[Avodah] Two Adars

[Micha Berger]

On Thu, Feb 21, 2019 at 01:59:59PM +0000, Prof Levine quoted from today's
OU Kosher Halacha Yomis:

: There is a striking and obvious question. Why does Rama hold that a
: yahrtzeit is observed in the first Adar, while a Bar Mitzvah is observed
: in the second? Whichever Adar is primary for yahrtzreit should be primary
: for Bar Mitzvahs as well. Particularly surprising is that the source of
: both rulings is the same posek, the renowned Mahari Mintz. The answer to
: this question is beyond the scope of this article. See Teshuvos Mahari
: Mintz 9 and Igros Moshe Yoreh Deah III 160 for possible resolutions.

The Mahari Mintz dismisses reasoning based on the name "Adar". The only
reason why the extra month makes an Adar Rishon and Adar Sheini is
because Adar is the last month. And had we chosen a different way to raname
months for a shanah me'uberes, creating a new name or goubling the name of
another month, no one would be asking whether the bar mitzvah of someone
born in Adar should be in Shevat or in Adar. Just as in the real world,
no one asks whether a Bar Mitzvah boy born in Adar II should have his
bar mitzvah in Adar or Nissan.

So the kid doesn't turn a bar oneshin a month early just because of
a naming convention.

However, a niftar's oneshim is measured in months. So the first yahrzeit
makes sense being on the 12th month, and that's when the son should fast.
"Vekhein bekhol shanah", no explanation other than the implied one of
consistency.

(Mahari Mintz also toys with the idea of chodshei hachamah, and the
constellations, as yahrzeit could be about the mazal of the day the
parent died being a bad one for the child. But doesn't take it beyond
being a hava amina.)

Jumping ahead 550 years... RMF (answer A, the sho'el asks three questions)
cites sources, not reasons.

What I did find interesting was that RMF holds "for we who have the
minhag of keeping both yahr-zeits" (hyphen in the IM; keeping both is
a chumera mentioned in the Rama and endorsed by the Gra) keeping the
first years' yahr-tzeits the aniversary of the yom haqevurah in Adar I
and the aniversary of the yom haqmisah in Adar II.

The reason why we (in general, not an Adar issue) wait for yom haqevurah
for the first yahr-tzeit is out of fear that people would end aveilus
at less than 12 months year because it would be natural to end it at
yahr-zeit. But the year doesn't include aninus, so we want to mark 1 year
from qevurah, when aveilus began. And since Adar II is after 12 month,
there is no such fear.


That said, I heard or saw (maybe here) another conceptual reason:

(My engineering background wants to talk about ordinal vs cardinal
numbers. But I'll resist.)

Bar mitzvah marks a boy becoming 13 years old. It's about a span of time.

Yahrzeit makes an anniversary, it being the same day in the year.

The year is 13 months long, so the bar mitzvah boy's 13th year ends in
Adar II.

But the date in Adar I is the same date as the yom hamisah, so for
yahrzeit, that's the appropriate month.

-Micha

-- 
Micha Berger             "'When Adar enters, we increase our joy'
micha at aishdas.org         'Joy is nothing but Torah.'
http://www.aishdas.org    'And whoever does more, he is praiseworthy.'"
Fax: (270) 514-1507                     - Rav Dovid Lifshitz zt"l