Photo courtesy of Chabad.org
A WEEKLY TORAH THOUGHT FROM RABBI MORDY
Instead of writing about this week’s Parsha (Va’etchanan), I’m going to deviate because this Shabbos is a special and exceptionally joyful Shabbos, called Tu B’av (the 15th of Av). Wait, you may ask, a joyful day? Last Shabbos had us preoccupied with Tisha B’av, considered the saddest day on the Jewish calendar. Give it a break! A happy day just 6 days later? It’s dizzying!
Let’s understand why this is a special day. The Jewish calendar is a lunar calendar; the 15th of the month always coincides with the full moon. The reason for the Jewish people looking to the moon as a guide in terms of a calendar is because we as a people are compared to the moon. We have our ups and downs—overachievement and anti-Semitism come to mind as examples of each—but we never go away. Sure, we’re sometimes a bit bent, broken or hidden, but we always swing back again as any good pendulum would. Just like the moon can shine and then, just a couple short weeks later, you can barely see a sliver. So here we are, just a few days after a day as sad as Tisha B’av, and the moon is suddenly in its full glory. Let’s celebrate. Why? Not for any real reason other than we have our proof that no matter how down we are, how sad a situation may be or how desperate things seem, the moon will soon come back in full glow. It will shine again—and so will we. May we all experience the complete glow of G-dliness very soon with the world’s true redemption! Good Shabbos!