Tu b’Av, the 15th day (full moon) of the month of Av (July–August), is a minor holiday that in Second Temple times celebrated the beginning of the grape harvest in ancient Israel. The term “Tu” derives from the Hebrew alphabetical form for the number “15”: ט (9) plus ו (6). Although adding י (10) plus ה (5) to get יה (15) would be mathematically more logical, this spelling is not used because it is one of the holy names of God.¹

According to the Mishnah, on this day (as well as on Yom Kippur) “the daughters of Jerusalem used to dress in white garments [which they borrowed so as not to put to shame anyone who had none] and go out and dance in the vineyards [and young men would follow after them]” (Taan. 4:8; 26b). This may imply that the afternoons of Yom Kippur and the 15th of Av, which follows the mourning fast of the Ninth of Av, are periods of forgiveness. According to one tradition, during the 40th year of their wandering in the wilderness, on Tu b’Av the Israelites were finally forgiven for the sins of the spies. Those from the Exodus generation who had survived received a divine pardon sparing them from death, and thus they were permitted to enter the Promised Land (Taan. 30b).²

The Talmud reports other events that occurred on this date as reasons for this minor holiday (Taan. 30b–31a; BB 121a, b). No longer was an Israelite woman prohibited from marrying a man from a different tribe if she had inherited land from her father in the absence of any male heirs. Originally established in the case of the daughters of Zelophehad (Num. 36:8) to prevent land shifting from the inheritance of one tribe to another, this rule was no longer required once the land had been divided after the conquest of Canaan. Also on this date, the Benjamites were readmitted into the community and were no longer prohibited from marrying members of the other tribes (because of the incident of the concubine of Gibeah in Judges 21:18). These two events, combined with the talmudic description of young maidens dancing in the vineyards, led to Tu b’Av eventually becoming a day when women could actively search for an eligible husband.³

On Tu b’Av, the Romans finally permitted the burial of the remains of the Jewish soldiers who had fallen three years earlier in the defense of Betar, the last stronghold of Bar Kokhba. This event was considered so momentous for the Jews of that time that it led to the composition of a fourth blessing in the Grace after Meals (ha-tov v’ha-meitiv; “Who is good and does good”), which thanks God both for not permitting these corpses to decay and spread disease and for making the Romans finally allow the Jews to bury them.⁴

Tu b’Av was the last day that kindling for the Temple altar could be chopped, because thereafter the sun would no longer be hot enough to dry the wood (Taan. 31a). It therefore represented the turning point of the sun’s heat from scorching to bearable—a first hint of the revivifying autumn, just as Tu b’Shevat (exactly six months earlier) was the harbinger of the upcoming spring.⁵

The prohibition against planting crops during the sabbatical year began on Tu b’Av, a month and a half before the actual beginning of the sabbatical year on the following Rosh Hashanah.

In Israel today, the radio airwaves on Tu b’Av are filled with songs of love. After the absence of weddings throughout the Three Weeks, the matrimonial season gets into high gear on Tu b’Av. As a minor festival, Tu b’Av is considered a day of joy, so that the bride and groom are not required to fast on their wedding day.

¹ Frankel and Teutsch, 182.

Taan. Ta’anit (Talmud)

² Strassfeld, 89.

BB Bava Batra (Talmud)

³ Ibid., 89–90.

⁴ Ibid., 90.

⁵ Waskow, Seasons of Our Joy, 213.

Eisenberg, Ronald L.: The JPS Guide to Jewish Traditions. 1st ed. Philadelphia : The Jewish Publication Society, 2004, S. 307