Monday, July 26, 2010

On the significance of 15 ’Av

Greetings.

Jewish date:  15 ’Av 5770 (Parashath ‘Eqev).

Today’s holidays:  15 ’Av/Ṭu be’Av/Ḥagh ha’Ahavah (Judaism), Feast Day of Joachim and Ann (Roman Catholicism), Feast Day of St. Stanley Kubrick (Church of the SubGenius).

Worthy cause of the day:  “Make Sale of Crush Videos Illegal Again! - The Petition Site”.  (I am not an animal-rights supporter, and yet I find myself wondering what the gezornenblat some people are thinking.)

Today’s topic:  I am running late today, and normally I would simply not post.  However, this article is specific to today, and thus I am posting it now:  “A different kind of love”.  Today is 15 ’Av, famous in Jewish tradition for being one of two days in which bachelorettes would dress in white, dance in the vineyards, and call for bachelors to marry them for various reasons.  (The other day this happened on was Yom Kippur, the Day of Atonement.)  This specific tradition is no longer practiced.  (Probably.  Someone please tell me if they are aware of a revival.)  However, 15 ’Av is still practiced as a day for matchmaking and something in the way of the Israeli equivalent of Valentine’s Day.  The article linked to goes into the history of 15 ’Av and further significance.

WARNING:  All Jewish men reading this:  make sure you bring your wife or girlfriend flowers or otherwise do something to express your love for her TODAY.  You may be in big trouble if you fail to do so.

Peace.

Aaron
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