SKG Articles: On Tu b'Av

By Mindy Ribner of Beit Miriam

Tu B'Av is the highest, most joyous day, least celebrated, most hidden and mysterious holiday of the
year. Even people who celebrate this day do not always know what it is really about, what is taking
place on the spiritual dimensions of this day. As my rebbe of blessed memory said, Reb Shlomo
Carlebach, the higher the holiday the fewer people know about it and less know how to celebrate it
properly.

In ancient times, Tu B'Av was known as the day to meet the soul mate for it was on this day that the
women would dance before the men and with their eyes say " Look at me," and in one look,
marriages would be made. It was Tu B' A'v , the full moon of this month of Av that was the only day
that could hold this kind of powerful expression of the feminine. On Tu B'Av, the Shechina reveals
Herself to those who love Her, to those who cry for Her, to those who truly long for Her. To be open
to receive on Tu B'Av is a great spiritual gift and privilege. On Tu B'Av, the Shechina dances before
us, and we are more than comforted. She gives us a taste of ecstasy.

If you are feeling that this does not apply to you, you have not cried for the Shechina, you are not
worthy of coming close to God, you are not spiritual enough, you do not deserve, and on and on,
know that this is the voice of the yetzer hara. The yetzer hara, the evil inclination that is within each
of us, has a commitment to keep us separate from the Shechina. It is not just the voice of addiction.
It often speaks in moral imperatives in its" holier than thou" voice. It is the trickster. The yetzer hara
expresses itself through our ego defense mechanisms, which under the pretense of self protection
prevents us from experiencing who truly we are and what our souls want.

The month of Av corresponds to the astrological sign of Leo, a fire sign. And in this month we
experience the two characteristics of fire in the holiday of Tisha B'Av and the holiday of Tu B'Av. Fire
destroys and fire enlivens. Without fire, there is no passion. Without passion, nothing happens.

When we have indeed been purified by the intense fire of Tisha B'Av, we are ready to enter into the
more hidden,gentle, yet powerful fire of Tu B'Av. On Tisha B'Av, though we cry and we mourn, when
we sit together, we learn that there is nothing to fear. What is true, what is God, what is love, will
always remain, it may be hidden or concealed, but God and the Shechina cannot be destroyed, only
illusions die. The fire of Tisha B'Av breaks down the walls, so we are more open to surrender to and
bask in the warmth and love of the Shechinah.

Tu B'Av is a revelation of the Shechinah, the feminine expression of God that is possible only after
Tisha B'Av. It is the most auspicious of days. The feminine energy is all about receiving. It is about
the embodiment of God within us and within our midst.

The headquarters for receiving the Shechinah is Tu B'Av. The depth of the kind of receiving that
takes place on Tu B'Av is amazing. It lifts our spiritual vibration, it dissolves the walls of separation
between who we are and who we think we are and most importantly we allow ourselves to receive
what Hashem has wanted to give us from the beginning of time. Now we may embody and radiate
this Presence to others as we receive and are given.

In our times, we are confused about what is masculine, what is feminine and how to merge these
energies within ourselves and within our relationships with each other. This confusion between the
masculine and feminine shows up in the high rates of divorce, and in the large numbers of single
people who remain single although they would like to be married. It shows up in the lack of
manifestation in our lives, we want and yet we can not allow in our lives. On a macro level, the
imbalance of the masculine and feminine energies is what is underlying all the wars in the world, the
environmental pollution of mother earth, the genetic engineering of our food, etc. The masculine
energy has dominated the world and though it has enabled us to make great gains in the outer
world we have also payed a great price in the inner world. Now the imbalance between the
masculine and the feminine is now being rectified by the rising of the feminine in our days.

Without the teachings from the holy transmission of kabbalah that clarifies the nature of masculinity
and femininity and the role they both play towards the healing and rectification of the world, we
would be utterly lost. Many of us, women and men alike, have come to recognize that we need to
open more directly to the feminine expression of God within ourselves to heal and be whole human
beings. And this is one of the mission statements of Beit Miriam. This expression and embodiment of
the feminine is what must take place as preparation for the messianic age.

On this most auspicious day of Tu B'Av you can still honor yourself, you can honor the Shechina.
Gather with some friends, or be with yourself and be a vessel to receive the light of the Shechina
and let Her reveal Herself to you.

Source: Beit Miriam email group

Books by Melinda Ribner can be found in our online store.
Kabbalah Month by Month also offers additional teachings, stories, and meditations about the energy of this month.
New Age Judaism offers teachings about the intersection of New Age and Kabbalah, and most relevantly about the
paradigm shift that occurred after the Temple was destroyed and now once again we are undergoing another
paradigm shift after the Holocaust.
Everday Kabbalah offers numerous meditations, and teaching for healing.