All You Need is Love….
Today is the Jewish day of love. It is Tu B’Av, the 15th day of Av. Tu B’Av is both an ancient and modern holiday. Originally a post-biblical day of joy, it served as a matchmaking day for unmarried women in the Second Temple period (before the fall of Jerusalem in 70 C.E.). Tu B’Av was almost unnoticed in the Jewish calendar for many centuries but it has been rejuvenated in recent decades, especially in the modern state of Israel. In its modern incarnation it is gradually becoming a Hebrew-Jewish Day of Love, slightly resembling Valentine’s Day in English-speaking countries.
It comes close on the heels of our greatest day of mourning, Tisha B’Av,the 9th of Av, when the Temple was destroyed. The rabbis of the Mishnah established Tu B’Av as a day of hope following the day of destruction and sadness. The rabbis understood something profound, that the Beatles discovered thousands of years later–what we most need in the world, what helps us manage tragedy, is love. It may sound trite, or simplistic but it is neither.
The Torah holds up love as the highest value: love of God, our neighbor, the stranger, the needy, and love of the self. In our parasha this week, V’ethanan, we read the Shema: וְאָ֣הַבְתָּ֔ אֵ֖ת יְהֹוָ֣ה אֱלֹהֶ֑יךָ
V’ahavta et Adonai Elohecha, You shall Love the Eternal Your God. We recite those verses twice a day, every day. Every day, we kiss our tallit and remind ourselves that love leads to redemption. Love leads to spiritual sustenance.
Leviticus brings us another famous line about love: ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’
Rabbi Lionel Blue taught that this verse means two things. You shall love your neighbor as you would want your neighbor to love you. In other words, treat others as you want to be treated. But it also means, love yourself as you would love your neighbor. For example, If you act with kindness toward your fellow, also you should act with kindness toward yourself.
Love keeps societies afloat. Love is an ideal, a longing, a disappointment, a hope, a promise, a reminder, an urging, a respirator, a rose, a lifetime, a fleeting moment, a memory, an apology, a reconciliation, a Garden, a rainbow and an ark, a promised land.
This Shabbat, may your home be filled with love. May you radiate love to everyone you meet today and throughout this Shabbat. Love God, love your neighbor, your parents and the stranger, and love yourself. That is the whole Torah–go and learn it.
Shabbat Shalom
Rabbi Marcia Plumb
