Tonight marks the beginning of Tu B’Av, the 15th day of the month of Av. Unlike Tisha B’Av—a day of solemn mourning for the destruction of the Temples—Tu B’Av features celebrations of love and hope. According to the Talmud, Tu B’Av represents the day when marital matches were made among the People of Israel, citing an obscure tale from the Book of Judges.
Following a civil war against the tribe of Benjamin, the tribes of Israel vow never to promise a daughter to the 600 male survivors of the conflict. Later, the Israelites relent and despair, realizing that they have sentenced an entire tribe to obliteration. However, they cannot abandon their vow, so they instruct each survivor of Benjamin to approach women dancing outside of Shiloh during a festival and to find among them a bride before returning to Benjaminite territory.
In many ways, love serves as the antidote to the vast human suffering chronicled throughout the Book of Judges. The love shared between the tribes ends the enmity of civil war, while the marriages kindled during the ceremony emphatically punctuate the end of a book filled with senseless violence, betrayal, and bloodshed. In fact, the first king of Israel—Saul—is selected from the progeny of these marriages in the succeeding chapters of the Hebrew Bible, illustrating how restorative the choice to love becomes for our people.
As we enter Tu B’Av, our tradition asks us how we can lead and heal with love. We wish each of you an uplifting and inspiring Tu B’Av, we invite you to share your #TuBAv love story with us on @WiseLA on twitter.
—Rabbi Josh Knobel