Dear {{first_name}},
Did you see that bright, full moon last night illuminating the sky? Full moons are special and inspiring and, on the Jewish calendar, they often fall on holidays. The first nights of Passover and Sukkot are moonlit, the festival that honors the trees (Tu B'Shevat) also comes with a full moon in the sky. Today happens also to be a minor Jewish holiday, often seen as Jewish Valentine's day, as it celebrates love. It is Tu b'Av. In our lunar calendar (with its tricky solar adjustment) the 15th of every month is a full moon, and the TU in Tu b'Shevat and Tu b'Av is a combination of the Hebrew letters TET and VAV, equal to 9 and 6 in Hebrew numerology. 9 + 6 = 15, so the names of these two holidays are simply the 15th day of the month of Shevat and Av respectively. Cosmically, a full moon occurs when the moon reflects the maximum possible light of the sun. In many traditions, the sun represents male energy and the moon, female; spiritual archetypes that are beyond physical gender. So, on a full moon these energies are in conjunction, and as Av is the hottest and brightest month, this day, today, is when all that is male and all that is female are in a perfect, reflected union. This is a mystical explanation for this holiday's celebration of love. In all of its forms. On this day in antiquity, the daughters of Israel would go out into the fields in borrowed white garments and dance in the vineyards, searching for their mates. In Israel, the day has become a bit of a Hallmark holiday with gushing cards, romantic dinners and red roses. Love means something different for each of us; romantic, familial, Divine, love of nature, animlas and plants. However it shows up, we know that this world needs and yearns for love like a thirsty tree needs rain.
This Shabbat is special also in a related way. It is Shabbat Nachamu, the Shabbat of comfort and consolation after the trauma of destruction and loss. "Nachamu nachamu ami yomar elochaychem - comfort ye, comfort ye my people says your God," is the opening line of this week's Haftarah reading from Isaiah 40, after which the Shabbat is named, with its promise of hope and solace. Comfort is a strange word in a way. Too much of it can make us complacent and selfish, not enough can leave us harsh, cruel and cynical. So many places and people in this aching world need comfort and consolation for all the tragedy, pain and loss. On this Shabbat where we have a beautiful musical Kabbalat Shabbat by the creek, celebrate the B Mitzvah of Gaby Hoggard and welcome a guest scholar from Israel, may we give and receive exactly the right kind of love and comfort for ourselves, each other and the world!
Chag Sameach Shabbat Shalom,
Rabbi Marc
