Tu B’Av gives a glimpse of the closeness we can obtain
Every Yom Tov carries a unique energy. Tu B’Av, the 15th of Av, is no exception. In fact, the Gemara tells us that Klal Yisrael “had no days as festive as Tu B’Av and Yom Kippur” (Taanis 30b).
Come Tu B’Av, we may vaguely recall that it’s a special day, somehow connected with weddings, and proceed with our normal routine. But a special day carries spiritual opportunities. What can we access on this day?
The Talmud lists six events that occurred on Tu B’Av. The generation of the desert, condemned to die there and not enter the land, dug graves on the Ninth of Av. In the last year, the men dug their graves but no one died. When the 15th of Av arrived, they realized that the punishment was over. The group was allowed to enter the land.
What else happened on Tu B’Av? After the episode of Pilegesh b’Givah, the tribes refrained from marrying into the tribe of Binyamin. On Tu B’Av, this was lifted, and the tribes could intermarry. Additionally, following the case of the Bnos Tzelafchad, who inherited their father’s portion in Eretz Yisrael, women who inherited were not allowed to marry someone from a different tribe, so the land remained within that tribe. On Tu B’Av, this prohibition ceased.
After Yeravam split the kingdom in two, he posted guards along the roads leading to Yerushalayim. On Tu B’Av Hoshea ben Elah removed the sentries that stopped people from going up to the Beis Hamikdash. Tu B’Av also marked the last day of summer when the Jewish People chopped wood for the Mizbeiach, to be held in storage. It was also the day when burial was permitted for the casualties of Beitar.
The Gemara then describes how each year the girls of Yerushalayim would go out to dance in the vineyards with borrowed white clothing. This way, the men found their matches. The Gemara concludes that in the future Hashem will make a circle of tzaddikim, and He will be in the center. The tzaddikim will point to Hashem as the One who saved them.
This Gemara raises many questions, says Rav Schlesinger in Eleh Heim Mo’adai. Jewish history is replete with major events; most do not lead to the creation of a festival. What is so special about these seeming random events? Is there a theme that links them on a deeper level?
Hashem’s Partners
The Gemara says that 40 days before a child is born, a heavenly voice proclaims who the person is destined to marry. Bnei Yissachar cites this to explain one aspect of Tu B’Av’s significance, pointing out that it falls out 40 days before the 25th of Elul, the day when the world was created. It’s as if on this day, Hashem is once again proclaiming that the Jews are destined to be His “partner” in this world.
Thus we find the underlying theme of the day. This was why the tribes could marry each other, and the girls went out to find a marriage partner. This focus on marriage inspires us to reexamine our relationship with Hashem, and strengthen our connection with Him. Rav Tzvi Meir Zilberberg, in Sichos His’chazkus, notes that on this day an aspect of forgiveness, akin to that of Yom Kippur, enters the world. The imagery of the women wearing borrowed white clothing symbolizes the “borrowed” level of purity we each receive on this day, which allows us to make strides in our spiritual growth.
On this day we can get a glimpse of what level of closeness we can obtain, and then we need to spend the next period earning it for ourselves. Because of the exalted level of the day, we are told to spend it wisely in tefillah, teshuvah, and Torah study.
Day of Prayer
Rav Schorr in Lekach V’halebuv notes that Tu B’Av marked the beginning of Moshe Rabbeinu’s 515 tefillos to enter Eretz Yisrael. He intuitively felt that this day was auspicious for tefillah. Rav Mordechai Druk in Darash Mordechai notes that the power of tefillah is poignantly seen from the generation of the desert that stopped dying that year. He describes the prayers of those last 15,000 men, who knew that death was imminent. They reached deep into themselves, faced the certainty of their deaths, and begged Hashem to be saved.
In the previous years, no one knew for sure if they were going to be the ones to die, so their tefillos were not as powerful. In the 40th year, the tone of their tefillah changed drastically; they realized that they had no one to turn to except Hashem. Indeed, Hashem heard these tefillos and annulled the decree. These 15,000 men were able to enter the land. This becomes paradigmatic for each of us, to cry out on Tu B’Av to ask Hashem to annul difficult decrees.
