By Zanna Linskaia
What does Tu B’ Av mean?
It is a minor Jewish holiday, and means the 15th day of the month of Av.
Modern Israel is celebrating it as a day of love, similar to Valentine’s Day.
However, it began long before that Christians have admired their own holiday.
Nobody knows exactly how Tu B’ Av began in ancient time, but according to
Mishnah, it started as a post - Biblical day of joy and served as a matching day
for unmarried women in the Second Temple period (before the fall of
Jerusalem in 70 c.e.) :
-There were no happier days for the people of Israel than the 15th of Av and
Yom Kippur ( the beginning and the end of the grape harvest) since on these
days the daughters of Israel go out dressed in white and dance in the
vineyards, saying: “Young men consider whom you choose to be your wife?”
The Gemara (interpretation of Talmud) says, that one of the explanations is
that on this day the Biblical tribes of Israel were permitted to mingle with each
other - to marry women from other tribes. Surprisingly, that in the Bible there
is no a prohibition on “intermarriage” among the 12 tribes of Israel.
Like many Jewish holidays, Tu B’Av begins on the night between 14 and 15th
day of Av, the time of full moon in our lunar calendar, linking with romance,
love and fertility that were common in ancient cultures. For many centuries
this holiday was forgotten, but in recent decades Israeli culture promotes
celebration and festivals of singing and dancing on the night of Tu B’ Av, that
starts this year between August 11 and August 12.
Celebrating this ancient and modern Jewish holiday, Burquest JCA presents
on August 10 the amazing performance of famous American musicals by one
and only Steve Levin with romantic settings in cabaret style. Join us for love
and being loved!
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