From mourning to celebration

For some it’s the Israeli version of Valentine’s Day, or Chag HaAhava. For others it’s an ancient tradition, rooted in Mishnah and Talmud. Either way, Tu b’Av is the ideal antidote to Tisha b’Av.

Three weeks of sadness, culminating in a 25-hour fast filled with mourning and reflection on the most tragic events of our history, it’s not surprising the rabbis established a day of celebration soon after!

Tu b’Av – the fifteenth of Av, this year on August 15 – is a minor holiday, that in all honesty was virtually unknown until recently. A large part of its resurgence can be credited to modern Israel, where it’s morphed into a Jewish Valentine’s Day of sorts (if that’s not an oxymoron, seeing as the latter is named after a saint!)

What in fact are the origins of this holiday? Several reasons are mentioned in the Talmud and Mishna, including:

• The ban on marrying only within one’s tribe was lifted on Tu b’Av in the 40th year the Jews wandered the desert.
• The annual cutting of wood for the Temple’s altar was completed on this day.
• Longer nights following the summer solstice equal more time for Torah learning.

But do these reasons justify the somewhat surprising statement from Rabbi Simeon ben Gamliel in Tractate Ta’anit that “There were no greater festivals for Israel than the 15th of Av and Yom Kippur“? What about Shavuot, when we celebrate receiving the Torah? One would imagine celebrating the cornerstone of the Jewish people would rank higher than this little-known minor holiday.

According to the Lubavitcher Rebbe, it’s the timing more than anything that makes this holiday special. All the myriad reasons behind Tu b’Av, which on their own may appear negligible, represent a counterpoint to a tragic event in our collective Jewish past. Tu b’Av is a rebound, a new beginning.

Find out what this festival is all about at either of two Metro area events. Judaism Your Way and B’nai Havurah are holding the annual Jewish Evening of Love at the Butterfly Pavillion, or at Shalom Park, is a collaborative Tu b’Av Musical Experience, with area musicians. If you attend either event, report back and let us know what you thought. Did it embody that sense of new beginnings, of a push out of the darkness and into the color?