Parashat Ekev & Tu B'Av

It is appropriate that Parashat Ekev occurs in the weeks following Tisha B’Av.  This is a period of consolation, the rebuilding of the covenant between God and Israel.  The parasha reiterates the terms of the brit between God and Israel, reminding the people of what God has done for them and what they still need to do.

At a time when we are mourning the loss of the Temple and Jerusalem, it is a relief to be reminded that God is still with us.  It is a comfort before we enter Elul, leading to Selichot and the Yamim Noraim. 

The parasha also repeats God’s promises to us, that if we “obey these rules and observe them faithfully” God will favour us, bless us, and multiply us, fulfilling the promise made to Avraham that his descendants will be as numerous as the stars in the heavens and the sands in the seas.

Also occurring at this time of year is Tu B’Av, the fifteenth of Av, also called Hag Ha’Ahava, the Holiday of Love.  The Mishnah reports that on Tu B’Av and Yom Kippur the unmarried girls in Jerusalem would dress in borrowed white dresses, and go out to dance in the vineyards, setting up marriages for the coming year.  It is told that no days were as happy for the Jews as those two.

The Talmud gives six reasons for the celebration of Tu B’Av.

• During the forty years of wandering female orphans could marry only within their tribes to maintain the line of inheritance. Once the Israelites were settled in Israel, this ban was lifted on Tu B’Av.
• Following an incident in Shofetim, the rest of the tribes had vowed not to allow their daughters to marry anyone from the tribe of Benjamin.  Later, realizing the tribe could be wiped out, an agreement was reached where a Benjaminite could “carry off” one of the dancers (by previous agreement), saving Benjamin from extinction.
• In the fortieth year of wandering, the deaths sentence, following the sin of the spies, was ended.
• Pilgrimage to Jerusalem was restored after the split of the kingdoms.
• The Romans allowed those killed at Beitar to be buried.  It is said that the bodies did not decompose during this time.  For this reason the Hachamim added the blessing of Hatov v’hameitiv to Birkat Hamazon to honour Bar Kochba’s fighters.
• The period for cutting down trees for use in the Temple ended on Tu B’Av, ending the labour for another year.

Each of these led to building of the Jewish community, closeness to God, honour to our people, and the future of the Jewish people, increasing the opportunity for God’s promise to come true.