"To start the day on the right note, I always go to vasikin Megillah and then make challah for the seudah— a very meaningful hafrashas challah before the madness begins"
When we asked about Adar Stress Causers, a flood of ideas, strategies, and suggestions all came pouring in, nearly short-circuiting our Ballot Box algorithm. It was really stressing us out. Here is a selection of responses we hope will empower you to stave off the yetzer hara as he does his best to try to stamp out the Adar joy. That said, we wish you all a super happy, cheerful, merry, jolly, joyful, and, most of all, stress-free, Purim (although after you finish reading this, you might be more stressed out than ever).
It’s brought down in halachah that one should try to learn on Purim, as it’s a day of kabbalas haTorah. So every year, my husband and I used to always get so stressed because there’s never enough time on Purim as it is, between delivering all the shalach manos, preparing for the Purim seudah, dealing with costume crises, and the other thousand things going on. And for my husband to sit and learn through all this — forget it! But then he’s upset because he didn’t get to learn — until he came up with a great solution: He goes to vasikin, and then he’s happy because he got a few hours of learning in, and I’m happy because he’s around to help me.
Look, we live in Jerusalem and don’t do poems or worry about costume chapping or themes. And we’re certainly not gvir status. My biggest Adar stressor is getting away with a decent shalach manos without overspending. I find that homemade baking is the cheap way to go, although it’s not always cheap when it comes to time, or when I think about the fact that many people won’t touch another person’s baked goods, especially if they’ve arrived as crumbs.
My wife is trying to pressure me into dressing up (as a gingerbread man) to match the kids’ costumes and shalach manos. I haven’t dressed up for about 23 years, but I’m sure my talmidim will find it amusing.
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