DVAR TORAH
In last week's parasha, when facing the majestic moment of "matan Torah", the Jews enthusiastically proclaimed: "We will do everything G-d has commanded" [Shemot 19:8]. But this week, they went a step further, adding the words "and we will listen" to that first proclamation - or in Hebrew "na'aseh v'nishmah" [Shemot 24:7].
According to Rashi, despite its location in this week's parsha, the Jews said "na'aseh v'nishmah" before the Torah was given. Based on a midrash, this opinion is the source of many divrei Torah, all of which praise the Jews' willingness to fulfill the words of G-d "sight unseen".
Yet, both Ibn Ezra and Ramban disagree and write that the events as presented in these two parashiyot are in chronological order and that the Jews said "na'aseh v'nishmah" after the Torah and the laws of Mishpatim were given.
If so, what lesson can we learn from this post-"matan Torah" acceptance?
Rabbi Yehuda Shaviv suggested that the lesson is an even greater one. While it is praiseworthy to be enthusiastic about something before it happens, what is even more important is to maintain that enthusiasm after the event's glory has passed. Therefore, if the Jews proclaimed "na'aseh v'nishmah" surrounded by miracles and overwhelmed by the sights and sounds of Sinai, it is not as great as declaring it even later when things quieted down and realities of a life bounded by Torah law was already before them.
But that's what they did! Even after learning of the mundane matters of slaves and damages, oxen, open pits, and dietary laws, the Jewish people were true to their promise and not only repeated their declaration: "We will do everything which G-d commanded," but added "and we will listen." This may be a sign of even greater faith and belief!
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HALACHA OF THE WEEK: The Two Months of Adar
This Friday and Shabbat is Rosh Chodesh Adar I - the additional month which we add in a Hebrew leap year. (Leap years occur in the third, sixth, eighth, 11th, 14th, 17th, and 19th years of a 19-year cycle)
While this added month assures us that our holidays will remain in the proper seasons, it does create an unusual dilemma since there are now two months with the same name - which is the real one and which is added? Or in other words, which one should be the Adar that contains Purim, birthdays, Yahrzeits, etc.
The answer is that it depends on the type of observance we are trying to place. Specifically, there are three basic categories of observances:
OBSERVANCES BASED ON MONTHS. A typical example is the 12 months of mourning for parents or the kaddish recited for 11 months. These halachot are calculated exclusively on the passage of months and the second Adar is no different than any other month.
OBSERVANCES BASED ON A YEAR. The classic example of this is the mitzvah of "batei arei chomah." In the days of the Beit Hamikdash, one had up to a year to redeem property sold in a walled city before it was considered permanently sold to another. This halacha would be 12 months in an ordinary year and 13 months in a leap year. Similarly, a bar/bat mitzvah is based on full years and not on months. Therefore, a bar mitzvah boy born in Shevat would wait 13 months from his 12th to 13th birthday and celebrate in Shevat. [Pri Chadash (Orech Chaim 55:10) quotes the Maharash HaLevi who disagrees and rules that the bar mitzvah should be in the first Adar.]
OBSERVANCES BASED ON A SPECIFIC DATE: If a date, for example, a yahrzeit, occurs in Adar then there is a disagreement when it should be observed. According to Maharil (and later the Taz), the first Adar is the primary one. While the Shulchan Aruch indicates that the second Adar is generally the important one. (Purim, after all, is celebrated on the Second Adar.) The Rema suggests that both the first Adar and the second Adar should be observed (the Vilna Gaon is said to have ruled that keeping both days is not a stringency, but a requirement).
An exception to this final rule is Purim, which should fit into this category except that the Gemara rules that it is observed in the Adar closest to Pesach - to link the two events of redemption, one to the next.
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