Tu B'Av (15th of Av)

00:00 The Gemara gives real reasons. So there is a whole discussion of the subject. But afterward, in the straightforward sense, as the Rebbe explains, that was not yet the case. In other words, 15 Av was a Yom Tov, and then more and more things were added to it, beginning already long ago, when they entered the public domain. But each time, as with the matter of souls returning in new lifetimes, [unclear], new aspects arose according to the times, because all these things happened over many years. There is a difference of almost a thousand years between the first event and the last—not just a difference of twenty years. In other words, over the course of history, several things happened. All of this is entirely in accordance with halachah. Then there is the Arizal. The Arizal writes what the true reason for 15 Av is, what he calls its underlying reason. It is really the root of all these matters. The Arizal writes that the significance of 15 Av is that “the moon stands in its fullness.” Yes, the basis of 15 Av is this idea that “the moon stands in its fullness.” As the Rebbe explains, what does it mean that the moon stands in its fullness? If you go outside today, on 15 Av, you will see a large, full moon. You see that every 15 Av. What is the connection? What is the significance of 15 Av? And all this is especially so given [unclear]. So it is explained through the idea that a descent is for the sake of an ascent: 15 Av comes after 9 Av, which concerns Knesses Yisroel—and, in a sense, the Jewish people quite literally. On 9 Av there was the greatest possible descent, and consequently the ascent of 15 Av is the greatest possible ascent. That is why the joy of 15 Av is an extraordinary joy. That is the central point of the explanation.

01:53 There is an extensive explanation of this. The first to discuss it at length is the Rebbe Rashab. It is in Chabad literature. Where is the significance of 15 Av explained? There is something from the Tzemach Tzedek—a maamar of the Tzemach Tzedek that discusses it briefly. But the one who writes about it at length and in detail is the Rebbe Rashab, in the maamar “There Were No Festivals for Israel,” which appears in Sefer Hamaamarim 5670. There is also a brief outline that the Rebbe Rashab wrote for himself, and part of it appears in tomorrow’s Hayom Yom, for 15 Av. All right. Those are the only places where the significance of 15 Av is explained. The Tzemach Tzedek [mentions] Eretz Yisroel; I do not know exactly where in Eretz Yisroel. It is noted somewhere in the maamar, but I do not remember now. And then there is the Rebbe Rashab’s lengthy treatment in the maamar of 5670. But in general, we did not see the Chabad leaders—the Rebbeim—make a great stir about 15 Av. Nor did we see a particular stir about it from the Rebbe. We know one thing: the siddur says not to say Tachanun on 15 Av, but it does not say what kind of day 15 Av is. No, we did not see our leaders introduce anything new in connection with 15 Av. Even with the Rebbe, if you look at the early years, you do not find special farbrengens devoted to 15 Av. A few times, there was a farbrengen connected with [unclear] of his father-in-law or his father-in-law’s mother-in-law, and since it was close to 15 Av, the Rebbe would speak about 15 Av too. But the Rebbe did not place special emphasis on 15 Av until 5735. That was the first time the Rebbe made a great stir about 15 Av. The Rebbe held a farbrengen.

03:54 In 5735, the Rebbe made a very great stir about it. [unclear]. The Rebbe had already begun, before [unclear], with the maamarim. “Ach Begoral” was on the eve of 17 Tammuz. After that there was [unclear] in the synagogue. Anyone who looks at it can see that the Rebbe edited it. You can see that the Rebbe edited the maamar, and that was unusual in those years: the Rebbe was not editing maamarim at all. He edited this maamar specially. The maamar from then—[unclear]—he edited it. That maamar, “Ach Begoral,” and the maamar about tzimtzum and tikkun—[unclear] and Shabbos Chazon. During that period, the Rebbe made a great stir about [unclear]. Following that came the first time the Rebbe held a farbrengen on 15 Av. The Rebbe returned from the Ohel, and it was an unexpected farbrengen; nobody had known about it beforehand. The Rebbe returned from the Ohel as usual, and held a farbrengen and delivered a maamar. This is the maamar that appears in an edited version. What is interesting is that this maamar has two—two—if you look in Sefer Hamaamarim Melukat, there is the maamar the Rebbe edited in 5735. But the Rebbe kept it in his room and did not release it, so it remained in the Rebbe’s room until after Gimmel Tammuz. It was one of the rare things found in the Rebbe’s room. They found this maamar after Gimmel Tammuz. I remember it came out just a week after Gimmel Tammuz. Two weeks after Gimmel Tammuz, they sent the maamar to print. The Rebbe had edited it at the time and left it in his room, and it

