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{{Short description|12th month of the Hebrew calendar}}
{{Other uses}}
{{Infobox month
| image       = Purim 2012 Williamsburg Brooklyn 01.jpg
| alt         = 
| caption     = Hasidic Jews celebrating [[Purim]], the holiday of the deliverance of the [[Jewish people]] in the ancient [[Achaemenid Empire]] 474 BCE
| native_name = {{Native name|he| {{Script/Hebrew|אֲדָר}}}}
| calendar    = [[Hebrew calendar]]
| num         = 12 and 13 (in leap years)
| days        = 29 (30 Adar I and 29 Adar II in leap years)
| season    = Winter (Northern Hemisphere)
| gregorian   = February–March
| holidays    = 
* [[Seventh of Adar]]
* [[Fast of Esther]]
* [[Purim]]
| prev_month  = [[Shevat]]
| next_month  = [[Nisan]]
}}

'''Adar''' ([[Hebrew language|Hebrew]]: {{Script/Hebrew|אֲדָר}}, {{transliteration|he|''ʾĂdār''}}; from [[Akkadian language|Akkadian]] ''adaru'') is the sixth month of the civil year and the twelfth month of the religious year on the [[Hebrew calendar]], roughly corresponding to the month of [[March]] in the Gregorian calendar. It is a month of 29 days.

==Names and leap years==
The month's name, like all the others from the Hebrew calendar, was adopted during the [[Babylonian captivity]]. In the [[Babylonian calendar]] the name was Araḫ Addaru or Adār ('Month of Adar').

In [[Leap year#Hebrew calendar|leap years]], it is preceded by a 30-day [[intercalary month]] named '''Adar Aleph''' ({{langx|he|{{Script/Hebrew|אדר א׳}}}}, ''[[aleph]]'' being the first letter of the Hebrew alphabet), also known as "Adar Rishon" (''First Adar'') or "Adar I", and it is then itself called '''Adar Bet''' ({{langx|he|{{Script/Hebrew|אדר ב׳}}}}, ''[[Bet (letter)|bet]]'' being the second letter of the Hebrew alphabet), also known as "Adar Sheni" (''Second Adar'') or "Adar II". Occasionally instead of Adar I and Adar II, "Adar" and "Ve'Adar" are used (Ve means 'and' thus: And-Adar). Adar I and II occur during February–March on the [[Gregorian calendar]].

Sources disagree as to which of the two Adar months is the "real" Adar, and which is the added leap month.<ref>[https://dinonline.org/2014/03/03/which-is-the-true-adar/ Which is the true Adar?]</ref>

==Customs==
During the [[Second Temple]] period, there was a Jewish custom to make a public proclamation on the first day of the lunar month Adar, reminding the people that they are to prepare their annual monetary offering to the Temple treasury, known as the [[Shekel#Collection of the half-Shekel|half-Shekel]].<ref>[[Mishnah]] [http://www.sefaria.org/Mishnah_Shekalim.1.1?lang=en ''Shekalim'' 1:1]</ref>

==Holidays==
* {{anchor|Adar7}}'''7 Adar''' ('''II''' in leap years) – [[Seventh of Adar|7th of Adar]] – some fast on this day in memory of the death of Moses
* '''13 Adar''' ('''II''' in leap years) – [[Fast of Esther]] – on 11 Adar when the 13th falls on [[Shabbat]] – ''(Fast Day)''
* '''14 Adar''' ('''II''' in leap years) – [[Purim]]
* '''14 Adar I''' (does not exist in non-leap years; [[Karaite Judaism|Karaites]] celebrate in Adar II) – [[Purim#Purim Katan|Purim Katan]]
* '''15 Adar''' ('''II''' in leap years) – [[Purim#Shushan Purim|Shushan Purim]] – celebration of Purim in walled cities existing during the time of [[Joshua]]
* '''17 Adar''' ('''II''' in leap years) – Yom Adar celebration feast{{Citation needed|date=March 2020}}

