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.

The first appearance of Tu B’Av in our tradition is also the best known. As early as 200 C.E., none other than Rabban Shimon Ben Gamliel, the Exilarch of the Jewish People, pronounced that: There were no days as happy for the Jewish people as the 15th of Av and as Yom Kippur. (Mishnah Ta’anit 4:8)

In a recent conversation with a bar mitzvah student, we were discussing what seems to be a paradox between Yom Kippur—the day of affliction—and Sukkot—a festival of joy. This smart student asked: “Well, is Yom Kippur only sad?”

When preparing for the High Holy Days, I think often of the energy of Ne’ilah, the final service of Yom Kippur. I think of the pace picking up, the excitement growing, the release at the final blast of the shofar. The rabbis must have been thinking of that energy as well—or some version of it—when they explained the teaching as such: “Yom Kippur is a day of joy because it has the elements of pardon and forgiveness. To them, it is obvious that Yom Kippur is a day of joy—because it represents possibility and new hope, the potential of forgiveness, of a new beginning.” (Babylonian Talmud, Ta’anit 30b)

But, why Tu B’Av, the rabbis ask? How could it possibly be that this minor observance—not even a holiday—is on the same plane as Yom Kippur?

Janice Greenwald, writing for Hadassah, lists the eight events that, according to the Talmud, happened on Tu B’Av. Mirroring the list of events associated with Tisha B’Av last week, we learn that:

  1. Tu B’Av marked the end of the “desert generation.” After 40 years, the generation that had been liberated from Egyptian slavery died off and the new generation was finally ready to enter the Promised Land.
  2. Tu B’Av marked the time when the tribes of Israel were permitted to intermarry. This next generation of women was granted permission to marry whomever they desired (within Israel) since the land had been allocated among the various tribes.
  3. Tu B’Av marked the restoration of the tribe of Benjamin. Six hundred surviving males from the tribe of Benjamin were permitted to marry a daughter from Shiloh. This saved the tribe from extinction.
  4. Tu B’Av became a time of celebration in Jerusalem. It was celebrated as a time of reconciliation for the sin of the 10 spies who came bearing such negative reports that the entire nation was reduced to panic. Later it became known as a time of summer dancing and a courtyard celebration. Girls would exchange white clothing with one another so that their prospects would not know who could afford expensive dresses and who was borrowing them.
  5. Tu B’Av marked the end of Jeroboam’s blockade against Jerusalem. This was King Jeroboam, an evil ruler of the Northern Kingdom of Israel whose roadblocks were removed on the 15th of Av, allowing people to make the pilgrimage into Jerusalem again.
  6. Tu B’Av marked the time of “Breaking of the Hatchets.” After this date it was forbidden to cut down trees or use them in the Temple offering fires.
  7. Tu B’Av marked the end of the year for planting. Trees and crops planted after this date are considered to take root after Rosh Hashanah and therefore belong to the following year for the purpose of the Sabbatical Year.
  8. Tu B’Av marks the final Jewish holiday of the year. Since it falls on the 15th of the month, Tu B’Av is a night of the full moon; and since the Ninth of Av (Tisha B’av) recalls the history of Jewish tragedy, the full moon of Av represents the transformation of darkness into light, sorrow into joy.

In short, Tu B’Av—the last holiday (other than Shabbat) of 5783, and the first holiday after Shabbat Nachamu (the Shabbat of Consolation)—also celebrates potential. It celebrates the possibility of forgiveness, of new beginnings, of new relationships, of love, of faith.

And so, while Tu B’Av is celebrated in Israel today much as Valentine’s Day is celebrated in the United States—full of marketing and commercialization and chocolates—it is, at its heart, a celebration of hope, love, and potential. Happy Tu B’Av to all of us!

​​​​​​​—Rabbi Sari Laufer