Tu B’Av is a day of rebirth, when the cut-down stem yields the ripe, sweet fruit. It is a door opening from death back into life. In its essence, Tu B’Av is a hinge between the time of mourning and the time of gladness, between the pathos of reaping and the celebration of harvest. Tu B’Av is an unlikely day of joy, coming as it does in a season of sadness. The Talmud tells that “Israel had no more joyful holidays than Yom Kippur and Tu B’Av.” In rabbinic tradition, Tu B’Av also marks a number of miraculous events relating to marriage, union, and rebirth-particularly, that this was the day on which the Israelites were redeemed from wandering in the wilderness and allowed to enter the land of Israel. They would sing to their potential lovers, telling them to choose goodness and integrity rather than good looks. They wore borrowed clothing so as not to shame any woman who did not have fine white clothing to wear. It is the moment when the fallen fruit breaks open to reveal the new seed.Īccording to the Talmud, Tu B’Av was a day when women went out in borrowed white clothing to dance in the field and choose spouses from among the men who came to dance with them. Yet Tu B’Av is a holiday of dancing and choosing lovers, a holiday of life. The first of Tammuz, when we recognize our exile and mortality, lingers in the heat of the air. It comes just six days after the 9th of Av, Tishah b’Av, the holiday of mourning, when the Temple is destroyed, when the Shekhinah grieves like a widow who has lost her mate. In Israel, Av is a month of extreme heat when nothing grows. Tu B’Av, the fifteenth of the month of Av, comes in July or August, at a time when the air is sweltering, the sun is ever-present, and the green plant life is wilting. “They shall build houses and dwell in them, they shall plant vineyards and enjoy their fruits…Īnd like the days of a tree shall be the days of my people…”Īngel: Lailah (angel of childbirth and of the hidden embryo) Text the Open Siddur Project Rabbi Jill Hammer, Ph.D. It is the moment when the fallen fruit breaks open to reveal the new seed. It comes just six days after the 9th of Av, Tishah b'Av, the holiday of mourning, when the Temple is destroyed, when the Shekhinah grieves like a widow who has lost her mate. ט״ו באב | The Fruit of Tu b’Av: explanation and ritual for the 15th of Av by R’ Jill Hammer 19:01:08 Tu B’Av, the fifteenth of the month of Av, comes in July or August, at a time when the air is sweltering, the sun is ever-present, and the green plant life is wilting.
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