==In Jewish history==
{{More citations needed section|date=March 2020}}
{{Incomplete list|date=August 2008}}
* '''1 Adar''' [II] (1167/4 CE) – Death of the [[Abraham ibn Ezra|Ibn Ezra]]
* '''1 Adar''' ([[Wiktionary:circa|circa]] 1663) – Death of the [[Sabbatai ha-Kohen|Shach]]
* '''2 Adar''' (598 [[Before Common Era|BCE]]) – [[Jerusalem]] falls to [[Nebuchadnezzar]] and [[Jeconiah]] is captured.<ref>No 24 WA21946, The Babylonian Chronicles, The British Museum</ref>
* '''2 Adar''' (1941 CE) - Death of Rabbi [[Yaakov Yehezkiya Greenwald]] of [[Pupa (Hasidic dynasty)|Pupa]]
* '''3 Adar''' (515 [[Before Common Era|BCE]]) – [[Second Temple]] completed
* '''4 Adar''' (1307) – [[Meir of Rothenburg|Maharam]]'s body ransomed 14 years after his death by Alexander ben Shlomo (Susskind) Wimpfen.
* '''4 Adar''' (1796) – Death of [[Rabbi Leib Sarah's]], a disciple of the [[Rabbi Israel Baal Shem Tov]]. One of the "hidden [[tzaddik]]im," Rabbi Leib spent his life wandering from place to place to raise money for the ransoming of imprisoned Jews and the support of other hidden [[tzaddik]]im.
* '''4 Adar''' [II] (1992 CE) Death of [[Menachem Begin]]
* '''5 Adar''' (1st century [[Common Era|CE]]) – [[Lulianos and Paphos]] voluntarily gave themselves up to be killed, in order to save innocent Jewish lives in [[Laodicea on the Lycus|Laodicea]].<ref>Mordechai Margoliouth (ed.), ''Halakhot Eretz Yisrael min ha-Genizah'', Mossad Harav Kook: Jerusalem 1973, p. 142 (Hebrew). The ''[[Scroll of Fasting]]'' places this event on the 12th day of the lunar month Adar.</ref>
* '''7 Adar''' (1393 [[Before Common Era|BCE]]) – Birth of [[Moses]]
* '''7 Adar''' (1273 [[Before Common Era|BCE]]) – Death of [[Moses]]
* '''7 Adar''' (1828) – Death of Rebbe Isaac Taub of Kalov, founder of the [[Kalov (Hasidic dynasty)|Kalover Hasidic dynasty]], and a student of Rabbi Leib Sarah's.
* '''9 Adar''' (1st century [[Before Common Era|BCE]]) – Academic dissension between [[House of Hillel|Beit Hillel]] and [[Beit Shammai]], erupted into a violent and destructive conflict over a vote on 18 legal matters leading to the death of 3,000 students. The day was later declared a fast day by the [[Shulchan Aruch]], however, it was never observed as such.
* '''11 Adar''' (18th century) – Death of Reb Eliezer Lipman (Elezer Lippe), father of the prominent Chassidic Rebbes Rabbi [[Elimelech of Lizhensk]] and Rabbi [[Zusha of Hanipol]].
* '''13 Adar''' (474 [[Before Common Era|BCE]]) – War between Jews and their enemies in [[Persia]] ([[Book of Esther]], chapter 9).
* '''13 Adar''' (161 [[Before Common Era|BCE]]) – ''Yom Nicanor'' – The Maccabees defeated Greek Syrian general [[Nicanor (Syrian general)|Nicanor]] at the [[Battle of Adasa]] during the [[Maccabean Revolt]].
* '''13 Adar''' (1895–1986) – Death of Rabbi [[Moshe Feinstein]]
* '''14 Adar''' (474 [[Before Common Era|BCE]]) – [[Purim]] victory celebrated in the Persian Empire
* '''15 Adar''' (474 [[Before Common Era|BCE]]) – [[Purim]] Victory Celebrated in [[Shushan]]
* '''15 Adar''' (1st century [[Common Era|CE]]) – Jerusalem Gate Day – [[Agrippa I|King Agrippa I]] (circa 21 [[Common Era|CE]]) began construction of a gate for the wall of [[Jerusalem]]; the day used to be celebrated as a holiday.
* '''17 Adar''' (522 [[Before Common Era|BCE]]) – Yom Adar – the day the Jewish people left Persia following the Purim story{{Citation needed|date=March 2020}}
* '''18 Adar''' [1953] - Death of [[Josef Stalin]]; brings to a stop the [[Doctors' Plot]]
