Tikkun 7 Adar

Tikkun 7 Adar

Rabbi Acha bar Chanina says: “This day was the sixth day of the month of Sivan.” The ministering angels said before the Holy One, blessed be He: “Sovereign of the Universe, should the one who will eventually receive the Torah at Mount Sinai be struck down on this day?” Since this was also the day on which the Torah was given, the Gemara asks: Indeed, according to the one who says that Moses was placed in the water on the 6th of Sivan, we find that there could have been three months during which Moses was hidden after his birth, as the Master said (Tosefta 11:7): Moses died on the 7th of Adar, and Moses was born on the 7th of Adar. Accordingly, from the 7th of Adar until the 6th of Sivan there are three months, corresponding to the three months during which Moses was hidden before he was placed in the water. But according to the one who says that this took place on the 21st of Nisan, how can you know that he was hidden for three months? The Gemara answers: That year was a leap year, with two months of Adar. Moses was hidden for most of the first of the three months—from the seventh day of the first Adar, when he was born—and for most of the last of the three months, namely, all of Nisan until the 21st, as well as the entire middle month. All of this together is considered three months. When the Torah states in Shemot 2:3 that Moses’ mother could no longer hide him, it mentions the date of the 6th of Sivan, the day on which, 80 years later, the revelation at Mount Sinai took place. The reason Yocheved had to hide Moses in a well-insulated basket was that the light surrounding the infant had become so powerful that it posed a danger to the family. The Torah says that Yocheved hid Moses for שלשה ירחים, “three lunar months”, rather than שלשה חדשים, “three months” (Shemot 2:2), to indicate that these were lunar months. The months of Adar, Nisan, and Iyar are 29, 30, and 29 days long, respectively. This gives us a total of 88 days during which Moses was hidden at home, bringing us back to the 7th of Adar as the day of Moses’ birth. From all this, it is clear that Moses died on the same day of the same month in which he was born. The word חדש implies a period equal to 1/12 of a year, something that cannot be altered by either adding to or subtracting from it. This cannot be said of the period known as ירח, which may consist of either 29 or 30 days. The reason the Torah used the term ירחים in the verse mentioned above was to enable us to calculate the exact date of Moses’ birth. This prompted our Sages in Kiddushin 38 to state that G-d completes the life span of the righteous from day to day (so as to grant them complete years), based on Shemot 23:26: את מספר ימיך אמלא, “I will fill (complete) the number of your days” (meaning “years”). The Gemara continues: The one who says that the Patriarchs were born in Nisan also maintains that they died in Nisan. The one who says that they were born in Tishrei likewise holds that they died in Tishrei, as it is said of Moses on the day of his death: “And he said to them: I am one hundred and twenty years old today.” (Devarim 31:2) Since there is no need for the verse to say “today,” as it is clear that Moses was speaking on that day, what is the significance of the word “today”? It means that Moses said precisely this: “Today my days and years are completely filled and completed.” This teaches us that the Holy One, blessed be He, sits and completes the years of the righteous from day to day and from month to month, as it is said: “I will complete the number of your days.” (Shemot 23:26) Likewise, the Patriarchs merited having their years completed on that very day, and therefore they died on the same day on which they were born. Tehillim 36:7 צִדְקָֽתְךָ֨ ׀ כְּֽהַרְרֵי־אֵ֗ל מִ֭שְׁפָּטֶךָ תְּה֣וֹם רַבָּ֑ה אָ֤דָֽם־וּבְהֵמָ֖ה תוֹשִׁ֣יעַ יְהוָֽה “Tzidkatekha ke-harerei El, mishpatekha tehom rabbah; adam u-vehemah toshia, Adonai” — (Your righteousness is like the mighty mountains; Your judgments are a great deep. You save both man and beast, O L-rd.) Tehillim 71:19 וְצִדְקָתְךָ֥ אֱלֹהִ֗ים עַד־מָ֫ר֥וֹם אֲשֶׁר־עָשִׂ֥יתָ גְדֹל֑וֹת אֱ֝לֹהִ֗ים מִ֣י כָמֽוֹךָ “Ve-tzidkatekha Elohim ad marom, asher asita gedolot; Elohim, mi khamokha” — (Your righteousness, O G-d, reaches to the heavens. O G-d, You have done great things; who is like You?) Tehillim 119:142 צִדְקָתְךָ֣ צֶ֣דֶק לְעוֹלָ֑ם וְֽתוֹרָתְךָ֥ אֱמֶֽת “Tzidkatekha tzedek le-olam, ve-Toratekha emet” — (Your righteousness is everlasting righteousness, and Your Torah is truth.)   The Tradition of 7 Adar The most widespread tradition observed on 7 Adar I is to fast in memory of Moses. In Israel, this is also a day of remembrance for Israeli soldiers who gave their lives in service of their people and whose bodies were never found or identified, since the location of Moses’ burial place is likewise unknown (according to Devarim 34:6).     https://www.sefaria.org/sheets/383218.15?lang=bi&with=all&lang2=en