32 | JULY 22 • 2021
The Great Restoration
S
lowly but surely, the
lives we enjoyed B.C.
(Before COVID) are
beginning to return. We’re
beginning to have Shabbos
guests again,
and schools are
planning on
returning to
(almost) nor-
mal in the fall.
Shuls are slowly
returning to
normal, planning
full in-person High Holiday
services and even bringing back
their Kiddushes.
As we return to these parts
of our lives, we can now better
appreciate what we previously
took for granted. After living
our lives apart, we find new joy
in reconnecting. These causes
for celebration enable us to find
new meaning in the upcoming
“minor” holiday of Tu b’
Av (the
15th of the month of Av).
Although seemingly minor,
the Mishnah (Taanit 26b)
describes it as one of the two
happiest days of the Jewish
calendar (the other is Yom
Kippur, though that’s for anoth-
er discussion). Those somewhat
familiar with it know it as the
Jewish Valentine’s Day. When
the Temple still stood, single
women would borrow each
other’s white dresses (so as to
not embarrass those whose
dresses weren’t as beautiful) and
dance in the fields. Single men
would see the women dancing,
approach them and, eventually,
get married.
The Gemara (Ta’anit 30b)
asks why Tu b’
Av is such a
happy day and provides six
explanations (30b-31a). Each of
them can be better appreciated
in light of our year and a half
of COVID and our return to
normalcy.
The first is that it celebrates
the end of the Israelites’ dying
in the desert. The spies came
back with their report about
the Promised Land on the
night of Tisha b’
Av. According
to the Midrash, as part of the
Israelites’ punishment for
accepting the spies’ defama-
tion, they had to dig their own
graves and lie in them the night
of Tisha b’
Av not knowing if
they would wake up the next
morning. That morning, those
who lived that year got up,
while those who died would
remain in the graves they had
dug for themselves.
In their 40th year, the
Israelites dug their own graves
again, but, the next morning,
they were surprised to discover
that no one had died the previ-
ous night. They assumed that
they must have miscalculated
the date, so they lied in their
graves the next night. And then
the next. And then the next.
Finally, by the 15th of Av, they
noticed the full moon, and
realized that they had not erred
after all, and that G-d had final-
ly ended the annual plague.
Right now, we are finally
beginning to climb out of our
self-dug graves. Over the past
year and a half, we were con-
fining ourselves to our homes
whenever possible, unsure
when the plague would end.
Despite remaining mostly
homebound and masked out-
side, we were still anxious about
whether we may have somehow
caught it from a delivery person
or someone in a store. Those
of us who had to work in per-
son were terrified of catching
COVID from a coworker, and
even more terrified should
we see them cough. Those
living by themselves couldn’t
receive visitors or help other
than deliver meal packages
and feared dying alone with no
one able to help. With COVID
finally ebbing, we have finally
seen the full moon signifying
the end to this plague.
TIME TO MARRY
Two other reasons given
relate to marriage. Shmuel of
Nehardea of third-century
Babylonia teaches that, in the
desert, the Israelites of each
tribe weren’t allowed to inter-
marry with those of other
tribes. It was on Tu b’
Av that
they were given permission to
do so.
The third- to fourth-century
Babylonian sage Rav Nachman
answers that Tu b’
Av was the
day when the rest of Israel
found a way to intermarry with
the tribe of Benjamin. At the
end of Judges, the rest of Israel
wages war against and routs the
tribe of Benjamin (Judges 20:14-
48). Right after the war, the
men of Israel swear that they
will never let their daughters
marry them (Judges 21:1). Soon
afterward, their feelings toward
Benjamin change; they regret
making the vow, but they are
nonetheless constrained by it
(Judges 21:3-18). It is on Tu b’
Av
that they figure out a loophole
enabling Benjamin to marry
into the rest of Israel (Judges
21:19-23).
Because of COVID, wed-
dings have either been put on
hold or held outdoors with
a limited number of guests.
While there were certainly
dates, many single people, espe-
cially those who are immuno-
compromised, did not, making
them undoubtedly feel very
lonely. For those unable to date
or marry due to COVID, Tu
b’
Av symbolizes and expresses
their renewed ability to date
and marry again.
Even for those of us who
were already married, COVID
has also prevented us from
connecting with others. Friends
had been unable to meet other
than over Zoom or socially
Rabbi David
Polsky
SPIRIT
A WORD OF TORAH
The special significance of Tu b’Av in light of COVID.