RJ Blog

by Sharon Mann One of the pleasures of living in Israel is marking daily life according to the Jewish calendar; we chart our course through the year from Jewish holiday to Jewish holiday. When I moved to Israel, it was easy for me to forgo some of the holidays that I grew up with in America that I knew had a distinctly non-Jewish origin. It was also a pleasant surprise to discover other holidays here that unite Israelis across the spectrum – such as Tu B’Av, also known as the festival of love. Tu B’Av (the 15th of the month [...]

by Rabbi Jordi Schuster Battis The saddest period in the Jewish yearly cycle takes place in the summer months. Beginning with the 17th of Tammuz, which marks the breaching of the Temple walls by the Romans in 70 CE, our tradition calls for increasing mourning, climaxing three weeks later on the 9th of Av (Tishah B’Av), when the Temple was destroyed. What a surprise, then, that falling only a few days after Tishah B’Av, the 15th of Av (Tu B’Av) is described in the Talmud as one of the two happiest days of the Jewish calendar! According to the Mishnah, [...]

by Leon Adato(Originally published on The Edible Torah) Now that we’ve gotten past a particular heart-and-candy themed holiday, I wanted to rise to the challenge posed by my friend and fellow blogger, Phil Setnik: In his response to my post about Valentine’s Day, Phil commented: “I challenge you this way: Take back your celebrations to your bosoms and return them to what they are supposed to be. Learn what the days mean, celebrate and commemorate them as they should be.” I’m working on a separate post on  how it feels like being a Jewish parent sometimes means playing a game [...]

by Phyllis Sommer(Originally posted on Ima On and Off the Bima) Wednesday is Tu B’Av, a relatively unknown “holiday” in the Jewish calendar. Coming fast on the heels of Tisha B’Av (the 9th of Av), Tu B’Av (the 15th of Av) is completely its opposite. It is a Jewish “love” day – young unmarried girls would dance in white dresses and sing in the vineyards of Jerusalem. Less than a week after the mournful day of Tisha B’Av, Tu B’Av offers a respite, a reminder that life goes on, that love goes on, that we must endure and continue to [...]

By JanetheWriter With Tisha B’Av now behind us, we turn our hearts (literally) to the next (minor) holiday on the Jewish calendar – Tu B’Av – which this year, begins on Tuesday night, August 4th.  Tu B’Av?  What’s that?  According to My Jewish Learning, Tu B’Av, which, like Tisha B’Av, takes its name from its place in the lunar calendar (the 15th of the month of Av) “served as a matchmaking day for unmarried women in the second Temple period (before the fall of Jerusalem in 70 C.E.).”  The article continues, “Tu B’Av was almost unnoticed in the Jewish calendar for [...]