05:37 stayed there until after Gimmel Tammuz. Then they printed it. That was the first round of editing, which the Rebbe had done at the time. Later, in 5749—yes, in 5749—they submitted it to the Rebbe again, because that was a period when maamarim were being submitted for editing. The Rebbe edited the maamar in a different style. You can see differences in the way the ideas are explained; it is all done in a completely different way. It is the same maamar by the Rebbe, but the entire content is edited in a completely different way. In any case, that was on 15 Av 5745, and from then on, generally, the Rebbe began—15 Av became a Yom Tov, a regular Yom Tov. In 5742, 5747, 5748, 5749—yes, in most years the Rebbe held a farbrengen. There were a few years when, for some reason, the Rebbe did not hold a farbrengen on 15 Av; those were exceptions. But overall, from that point in his leadership, the Rebbe began holding a farbrengen every year, and each year there were explanations and different themes. Of course, the central thrust of the Rebbe’s emphasis on 15 Av was something he stressed throughout those years: Moshiach. Because the Rebbe brought such emphasis to the whole subject of Moshiach, 15 Av became a Yom Tov connected with Moshiach. That is why we see the Rebbe place such emphasis, make such a stir, about 15 Av. In any case, since there are many farbrengens, many sichos, and many maamarim on 15 Av, I am sure the bochurim will take some time during the month, around 15 Av, to study them. At least one of the sichos, one of the maamarim, or an entire farbrengen. If someone has the time and can do that, then of course it is especially worthwhile to study an entire 15 Av farbrengen. But at the very least, there has to be a desire for it. That much is clear. A chossid needs to know what 15 Av is,

07:29 to take at least one year’s farbrengen, or one of the sichos or maamarim of 15 Av, and live with it. I will just say one thing from one of the Rebbe’s sichos about 15 Av. On 15 Av 5745, besides the maamar the Rebbe delivered—a maamar about the day’s special spiritual significance, which the Rebbe explained in particular, as in the maamar of the Rebbe Rashab—the Rebbe also delivered a hadran on Tractate Taanis. The hadran itself was printed in Likkutei Sichos, volume 29, where it appears with all the details. Anyone who wants to can study it there. But there are parts of what the Rebbe said in the sicha during the hadran that were not included in the edited hadran. So I will briefly share the wonderful point the Rebbe spoke about. When you listen to the recording of the Rebbe saying it, you hear the Rebbe suddenly break down in tears there too. Seeing it is not the same as hearing about it. When the sicha is circulated and you hear it in the Rebbe’s voice, you hear it in a different way. In any case, what is the point? The point is that the Mishnah there says, as we have already mentioned, that on 15 Av they would go out and dance in the vineyards, saying: “Young man, lift up your eyes and see what you choose for yourself. Do not set your eyes on beauty; set your eyes on family.” Now the Rebbe asks a question—a very difficult question. There is a contradiction here. They say, “Do not set your eyes on beauty; set your eyes on family.” In other words, they are telling the young man to look at the family. Family is an important consideration in a shidduch. But then they go on to say: “Charm is deceptive and beauty is vain; a woman who fears Hashem is to be praised.” Where in that verse is the matter of family alluded to?

09:29 Family? It says, “Charm is false and beauty is vain,” yes. “Do not set your eyes on beauty”—but it does not say, “Set your eyes on family.” It says, “Set your eyes on fear of Heaven.” That is what the verse should have said. The verse and what the young women say are not merely unrelated; they contradict each other. They say, “Set your eyes on family,” while the verse says, “A woman who fears Hashem, she shall be praised.” Especially when you learn the Gemara, which says there were three groups. One group said, “Set your eyes on beauty.” Another group, the women of distinguished lineage, said, “Set your eyes on family.” And there was a group of less attractive women who said, “Make your choice for the sake of Heaven.” They were divided into three groups, yes. So in the Mishnah, too, the groups seem to get mixed together: on the one hand, they say, “Do not set your eyes on beauty; set your eyes on family,” which implies that these are the women of distinguished lineage. On the other hand, the verse “Charm is false and beauty is vain; a woman who fears Hashem, she shall be praised” fits the less attractive women, who say, “Make your choice for the sake of Heaven”—which plainly means fear of Heaven. So there is a contradiction here between the Gemara and the Mishnah. What does the Rebbe explain? What is the central point? It is a wonderful explanation, but I will give just the main point. The Rebbe explains that the young women of Jerusalem made two statements. There is the statement of all the young women of Jerusalem together, without groups, without divisions, without factions. All the young women of Jerusalem said one thing together: “Do not set your eyes on beauty; set your eyes on family.” This is not about the less attractive women or the women of distinguished lineage. It is something else entirely. In the Mishnah, “family” does not simply mean a person’s family, their father and mother. It means family in a broader sense: the collective family of the Jewish people. In other words, when someone comes to choose a match, the first thing they tell him is: don’t look at... When you first begin choosing, the first

