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By: Rabbi Yitzchak Etshalom
The Mishnah in Ta’anit (4:8) records:
R. Shim’on ben Gamliel said: There never were greater days of joy in Yisra’el than the fifteenth of Av and Yom haKippurim. On these days the maidens of Yerushalayim used to go out in white garments which they borr owed in order not to put to shame any one who had none…The maidens of Yerushalayim came out and circle-danced in the vineyards…likewise it says: Go forth, daughters of Tziyyon, and gaze upon King Sh’lomo, even upon the crown with which his mother crowned him on the day of his wedding and on the day of the gladness of his heart. The day of his wedding , this refers to the day of the giving of the Law . And on the day of the gladness of his heart, this refers to the building of the Beit haMikdash, may it be built speedily in our days.
The opening statement here is truly astounding; comparing the obscure festival of the fifteenth of Av with the “singular day of the year” – Yom haKippurim – challenges our perception and understanding of the significance of the calendar. In analyzing this state ment, the Gemara (ibid. 30b-31a, see also BT Bava Batra 121a-b and JT Ta’anit 4:7) raises the following question:
I can understand the Yom haKippurim, because it is a day of forgiveness and pardon and on it the second Tablets of the Law were given, but what happened on the fifteenth of Av?
The Gemara provides six reasons for the celebration of “Tu bAv”, five of which are commemorative and the sixth seasonal: (The same list appears, albeit with minor variations, in BT Bava Batra; the presentation used in this essay is from BT Ta’anit. The Yerushalmi’s presentation overlaps this one but is significantly different – an analysis of these differences is beyond the scope of this shiur. The full text of each of the explanations appears below).
1) The tribes were allowed to inter-marry.
2) The tribe of Binyamin was allowed to rejoin the nation 3) The generation of the desert ceased dying
4) The border guards, preventing people from the north to come to Yerushalayim, were removed
5) The dead of Beitar were allowed to be buried
6) The end of the season of cutting wood for the altar
II ANALYZING THE LIST
There are several incongruities in this explanation. First of all, if this holiday is on a par with Yom haKippurim regarding its festive nature, why are its origins so murky? The presentation of six independent explanations indicates a lack of confidence about any of them. Wouldn’t the “Hakhmei haMesorah” (masters of the tradition) have a firmer grasp on the genesis of this gala day?
Secondly, none of these explanations seems very convincing – why would, for instance, the cessation of dying in the desert be cause for a celebration the likes of which can only be sensed on Yom haKippurim? What is the great rejoicing associated with the end of the season of cutting wood that gives this day such a lofty place in our calendar?
Finally, if the fifteenth of Menachem Av was such a storied celebration, why does it go by nearly unnoticed by us? The omission of Tachanun isn’t even a faint shadow of the day of which it can be said “There never were greater days of joy in Yisra’el”.
In order to respond to these questions, we’ll need to take a closer look at the six explanations presented in the Bavli, attempt to identify common features between them and reassess our understanding of this holiday .
III THE LIST – EXPLICATED
A: THE TRIBES MA Y INTERMARRY
Background:
In Bamidbar 27, as Mosheh is presenting the future inheritance of the people, the daughters of Tz’lof’had come before him. They are concerned that since, as per Mosheh’s presentation thus far, only sons will inherit land. Since they are five daughters – with no brothers – and their father has already died, they are concerned that their father’s name (see our shiurim on Megillat Ruth for an analysis of the connection between land and legacy) will be lost among his tribe. Mosheh brings their “suit” before G-d, Who responds by affirming their claim. Indeed, if a man dies with no sons, his estate goes to his daughter(s). All is fine until, in the final chapter of Bamidbar, the chieftains of Tz’lof’had’s tribe (Menasheh) come to Mosheh with a similar complaint, on a more global scale.
If Tz’lof’had’s daughters inherit his land – which is part of the allotment of Menasheh – and they marry a member of another tribe, that land will eventually revert to that tribe (either through the inheritance of the husband if the wife predeceases him, or via the inheritance of her own children who are considered members of that other tribe. See the discussion at BT Bava Batra 112-113). Mosheh responds by noting that this is what the original command to B’not Tz’lof’had included – along with inheriting their father’s land, they were restricted to marrying within their own tribe: This is the thing which the Lord does command concerning the daughters of Tz’lof’had, saying, Let them marry whom they think best; only to the family of the tribe of their father shall they marry …And every daughter, who possesses an inheritance in any tribe of the people of Yisra’el, shall be the wife to one of the family of the tribe of her father, that the people of Yisra’el may enjoy every man the inheritance of his fathers. (36:6,8). From that point on, intermarriage between tribes was somewhat restricted – one could only marry a woman from another tribe if she had at least one brother.
The Gemara maintains that the celebration of 15 b’Av is related to the suspension of this restriction, as a result of the conquest of the Land and the completion of settlement:
Rav Yehudah said in the name of Sh’mu’el: It is the day on which permission was granted to the tribes to inter-marry . Whence may this be adduced? Scripture says, This is the thing which Hashem commanded concerning the daughters of Tz’lof’had etc., [meaning] this thing shall hold good for this generation only.
B: THE TRIBE OF BINYAMIN MAY REJOIN THE NATION
Background:
The entire book of Shoftim (“Judges”) is a spiraling series of narratives in which the fortunes and ethical/spiritual status of the people continues to degenerate to unprecedented depths. The book concludes with two horrific stories, the final one (Ch. 19-21) of which is known simply as “Pilegesh b’Giveah” (the concubine at Giv’ah). It involves a S’dom-like attack on a visitor to one of the towns of Binyamin, after which the members of Binyamin refuse to hand over the perpetrators for judgment.
Civil war is declared and almost all of the Binyaminites are killed – only six hundred men (and no women or children) remain. At the conclusion of the war, we learn that even before the war: The men of Yisra’el had sworn in Mitzpah, saying, None of us shall give his daughter to Binyamin for a wife. Now that the war was over, the people were anxious to find a solution for the Binyaminite remnant of six-hundred that would allow them to rebuild the tribe. First they located four hundred women in Yavesh Gil’ad, whose members had not been present for the oath. Subsequently, they advised the remaining Binyaminites to lay in ambush during the yearly festival at Shiloh:
And they said, Behold, there is a feast of Hashem in Shiloh yearly in a place which is on the north side of Beit-El, on the east side of the highway that ascends from Beit-El to Sh’khem, and on the south of Levonah. Therefore they commanded the sons of Binyamin, saying, Go and lie in wait in the vineyards; And see, and, behold, if the daughters of Shiloh come out to dance in the dances, then come out of the vineyards, and catch every man his wife of the daughters of Shiloh, and go to the land of Binyamin. (21:19-21)
We will yet return to this text, as it may hold the key to understanding the festival of Tu b’A v . Regardless, the two solutions offered so far were only “band-aids” (we can surmise that in future years, the women dancing in Shiloh were “on guard”) and the tribe of Binyamin was still in danger of decimation, along with its official disassociation from the rest of the nation. Therefore, the Gemara’ s second explanation for the festive nature of Tu b’Av is that it commemorates the relaxing of the ban:
R. Yoseph said in the name of R. Nahman: It is the day on which the tribe of Binyamin was permitted to re-enter the congregation [of Yisra’el], as it is said, Now the men of Yisra’el had sworn in Mitzpah, saying: There shall not any of us give his daughter unto Binyamin to wife. From what was their exposition? – Rav said: From the phrase any of us which was interpreted to mean, ‘but not from any of our children’.
