A weekly feature of Torah Tidbits to help clarify practical and conceptual aspects of the Jewish Calendar, thereby better fulfilling the mitzva of HaChodesh HaZeh Lachem... The word CHODESH in some form or another occurs 24 times in the Megila. Four months are identified by number and name: the 10th month Tevet, when Esther was taken to the palace of the king, the 1st month Nissan, when Haman cast his lots, the 12th month Adar, upon which fell the lot, and the 3rd month Sivan, during which Mordechai received permission to write and distribute a call to defend against Haman's decree. CHODESH refers to Nissan 3 times, Tevet twice, Sivan twice, and Adar 13 times. 3 times, the word occurs in the description of the "processing" of the girls for the king, and once in the description of the lots cast by Haman. The month Adar also appears in the book of Ezra. Besides being a month, Adar is also a place and a person (grandson of Binyamin). [The
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