The 15th of Av: Love and Rebirth
The Jewish mini-holiday of Tu B’Av
The 15th of
Av is undoubtedly a most mysterious day. A search of the
Shulchan Aruch (
Code of Jewish Law) reveals no observances or customs for this date, except for the instruction that the
tachanun
(confession of sins) and similar portions should be omitted from the
daily prayers (as is the case with all festive dates), and that one
should increase one’s study of
Torah, since the nights are begining to grow longer, and “the night was created for study.” And the
Talmud tells us that many years ago the “daughters of
Jerusalem would go dance in the vineyards” on the 15th of Av, and “whoever
did not have a wife would go there” to find himself a bride.
And the Talmud considers this the greatest
festival of the year, with
Yom Kippur (!) a close second!
Indeed, the 15th of Av cannot but be a mystery. As the “full
moon” of the tragic month of Av, it is the festival of the future
redemption, and thus a day whose essence, by definition, is unknowable
to our unredeemed selves.
Yet also the unknowable is also ours to seek and explore.
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