Additional Thoughts on Tu B’Av

There is an ancient document, probably completed in the first or second century, known as Megillat Ta’anit, the Scroll of Fasts. In typical Jewish fashion, this work does not list various fast days as one might think, but rather all those dates on which one should not fast and in some cases on which one may not demonstrate acts of mourning at all. This is a list of days of celebration and rejoicing from the latter days of the Second Temple. Most of these dates mark victories primarily from the time of the Maccabees, the Hasmonean dynasty, most of which we cannot identify and which are no longer remembered except in this ancient compendium. The rabbis of the Talmud at some later date abolished this list of dates when one may not observe a fast, with the exception of the two holidays of Purim and Chanukah that we celebrate to this day. One other holiday mentioned here which we know of from the Mishnah and the Talmud as well is the establishment of the 15^th day of the month of Av, Tu B’Av, as a day of joyous celebration. Tu B’Av this year is on this Shabbat.

The rabbis of the Talmud provide us with a listing of six theories as to why this day was considered back then as one of the most joyous days of the year. On Tu B’AV and, surprisingly perhaps, on Yom Kippur, we are told that the young women of Jerusalem, clad in borrowed white dresses so as not to embarrass those whose wardrobe was limited, went out into the vineyards and danced circle dances. The young eligible bachelors looked on and were invited by the maidens to come forward and select their brides.

Why were these two days considered so joyous? Yom Kippur, according to rabbinic calculations is the day that recalls Moses descending from Sinai the second time with the second set of tablets of the Ten Commandments. On this day, we read that his face radiated with light and people who had so grievously sinned with the Golden Calf the first time he descended, were now forgiven. This truly was a day of atonement and we continue to celebrate year by year by seeking forgiveness for the sins of the past year on this day of atonement. Late in the afternoon of Yom Kippur seems like a good time to go out and dance in celebration and to encourage the formation of new families by young couples in the new year.

What about Tu B’Av? That is not so clear. What makes it a joyous day above others? It seems that it was an ancient festival, probably celebrating the grape harvest at that season. It is not mentioned as a biblical festival, but is a folk observance. Nonetheless, as I mentioned, the Talmud manages to suggest six possible reasons for the celebration.

We recently read in the Torah of the laws of inheritance expanded thanks to the five daughters of Zelophehad, to allow daughters to inherit land when there were no sons to be heirs to their father. One rule, in the days of the conquest and distribution of the land, however, limited these heiresses from marrying outside their tribe, so as not to diminish the holdings of their ancestral tribes. Tu B’Av marks the lifting of that decree for future generations. After the boundaries were set in the first generation, if a woman wanted to marry a Jew from another tribe, it was not problematic since her land would ultimately return to its original family of origin at the time of the Jubilee, fifty years hence.

Suggestion two, after the tribe of Benjamin was nearly exterminated following the outrage of the concubine at Gibeah mentioned toward the end of the book of Judges, the other tribes took an oath not to give their daughters in marriage to the surviving Benjaminites. The only solution they came up with was for the men of Benjamin to descend upon a group of women dancing and carry off a bride. Not a great solution. The oath however was determined to expire in the next generation and thus the twelfth tribe would survive and several generations later produce the first king of Israel, King Saul.

The third reason for celebration, was that on Tu B’Av the last of the generation condemned to die in the wilderness and not enter the land they had spurned, finally died out setting the stage for the new generation to conquer the land.

Reason four was that on this date the Israelite king Hoshea ben Elah removed the guards established by Jeroboam ben Nevat which had prevented the people of the Northern Kingdom from worshiping at the Temple in Jerusalem, thus bringing the two kingdoms together at the Temple.

Five, is that this was the date on which those killed at Betar at the time the Romans put down the Bar Kochba revolt on the 9^th of Av, and whom the Romans refused to allow to be buried, were finally allowed burial. This event is also celebrated in the fourth blessing of Birkat HaMazon. Showing respect for the honored dead is the first step to continuity of Jewish life after this abortive revolt.

Finally, in the Talmud, one of the rabbis suggests that this was the last date each year when trees could be cut down for use in the Temple sacrifices. After this date there was concern that the wood might be infested by insects and thus not appropriate for use in the Temple.

When so many reasons are suggested for a practice, one may indeed wonder if any of them are the real reason for the celebration. What is interesting is that almost all of these “reasons” suggested for festivities less than a week after Tisha B’Av when we mourn the calamities that have occurred to our people, point to a sense of renewal, reunification, and rebuilding. That is what we think of when we encourage young people to seek out partners and to build families. We think of the continuity of our people in spite of the losses and destruction.

Megillat Taanit, as mentioned before also tells us about Tu B’Av and they provide a different explanation. They tell of the period when the Greek authorities (i.e. Antiochus) would not allow the Jews to go up to Jerusalem to worship in the Temple. They did not even allow wood to be brought for the altar. The commentator of Megillat Taanit tells of a clever subterfuge used by some of the wood donors to accomplish their task. They made wooden ladders and went up to the city. When stopped by the authorities, they claimed that they needed the ladders to get up to the dovecotes and remove the birds. Once they arrived, they disassembled the ladders and offered the wood for the altar. This too was associated with Tu B’Av.

In the sixteenth century, Rabbi Shmuel Edels, whose commentary on the Talmud focuses on understanding the Aggadah, the non-halachic portions of the text, connects Tu B’Av with the building of the third Temple in Jerusalem at the time of redemption, the Messianic era. He cites Song of Songs which speaks of Shlomo (Solomon) on the day of his wedding canopy, the day of the rejoicing of his heart. The rabbis see this “Shlomo,” not as King Solomon, but as God Himself, the king sheha-shalom shelo, the King of Peace. The chuppah, the wedding canopy is the day on which the Torah was given and as for the day of simchat libo, the rejoicing of his heart, that is the day on which the Temple was built. Thus emerging from the sorrow and despair of Tisha B’Av, we affirm that on that day the Messiah was born, and on Tu B’Av, the fifteenth of Av, the Temple will one day be rebuilt. Tu B’Av with its joyful dancing and song, with its young people pairing off to create families represents the Jewish future.

It should be no surprise then that while traditional Jews mark this day simply by omitting tachanun, the prayers of supplication, secular Jews particularly in Israel have touched its essence as a day for expressing love and hope, the equivalent perhaps of Valentine’s Day in Israel.

The rabbis teach that when Adar begins, the month of Purim, our joy increases, but when Av begins it declines. We are warned not to engage in a lawsuit in Av. The later teachers ask, when does that period of sorrow and misfortune end? Some say after Tisha B’Av. Others say not until the first of Elul. However, it seems most likely that it actually ends on Tu B’Av, when we reaffirm our commitment to life and love and joy.

Chag Sameach! Happy Tu B’Av!

Shabbat Shalom,

Rabbi Edward Friedman.