Rosh Chodesh Av

Rosh Chodesh Av

ראש חדש אב

Join us for minyan at 7am on Monday, July 16th, in the religious school assembly room.

Significance of the Month

Av, the fifth month of the Jewish calendar, is known as Menachem Av or “Comforting Av.” Av represents the saddest point in the Jewish calendar, and according to the Mishnah, “when the month of Av enters we become less joyful.” Rosh Chodesh Av falls in the three-week period known as bein ha-metzarim (literally “between the straits”) in which we mourn the destruction of both the first and second Temples. As the month progresses, we move forward from our mourning and begin to find comfort. We begin to look forward to the New Year, which is only seven weeks away.

Holidays

Tisha B’Av, or the Ninth of Av, is the saddest day in the Jewish calendar. On Tisha B’Av both the first and second Temples were burned to the ground. According to the Mishnah, five tragedies befell the Jewish people on Tisha B’Av: it was decreed that the generation of the desert would not enter the Land of Israel; the first Temple was destroyed; the second Temple was destroyed; Betar, the last Jewish stronghold after the destruction of Jerusalem, was conquered; and Jerusalem was plowed under. Tradition further teaches that other tragedies throughout history occurred to the Jews on Tisha B’Av. Some examples include the beginning of the First Crusade in 1095; the expulsion of Jews from Spain by King Ferdinand in 1492; and the beginning of World War One in 1914. Tisha B’Av has been adopted as a national day of mourning for all tragedies that have befallen the Jewish people. Restaurants and theaters are closed in Israel on Tisha B’Av. The mourning practices that began on the 17th of Tammuz intensify with Rosh Chodesh Av. At this point many people refrain from eating meat, drinking wine, wearing freshly laundered or new clothing, and from engaging in any joyous activity. Some begin the more severe restrictions only during the week during which Tisha B’Av falls. Tisha B’Av itself is a full fast day, just like Yom Kippur. In addition to refraining from eating and drinking, bathing, anointing oneself, wearing leather shoes and marital relations are prohibited.

The healing process from Tisha B’Av begins almost immediately. Just six days later, on the 15th of Av, we observe Tu B’Av. According to the Mishnah, “There were no holidays so joyous for the Jewish people as the 15th of Av and Yom HaKippurim.” On this day, unmarried Jewish women would borrow white dresses and dance in the fields, where single men would be waiting for them. Additionally, on this day in Biblical times, various bans against marrying between tribes were lifted.