Today is the 15th of the Hebrew month of Av – called “Tu b’Av” (the letters “tet” and “vav” represent the number 15 in Hebrew and are pronounced together as “tu”, and the Hebrew letter “bet” is a prefix meaning “in”, so “b’Av” is “in Av”).
In the middle of the summer Jews remember the disasters of the destructions of Jerusalem in ancient times and then comes our reprieve: Tu b’Av which is a holiday of love and celebration that goes all the way back to Biblical and Rabbinic times.
Merely the weather this week has seemed a reprieve from the heat of July. Hoping that as we continue to make communal progress on coping with the pandemic we allow ourselves a feeling of easing up while also making sure that we stay the course.
In this new world we encounter every day, every little sense of ease is worth holding onto even as we stay determined to do what must be done.