Q&A: Cheerful in Av and Serious and Heavy in Adar
Cheerful in Av and Serious and Heavy in Adar
Question
It may sound like a joke, God forbid,
but this is a real problem.
In Av I’m cheerful and can’t manage to feel down, but as soon as Adar arrives I become serious and rigid.
I’ve tried several times to change this and haven’t succeeded.
Does the Rabbi have any advice for this problem?
I’m serious.
Answer
You really are a strange Litvak. If that’s your mood, then good health to you. There is no halakhic obligation to be cheerful in Adar or sad in Av. By the way, maybe if you stop thinking it’s an obligation and that you have a problem, the problem will disappear. It’s like the story about the Kotzker: a man came before him and complained that he was running away from honor, but honor wasn’t chasing after him. The Kotzker said to him: that’s because when you run away, you keep looking back to make sure it’s coming.