Av, is one of the
lesser-known days on
the Jewish calendar
though it's traditional
modern focus is on
romance.
says, "There were no holidays so joyous
for the Jewish People as the Fifteenth
of Av and Yom HaKippurim, for on those
days, daughters of Yerushalayim would
go out dressed in borrowed white
clothing (so that they would all look the
same).
The King's daughters would borrow from
those of the High Priest. Daughters of
the High Priest would borrow from the
Assistant High Priest's daughters;
daughters of the Assistant would borrow
from the daughters of the Priest
designated to lead the People in times of
War, the Kohen Anointed for War's
daughters would borrow from the
daughters of the Ordinary Priest. And
the daughters of the rest of the Jewish
People would borrow from each other, so
as not to embarass those who didn't
have."
The Talmud states that young women
clothed in borrowed white would dance
in the vineyards, where single males
would watch with a hopeful eye. The
Talmud also states that the young men
were advised to choose wisely and not
focus only on a woman?s physical
beauty, but on her overall virtues.
States the Talmud, Vanity is false, and
physical beauty is empty, [but] a
God-fearing woman is to be praised
(Taanit 31a).
Observance today is not widely
mentioned within the Messianic
movement. Though there is certainly no
harm in doing so and much to learn from
the Traditional observance. Within
other branches of Judaism, with the
exception of Chabad, observance is
limited to not reciting the tachanun, a
confession prayer. Also, brides and
grooms are released from having to fast
on their wedding day if the wedding is
held on Tu BAv.
There are no biblical mandates for
celebration but there are six reasons
given in the Talmud (Taanit 30b-31a) of
why Tu B'av was made a holiday:
1)Marriage between different tribes of
Israel was permitted that day. The ban
on inter-tribal marriage insured that
land would not pass out of the hands of
the tribe it originally belonged to. [See
BaMidbar {Numbers} 36]
Scripture tells us that the daughters of
Tzelafchad had come to Moses to ask
that they receive their father's
inheritance, since they had no brothers.
G-d told Moses to OK it, but that the
daughters had to marry within their
tribe of Binyamin, so that the land would
remain in their tribe. After the Jews
crossed into Israel, this restriction was
lifted on the 15th of Av.
2)Intermarriage with the tribe of
Benjamin was once again permitted after
the Pilegesh B'giva civil war. [See
Shof'tim {Judges} 21] At a later point
the tribe of Binyamin, which had
committed a major sin, was permitted
again on Tu B'Av to marry other tribes.
3)Traditionanl writings tell us the
generation that left Egypt ceased to die
in the wilderness on this day.
4)King Hosea permitted residents of the
Northern Kingdom to make the
pilgrimage to Jerusalem, once again.
5)The dead of the great fallen city of
Betar were granted burial by the Roman
government.
The Bar Kochva revolt of 135 A.D.
ended at Beitar in a bloody massacre.
The Roman general who executed it,
Adaryanus, refused to let the Jewish
bodies be buried. Only when another
general took over were the bodies
allowed to be buried, on the 15th of Av.
Traditon tells us that the bodies had
miraculously not decomposed.
F)In Israel, the fifteenth of Av signals
the sharp heat of the sun waning. So,
wood cut after that date was deemed
unfit for use on the Altar because it
might be infested with worms.