Tu B’Av is half a month before Elul begins, but Rav Schorr notes that on this day the heavens begin to set up the “chairs” for the judgment. This is the time to start the teshuvah process. Tu B’Av sees the waning of summer, when the days begin to get shorter and the nights longer. Hence, as Rashi notes on the Gemara, from Tu B’Av, they stopped cutting the wood for the Mizbeiach, since the sun is not as strong, and they were afraid that the wood would not dry out sufficiently and therefore become infested with worms.
The longer nights are meant for a person to dedicate to an increase in learning Torah. Tu B’Av is a wonderful time for each of us to commit to choosing something special to learn that will inspire and guide us at this time of year. Our response to the preparation for judgment up Above should be spending time on this day in tefillah, and renewing a commitment to Torah study straight through the Yamim Noraim.
The Secret of Connection
This day, on which the tribes could marry one another, reflects the theme of brotherhood and love, notes Rav Tzvi Meir Zilberberg. The Jews being allowed to come to the Beis Hamikdash is another reflection of this connection.
A crucial preparation for the Yamim Noraim is to sensitize ourselves to the feelings of others. Indeed, the letter corresponding to the month of Av is the letter tes. This letter reflects the word tov, goodness. Just as the top of the tes is bent inward, often goodness is concealed within events. The focus of the month is to be able to see the aspect of goodness in others — and in all that transpires in this world.
Chazal (Midrash Hagadol, Shemos 8) teach that one who denies the goodness that another does for him will in the end deny the goodness that Hashem does for him. Rav Zev Leff in Festivals of Life notes that this aspect of appreciation is the bedrock of a strong marriage. Husband and wife do countless small acts of kindness to each other — and by noticing and showing appreciation even for the small acts, a strong connection is forged.
On Tu B’Av, the day when shidduchim are being made, we can notice and show appreciation for the small building blocks of our relationships. Further, by honing our sensitivity even for the small things, we’ll increase our appreciation for all that Hashem does for us.
We see this in the brachah that Chazal instituted for the miracle of Beitar. “Hatov v’hameitiv” — a twofold appreciation. Hatov, that the bodies did not decompose, and hameitiv, that they were able to be brought to burial. The Yom Tov of Tu B’Av is a unique opportunity to spend time focusing on the tov, the goodness found in our lives and in our relationship with others.
Taste of Redemption
Rav Moshe Wolfson in Emunas Itecha examines this day from yet another perspective. When we look at the structure of Pesach, we see that the first and last days are Yamim Tovim, with a bridge of Chol Hamoed. In the future, Tishah B’Av will become a moed. The seventh day after Tishah B’Av will be the culmination of that festival of redemption — Tu B’Av. Just as the seventh day marks the height of Pesach, so, too, Tu B’Av will be the peak of the festival of redemption.
Although most holidays create an energy and light that affect our observance thereafter, there is a concept of ohr chozer, a light that influences the day even before the main event has happened. So we see, Avraham Avinu prepared matzos even before Yetzias Mistrayim. On Seder night as we sing Nirtzah and we recount the many wondrous miracles took place on the night of the Exodus hundreds of years prior to the Jews’ redemption. The future light creates sparks of salvation that can be felt even before the intensity of that light is revealed.
Tu B’Av is such a day. The events of Tu B’Av are not intrinsically special — it’s what they indicate that’s unique. They whisper of redemption to come. They hint of a future day that will be an ecstatic celebration of our redemption. So much so, that even today we feel something of that greatness.
Tu B’Av, then, is a day that celebrates our yearning and desire for the ultimate time of redemption. With this we can appreciate why it is the women who go out and dance. A woman’s strength is in her emunah: her ability to hold steadfast to the belief that redemption will come. The borrowed clothing of the women indicated the fact that the redemption was not yet ours — it was still just a yearning.
The dance took place in a vineyard, since wine is a symbol of the passionate connection with Hashem, the aspect of deep emotional belief. It’s therefore appropriate that on this day, the rabbanim of Yavneh instituted the brachah of hatov v’hameitiv on drinking fine wine. This brachah is part of the yearning of Yavneh, yibaneh, that the Beis Hamikdash will be built. The women’s dance in the vineyards mirrored that ultimate dance that we are long for: when the tzaddikim will dance around Hashem in celebration of the ultimate redemption.
