torah is that of Sarah at the birth of Isaac whose name derives from the word for laughter: "God made me laugh, whoever hears shall laugh with me." Giving birth at the age of 90 (and Abraham at the age of 100), after being barren and physically unable to have children, is witnessing Divine light and miracle emerging from total darkness.
The word in Hebrew for “barren” is composed of the same letters (in the same order) as the word for “darkness.” Purim comes from the word meaning “be fruitful [and multiply]”. Of Isaac, the archetype personification of laughter in the Torah, it is said “the fear [source of awe, i.e. God] of Isaac.” This phrase can also be read as: “fear shall laugh”–the essence of fear shall metamorphize into the essence of laughter. In relation to Purim, the fear of (the decree of) Haman transforms into the exuberant laughter of the festival of Purim.
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