Purim Katan is a rare guest that deserves special attention. In the 19-year cycle of regular and leap years we have nineteen Purims, but only seven Purim Katans. We must truly utilize it for special activities.

There’s a strong connection between Purim and Purim Katan. The Mishnah teaches: “There is no difference between the first Adar and the second Adar, but the reading of the Megillah and the distribution of gifts to the poor.” (Megillah 6b)

Otherwise, both Purims are the same, with Purim Katan being first!

The theme of both is Jewish victory over enemies: “And it turned about: the Jews gained the upper hand over their adversaries.” (Esther 9:2). So much so, that: “Many from among the people of the land professed themselves as Jews.” (ibid 8:17). Others were overcome with the “fear of the Jews,” and deferred to them because “The fear of Mordechai had fallen upon them”. (ibid 9:3)

Purim Katan, too, carries this influence of evoking and eliciting the assistance and cooperation of the nations for the Jewish people.

In 5687 (1927), the previous Rebbe said the Maamar, “V’kibel Hayehudim” on Purim Katan, in the largest synagogue in the capital city of Russia, before a huge crowd. He didn’t consider the dangers, and exhibited superhuman self-sacrifice.

The Maamar discusses the reaffirmation of Kabollas HaTorah of the Jewish people, in the time of Mordechai. This came through the self-sacrifice of Mordechai for the Torah studies of the small children. Their Torah and self-sacrifice nullified the decree: “Out of the mouths of children and nursing babies You fashioned an invincible might… to end foe and avenger.” (Tehillim 8:3). Education of children is necessary for Jewish existence.

As you educate the child so he grows and develops and will teach his children, and they, their children, forever. The dedication to educating the young generation was the essence of the reaffirmation in Mordechai’s tiem, with an eternal force, so that “The remembrance shall not perish from their descendants” (ibid 9:28)

The “children and nursing babies” referred to in the Maamar are infants. The foundation given such young children, e.g., when their mothers sing to them lullabies about the greatness of Torah, sets the foundation for their upbringing and destroys the enemy.

The previous Rebbe stressed the importance of Jewish education and didn’t show fear of the enemy, emphasizing that the work for Jewish education would destroy the enemy. In fact, he explained, those who were foes would become allies and assist in the holy work. All of Torah would be reaffirmed in the broadest possible way.

Thus, the lesson of Purim Katan: If there arises “a foe and avenger” against Yiddishkeit, Torah and Mitzvos, not only must we not lose hope, but we must increase our activities in all areas of Yiddishkeit. Start with establishing the “invincible might” (through raising infants and babies to all aspects of Torah), which ends the foe. In fact, just a “Many from among the people of the land professed themselves Jews,” during the redemption of Purim, the foe is transformed, and assists in spreading Torah.

This leads to the ultimate redemption. First we reach the redemption of Purim, when Mordechai became great and the condition of the Jews improved. (Soon after the miracle of Purim, work on the Beis Hamikdash started again in the days of Darius.) Then we bring close the redemption of Purim and Pesach to the ultimate redemption.

May all these forces be utilized properly, to become a partner with HaShem, to reach the level of “Ad Lo Yoda”, beyond understanding and measure, which is the theme of Purim, but is even stronger on Purim Katan, because of its rarity.

May this all bring to action, from now into the future, from the redemption of Purim Katan to the true and ultimate redemption! (Sichah, Purim Katan, 5746)

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For an excellent overview, see Jewish Calendar from Judaism 101. Also, you might see Yahoo!’s Judaism Resources: Calendars page.

The Orthodox Union also lists Shabbat and Holiday Candle Lighting Times for both American and international cities, as well as a Jewish Holidays website.

If you’re looking for more than just candle-lighting times, check out Kashrut.com’s Zemanim (prayer time) Service. They can compute Alos HaShachar, Sunrise, Sunset, Sof Zeman K’rea Sh’ma, Plag HaMincha, Tzait hakochavim, etc.

For links to other Jewish Holidays sites, see Yahoo! Jewish Holidays.

For a good reference book on the major Jewish Holidays, I’d suggest Michael Strassfeld’s The Jewish Holidays: A Guide & Commentary.

Rabbi Nathan Bushwick’s Understanding the Jewish Calendar explains some of the mathematical and scientific underpinnings of the calendar.

For a comprehensive look at 25 different calendar systems (including Hebrew, Gregorian, Julian, Mayan and Hindu), and corresponding sample code in Lisp and Java, Reingold & Dershowitz’s Calendrical Calculations is an unparalleled resource.

Hebcal for UNIX is a free program and is available for download at https://github.com/hebcal/hebcal. This is the same engine that powers the hebcal.com website. The downloadable program has a text (command-line) interface, not a fancy graphical one.

Kaluach is an unrelated program available at http://www.kaluach.com/. The author requests donations, but does not have a set price.