{"id":2516,"date":"2019-08-05T07:00:54","date_gmt":"2019-08-05T11:00:54","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/hebrew\/?p=2516"},"modified":"2019-07-20T12:08:35","modified_gmt":"2019-07-20T16:08:35","slug":"all-about-tu-bav-the-hebrew-valentines-day","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/hebrew\/all-about-tu-bav-the-hebrew-valentines-day\/","title":{"rendered":"All about Tu B\u2019Av: The Hebrew Valentine\u2019s Day"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Image via Pixabay<\/p><\/div>\n

Every year on the 15th day of Av (the eleventh month in the Hebrew calendar) Jewish people celebrate the holiday of Tu B\u2019Av (this year on August 15, 2019).<\/p>\n

Tu B\u2019Av (<\/strong>\u05d8”\u05d5 \u05d1\u05d0\u05d1)<\/strong> is the most mysterious Jewish festival (<\/strong>\u05d7\u05b7\u05d2)<\/strong>. We don\u2019t know exactly how early it began. The first mention of this date (<\/strong>\u05ea\u05bc\u05b7\u05d0\u05b2\u05e8\u05b4\u05d9\u05da\u05b0)<\/strong> is in the\u00a0Mishnah\u00a0(a written collection of the Jewish\u00a0oral traditions compiled in the second century), where Rabban Shimon ben Gamliel is quoted saying: \u201fThere were no better days for the people of Israel than the Fifteenth of Av and\u00a0Yom Kippur\u201d.<\/p>\n

The tachanun<\/em>, a confession of sins, is part of\u00a0Judaism\u2019s morning and afternoon services. On\u00a0Shabbat,\u00a0holidays\u00a0and several other occasions (e.g., in the presence of a groom in the week after his marriage), the tachanun<\/em> is omitted. The same is true during Tu B\u2019Av. Another custom (<\/strong>\u05de\u05b4\u05e0\u05b0\u05d4\u05b8\u05d2)<\/strong> of Tu B\u2019Av is that one should increase one\u2019s study of the Torah.<\/p>\n

The third custom associated with the holiday (<\/strong>\u05d7\u05b7\u05d2)<\/strong> is the one that determined its modern character. It is said in the Mishnah, that on this day the unmarried girls of Jerusalem, dressed in white (<\/strong>\u05dc\u05b8\u05d1\u05b8\u05df)<\/strong> garments, went out to dance in the vineyards (<\/strong>\u05db\u05b0\u05bc\u05e8\u05b8\u05de\u05c5\u05d9\u05dd)<\/strong>. \u201f What were they saying: Young man, consider whom you choose (to be your wife)\u201d (Babylonian Talmud, tractate Ta\u2019anit\u00a030b\u201331a).<\/p>\n

In that previous quote there is no explanation for the celebration (<\/strong>\u05d7\u05b2\u05d2\u05b4\u05d9\u05d2\u05b8\u05d4)<\/strong>, and so Jewish scholars over the years have provided various suggestions. Six reasons for celebrating (<\/strong>\u05dc\u05b7\u05d7\u05b0\u05d2\u05bc\u05b9\u05d5\u05d2)<\/strong> on Tu B\u2019Av are cited by Jewish ancient texts. These include removing of the sentries on the road leading to Jerusalem and allowing all the twelve tribes\u00a0to once again have access to the\u00a0Temple, for example. Jewish scholars of recent centuries attribute Tu B\u2019Av as an agricultural festival. They assumed the ancient (<\/strong>\u05e7\u05b8\u05d3\u05d5\u05bc\u05dd)<\/strong> holiday was celebrated in the vineyards because it was originated in the agricultural lifestyle of the Israelites.<\/p>\n