* '''20 Adar''' (1st century [[Before Common Era|BCE]]) – [[Honi the Circle-Maker|Choni the Circle Maker]] prays for rain ([[Talmud]], [[Ta'anit (Talmud)|Taanit]] 23a)
* '''20 Adar''' (1616 CE) – 'Purim Vinz': downfall of [[Vincenz Fettmilch]] and triumphant return of the Jews of Frankfurt under Imperial protection. The day was established as a community Purim for generations and to this day the Washington Heights community does not recite Tachanun on this day.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/06237a.htm|title=CATHOLIC ENCYCLOPEDIA: Frankfort-on-the-Main}}</ref>
* '''20 Adar''' (1640) – Death of the "[[Yoel Sirkis|Bach]]"
* '''21 Adar''' (Adar II, 1786) – Death of Rabbi [[Elimelech of Lizhensk]]
* '''23 Adar''' ([[Wiktionary:circa|circa]] 1312 [[Before Common Era|BCE]]) – [[Tabernacle (Judaism)|Mishkan]] assembled for the first time; "Seven Days of Training" begin.
* '''23 Adar''' (1866) – Death of [[Yitzchak Meir Alter]], first [[Rebbe]] of [[Ger (Hasidic dynasty)|Ger]]
* '''24 Adar''' (1817) – The [[Blood Libel]], the accusation that Jews murdered Christian children for their blood, declared false by [[Czar of Russia Alexander I|Czar Alexander I]]. Nevertheless, nearly a hundred years later the accusation was officially leveled against [[Menahem Mendel Beilis|Mendel Beilis]] in [[Kyiv]].
* '''25 Adar''' (561 [[Before Common Era|BCE]]) – Death of [[Nebuchadnezzar II|Nebuchadnezzar]] ([[Jeremiah]] 52:31).
* '''25 Adar''' (1761) – Death of Rabbi [[Abraham Gershon of Kitov]] the brother-in-law and leading foe-turned-disciple of the [[Baal Shem Tov]].<ref>Rabbi Gershon's gravestone, which lists 25 Adar as his day of passing, was discovered in the [[Mount of Olives]] cemetery in Jerusalem after the [[Six-day War]].</ref>
* '''27 Adar''' (561 [[Before Common Era|BCE]]) – Death of [[Zedekiah]] in Babylonian captivity. [[Amel-Marduk|Meroduch]], Nebuchadnezzar's son and successor, freed him (and his nephew Jeconiah) on the 27th of Adar, but Zedekiah died that same day.
* '''28 Adar''' (from the 2nd century onwards) – [[Talmudic]] holiday to commemorate the rescinding of a [[Ancient Rome|Roman]] decree against [[Torah]] study, ritual [[circumcision]], and keeping the [[Shabbat]]. The decree was revoked through the efforts of Rabbi [[Yehudah ben Shamu'a]] and his colleagues. ([[Megillat Taanit]], a [[baraita]] on this matter can still be found in [[Ta'anit (Talmud)|Ta'anit]] 18a and [[Rosh Hashanah (Talmud)|Rosh Hashanah]] 19a)
* '''28 Adar''' (1524) – the Jews of [[Cairo]] were saved from the plot of [[Hain Ahmed Pasha|Ahmad Pasha]], who sought revenge against the Jewish minister [[De Castro family (Sephardi Jewish)#Abraham de Castro|Abraham de Castro]] who had informed Selim II of Ahmad's plan to cede from the Ottoman Empire. To this day, Adar 28th is considered the [[Purim]] of Cairo, with festivities including a special [[Megillah (disambiguation)|Megilah<!--Link to disambiguation necessary-->]] reading.

==See also==
* Adar or Ada is [[Sindarin]] for "father".
* Azar or Adhar ({{langx|ar|آذار}}) is the name for the month of March in the [[Levant]].
* [[Arabic names of calendar months]]
* [[Jewish astrology]]

==References==
{{reflist}}

==External links==
* [http://www.chabad.org/calendar/ This Month in Jewish History]
* [http://www.inner.org/times/adar/index.php Resources on the Month of Adar]
* [https://ph.yhb.org.il/en/category/05/05-14/ The month of Adar and the holiday of Purim, minhagim (customs) and halachot (laws)] by Rabbi [[Eliezer Melamed]]

{{Jewish and Israeli holidays}}

[[Category:Adar| ]]
[[Category:Months of the Hebrew calendar]]