Chamisha Asar B'Av: Part I

00:00 As we find ourselves in Chamisha Asar B'Av, the fifteenth day of the month of Av, about which the Talmud relates that many good things took place on this day over the course of generations, and that is why it is considered a great Yom Tov. On this occasion, we will refer to the Rebbe's insights about Chamisha Asar B'Av. To begin with, citing the Mishnah in the Talmud, in the Tractate of Ta'anis twenty-six B, the Mishnah cites the following. Rabbi Shimon ben Gamliel said there were no days as joyous for the Jewish people as the fifteenth of Av and as Yom Kippur, as on them the daughters of Yerushalayim would go out in white clothes, and as the Mishnah discusses further, and then in the Gemara itself, that they went out to find their match, their soulmate. Still here is the concept beneath it, the Chamisha Asar B'Av as it is quoted in the Mishnah, et cetera. In the year taf shin lamed hei, 1975, we find that the Rebbe introduced a new era of initiatives regarding the three weeks and the nine days and con- in order to convert them to positivity. In taf shin lamed hei, 1975, the Rebbe advised to make siyumim on a tractate in the Talmud through the nine days up to Tisha B'Av, and also on Tisha B'Av, on a tractate which is allowed to be learned on Tisha B'Av. And this was to generate a joy of Torah. Torah is mesameach, the lev mesamchei lev, they bring joy to the

02:05 heart, which is permissible for all year round. The following year, taf shin lamed vav 1976, the Rebbe advised that Yidden should study the laws of the Beis Hamikdash and the verses in the prophets, in Yechezkel, et cetera. This reflects what the Midrash relates, that Hashem told the prophet Yechezkel that by studying the laws, the dimensions of the Beis Hamikdash, it is considered, as Hashem said, that my house is not destroyed, beisi ein nebakel. In another Midrash it says that anyone who studies the topics of the Beis Hamikdash, it is considered as he is involved in building the Beis Hamikdash. Likewise, it was in that same very year, taf shin lamed hei, the first year when the Rebbe initiated the first, uh, inyan, which is basically making siyumim on Gemaras, that the Rebbe selected the fifteenth day of Menachem Av, the fifteenth of Av to farbreng with Chassidim, during which he would deliver Torah insights in a special discourse explaining in depth the uniqueness of the fifteenth of Av. And from that year and on, the Rebbe would quite often farbreng on this day. The Rebbe explains the uniqueness of the fifteenth of Av as follows. We will cite it here briefly. There were no days as joyous for the Jewish people as the fifteenth of Av and as Yom Kippur. The question is, why is it so unique in addition to what the Talmud discusses? The explanation based on Kabbalah, Etz Chayim, Pri Etz Chayim, because it is a full moon, the fifteenth of the

04:03 month, of the Hebrew month is always a full moon, and the Jewish nation is compared to the moon. If so, the Rebbe continues, a full moon is in every month. Every month has a full moon, and especially that we stress that there was no such yamim tovim as Chamisha Asar B'Av and Yom Kippur, which means that it's even superior more than Pesach and Sukkot, which are also on the fifteenth of the month, and they also have a full moon. The answer that Chassidus explains is a famous quote, yedidet zerech aliya. A descent is for the purpose of an elevation of ascent, and the greater the descent, the greater the elevation. Therefore, Chassidus explains, because Tisha B'Av is a greater dis-descent than other times in the year, it was a day which historically speaking many sad events took place for the Jewish nation, already from the time of the meraglim when the spies were sent to Eretz Yisrael, and in addition to that also in Jewish history over the years. Therefore, when the fifteenth of the month of Av arrives, which is a full moon, it expresses an elevation more than all other months in the year, because this comes after the descent, which is a very low and very grave descent, which was on Tisha B'Av. And therefore, Chamisha Asar B'Av, the shleimus of the levana, the moon, full moon, which symbolizes also Am Yisrael, so this reflects the elevation of Am Yisrael from their descent, spiritual and physical. We will, im yirtze Hashem, continue

06:07 in the next installment.