In its modern incarnation, however, Tu B\u2019Av became a Hebrew-Jewish Day of Love (<\/strong>\u05d0\u05b7\u05d4\u05b2\u05d1\u05b8\u05d4)<\/strong>. It is called \u05d7\u05b7\u05d2<\/strong> \u05d4\u05b8\u05d0\u05b7\u05d4\u05b2\u05d1\u05b8\u05d4<\/strong> (literally meaning holiday of love<\/em>), and although it\u2019s a regular workday, it became \u05e1\u05b4\u05d9\u05d1\u05bc\u05b8\u05d4<\/strong> \u05dc\u05c5\u05de\u05b0\u05e1\u05b4\u05d9\u05d1\u05bc\u05b8\u05d4 (a reason to party<\/em>)<\/strong>. It\u2019s celebrated during the summer (usually falls on July or August), always on a full moon night. Tu B\u2019Av celebrations resemble Valentine\u2019s Day. Couples use the occasion to show affection (<\/strong>\u05d7\u05b4\u05d9\u05d1\u05bc\u05b8\u05d4)<\/strong> to each other, sending flowers and chocolate, going out to romantic (<\/strong>\u05e8\u05d5\u05b9\u05de\u05b7\u05e0\u05b0\u05d8\u05b4\u05d9)<\/strong> dates. But not only couples: singles and families enjoy a variety of live concerts, dancing festivals, night tours and gourmet dinners on Tu B\u2019Av.<\/p>\n

For advanced reading in Hebrew check out this<\/a> article about Tu B\u2019Av.<\/p>\n

Happy Tu B\u2019Av, everyone!<\/strong><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Text vocabulary<\/u><\/p>\n

Tu B\u2019Av = \u05d8”\u05d5 \u05d1\u05d0\u05d1<\/p>\n

Festival = \u05d7\u05b7\u05d2, \u05de\u05d5\u05b9\u05e2\u05b5\u05d3<\/p>\n

Holiday = \u05d7\u05b7\u05d2, \u05d7\u05bb\u05e4\u05b0\u05e9\u05c1\u05b8\u05d4<\/p>\n

Date = \u05ea\u05bc\u05b7\u05d0\u05b2\u05e8\u05b4\u05d9\u05da\u05b0<\/p>\n

Custom = \u05de\u05b4\u05e0\u05b0\u05d4\u05b8\u05d2<\/p>\n

White = \u05dc\u05b8\u05d1\u05b8\u05df<\/p>\n

Vineyard = \u05db\u05bc\u05b6\u05e8\u05b6\u05dd<\/p>\n

Celebration = \u05d7\u05b2\u05d2\u05b4\u05d9\u05d2\u05b8\u05d4<\/p>\n

To celebrate = \u05dc\u05b7\u05d7\u05b0\u05d2\u05bc\u05b9\u05d5\u05d2<\/p>\n

Ancient = \u05e2\u05b7\u05ea\u05bc\u05b4\u05d9\u05e7, \u05e7\u05b8\u05d3\u05d5\u05bc\u05dd<\/p>\n

Love = \u05d0\u05b7\u05d4\u05b2\u05d1\u05b8\u05d4<\/p>\n

Affection = \u05d7\u05b4\u05d9\u05d1\u05bc\u05b8\u05d4<\/p>\n

Romantic = \u05e8\u05d5\u05b9\u05de\u05b7\u05e0\u05b0\u05d8\u05b4\u05d9<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Keep Calm and Learn Hebrew!<\/span><\/h3>\n
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<\/h4>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"\"\"

Every year on the 15th day of Av (the eleventh month in the Hebrew calendar) Jewish people celebrate the holiday of Tu B\u2019Av (this year on August 15, 2019). Tu B\u2019Av (\u05d8”\u05d5 \u05d1\u05d0\u05d1) is the most mysterious Jewish festival (\u05d7\u05b7\u05d2). We don\u2019t know exactly how early it began. The first mention of this date (\u05ea\u05bc\u05b7\u05d0\u05b2\u05e8\u05b4\u05d9\u05da\u05b0)…<\/p>\n

Continue Reading<\/a><\/p>","protected":false},"author":135,"featured_media":2517,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"content-type":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2516","post","type-post","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/hebrew\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2516","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/hebrew\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/hebrew\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/hebrew\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/135"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/hebrew\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2516"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/hebrew\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2516\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2519,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/hebrew\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2516\/revisions\/2519"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/hebrew\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2517"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/hebrew\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2516"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/hebrew\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2516"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/hebrew\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2516"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}