Wednesday, August 2 is Tu B’Av—the 15th day of the month of Av. Originally an obscure date mentioned in the Mishnah and the Babylonian Talmud, it has found a renaissance as a Day of Love in modern Israel.
In explaining Tu B’Av, the rabbis of the Talmud reference a story that long predates the destruction of the Temple, but is nonetheless connected. Remember that the generation of Egypt, the first generation to enter the wilderness—and also the generation to build the Golden Calf—was told that they would die in the wilderness. Throughout the books of Torah, we read about the growth of the new generations, of their preparations to enter the Promised Land, of what it means to be ready. And so, we read this story:
All 40 years that they were in the desert, every Erev Tisha B’av, the proclaimer would go out and say: let each individual go out and dig [his grave]. And every single person would go out and dig for themselves a grave, and sleep in it, in case they would die before they had dug. And the next day, the proclaimer would go out and proclaim: let the living separate themselves from the dead. And every one who had the soul of life would rise and go out [of his grave]. And every year they would do this.
And in the 40th year, they did it, and the next morning everyone stood up alive. And when they saw this, they were astonished, and they said, ‘Perhaps we made a mistake in calculating the month [and it is not yet Tisha B’Av].’ They returned and slept in their graves each night until the 15th, and since they saw that the moon was full on Tu [B’av] and no one had died among them, they knew that the calculation of the month was in line, and that the 40 years of the decree had been completed, they established that day as a Yom Tov.
—Babylonian Talmud, Ta’anit 30b
I wonder if this new generation, rising from the graves, wondered—as we do with COVID—is this it? Are we “post-Egypt” now? Are we ready for the Promised Land? And–how do we leave behind what was in order to prepare for what will be?
I recently had the honor of accompanying someone to the mikvah following their divorce. Wanting specifically to claim this time for themselves, and usher themselves into a new chapter, we focused the ritual on the space between endings and new beginnings. It was, as I remarked, a fitting ritual for these days of Av. On the Ninth of Av we marked the destruction of the Temple; every day afterwards is meant to be one of rebuilding, leading us to the start of a New Year.
We are meant, each of us, to see this week—and the next six—as that incredible morning, awakening to rebuilding and reimagining our relationships, our lives, and maybe even our world.
—Rabbi Sari Laufer