11:29 thing is not to look at the particulars, at what this individual has, whether they are on this level or that level. First look at the fact that this person is [unclear]. “Do not set your eyes on beauty” does not mean beauty specifically. It means: do not judge the person you are choosing by their particular qualities. First you have to know that you are looking at a Jewish soul, someone who is your own flesh and blood. When you look at a Jew that way, that itself reveals their true quality—their quality as a soul, as a Jew. Only afterward do you get to the particulars, and then each person can also speak of their own particular qualities. There are particular qualities; some people have qualities that are visible outwardly as well. The quality itself may also be expressed in spiritual qualities, and even in material terms, such as family—meaning lineage and family in the usual sense. The Gemara speaks about particular qualities. The Mishnah speaks about this essential point: that this person belongs to the family of the children of Avraham, Yitzchak and Yaakov, Sarah, Rivkah, Rachel and Leah. And that is the meaning of “Charm is false and beauty is vain; a woman who fears Hashem, she shall be praised.” According to this, the verse is understood: “Charm is false and beauty is vain.” All the qualities and attributes we see in a Jew are, on their own, false. The first thing must be “A woman who fears Hashem, she shall be praised.” Because a Jew is a child of Avraham, Yitzchak and Yaakov, Sarah, Rivkah, Rachel and Leah, they have a soul. So what does that mean? There are all the qualities,

13:20 and this person has the quality of fearing Hashem because they come from the family of the children of Avraham, Yitzchak and Yaakov. That itself shows that, in essence, they are a soul. Outwardly you may not always see it, and it has to be revealed. Once you reflect on that point, you reach the second stage, where you can also see the particular qualities. That is what the Gemara explains in its discussion of the beautiful women, the women of distinguished lineage, and so on: each one’s particular quality is revealed. The Rebbe explains at length what each of these means. I do not want to go into all of that now; I only want to add what the Rebbe says [unclear], especially what the Rebbe adds to the maamarim. This passage is connected to all of this. The entire Mishnah is about 15 Menachem Av, which follows Tisha B’Av. As we said regarding what is written in Chassidus, 15 Menachem Av is the ascent that follows the descent of Tisha B’Av. The Rebbe says that this entire account has a spiritual meaning. In physical terms, there was once such a custom in the time of the Beis Hamikdash: the young women would go out, and all of this took place on a day of matchmaking. But everything below has its roots in its spiritual source. So what does it mean here that the young women of Jerusalem went out to dance in the vineyards? The Rebbe explains that “the young women of Jerusalem” means the Jewish people, and their dancing in the vineyards refers to the time when the Jewish people are in exile. When the Jewish people are in exile, they go out to dance in the vineyards and say, “Young man, lift up your eyes.” “Young man,” the Rebbe says, refers to Hakadosh Boruch Hu. There is a verse in Shir Hashirim that speaks of Hakadosh Boruch Hu and says, “Distinguished among ten thousand.” Hakadosh Boruch Hu is called a “young man” in Shir Hashirim. So the young women of Jerusalem, meaning the Jewish people, say to Hakadosh Boruch Hu: “Young man.”

15:15 They say to Hakadosh Boruch Hu, “Young man, lift up your eyes.” They ask Hakadosh Boruch Hu, so to speak, to lift His eyes and look at the Jewish people not as they appear outwardly. During exile, when you look at the Jewish people, you may see things that are lacking. There are Jews who do things they should not do, whose conduct is simply not right, and so on. So they ask Hakadosh Boruch Hu, “Young man, lift up your eyes”—to lift His eyes, so to speak, and not look at the Jewish people as they appear outwardly, affected by exile, by their inclinations and by other things. Rather, “Do not set your eyes on beauty”: Hakadosh Boruch Hu should not look at the Jewish people’s outward qualities. “Set your eyes on family”: Hakadosh Boruch Hu should look at a Jew as they are inwardly. As the Rambam writes, every Jew, deep down, truly wants to do Hashem’s will and does not want to act against His will; it is their inclination that has overpowered them and led them to do wrong. So within this family, the children of Avraham, Yitzchak and Yaakov, there is “A woman who fears Hashem, she shall be praised.” As the Midrash says, this verse refers to a generation facing religious persecution: precisely during exile, in a time of persecution, a certain strength within a Jew is revealed. That is “A woman who fears Hashem, she shall be praised.” Because of this essential point, the Jewish people, even now in the doubled and redoubled darkness of exile, are at the highest level, in a state of ultimate perfection. Therefore Hakadosh Boruch Hu must bring the Geulah and bring about [unclear], so that 15 Menachem Av will be the revelation of Moshiach. That is the practical point the Rebbe [unclear]. Yes, the Rebbe emphasizes it. Each time, this leads to action and is connected with the days of Moshiach. What does it mean in practice, especially now, with Hashem’s help, on 15 Menachem Av? So you move straight to the plain meaning: that we actually see the revelation of Moshiach, that Eliyahu [unclear], that we see

17:06 this in the Geulah in actual reality. As for the practical application, following the order, it would be appropriate to address it now—perhaps that is jumping ahead a little—but later on, fairly close to the end, we will learn a sicha about it.