http://www.ou.org/chagim/roshchodesh/av/default.htm
Do we say Hallel on Rosh Chodesh Av?
The mishna says: "As Av enters, we diminish joy". Rosh Chodesh Av is the beginning of the stricter mourning period for the destruction of the Beit HaMikdash - First and Second. The restrictions of the Nine Days generally apply to Rosh Chodesh Av. (This is the Ashkenazi practice. S'faradim begin the restrictions on the second of the month.) It is one of two months on whose Rosh Chodesh fasting is not forbidden.
Rosh Chodesh Av is the Yahrzeit of Aharon HaKohen. It is the only Yahrzeit mentioned in the Torah. It is recorded, not in Parshat Chukat where we read of Aharon's passing, but in Mas'ei - which we read on the Shabbat closest to Rosh Chodesh Av.
Rosh Chodesh is Rosh Chodesh. It is a joyous and hopeful commemoration of the Beit HaMikdash, not only its destruction. Notwithstanding the mournful nature of the first third of Av, we must keep in mind that after the 10th of the month, the consolation and promise for a brighter future takes over.
Rosh Chodesh Av conjures up a mixture of conflicting moods. That's okay. Is it contradictory to say Hallel on the day that ushers in a sad period? No. Being Jewish often means being able to see the bright side of sad times, and not forget the sad note at happy times.
May we soon merit the coming of Moshiach and the rebuilding of the Beit HaMikdash - and everything that goes with it - and may our joy then become untarnished and complete.
Let us each put into action the qualities of Aharon HaKohen - love peace and pursue it, love people and bring them closer to Torah - so that the times we yearn for will become a reality, speedily in our time, Amen.
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Chodesh Av
The Month of Av
http://www.ou.org/chagim/roshchodesh/av/av.htm
"And Aharon the Priest went up to Hor Hahar at the command of G-d, and he died there in the fortieth year after the Jewish People had left Egypt, in the fifth month, on the first of the month." (BaMidbar 33:38)
"Return us to You, O L-rd, and we will return; Renew our days as of old!" (Megillat Eichah 5:21)
(A portion of this section contains material abstracted, with permission, from The Book of Our Heritage by Rabbi Eliyahu Kitov.)
- Names of the Month
- Biblical Significance of the Month
- Zodiac Sign of the Month
- Chodesh Av in Relation to Other Months of the Year
"Chodesh Av," the Month of Av, is referred to in the Bible as the "Fifth Month," counting from Nisan, the "First Month." There is a Biblical reference in BaMidbar (33:38), where we find "And Aharon the Priest went up to Hor Hahar at the command of G-d, and he died there in the fortieth year after the Jewish People had left Egypt, in the fifth month, on the first of the month." (BaMidbar 33:38). This tragedy, the death of Aharon, was perhaps a signal that this month would be a month of tragedy throughout most of Jewish History. See Biblical Significance for an elaboration of this idea.
The name "Av" itself, like all the other names of months in the Hebrew Calendar, "came up" with the Jewish People on their return to the Land of Israel from their Exile in Babylonia. The name of "Menachem Av" is also used. A possible explanation of that name is as follows: "Menachem" in Hebrew means the Comforter; "Av" means "father." In the name "Menachem Av," "The One Who comforts, the Av," could refer to Hashem, Who is called the Father, Who is the only One Who has the ability to comfort the Jewish People for all the tragedies that we have suffered in this month.
Some use the name "Av" through the Ninth of Av; afterwards, when comfort is appropriate, the name "Menachem Av" is used.
Another meaningful interpretation of the name "Menachem Av" is that the word "Av" is spelled "Aleph, Bet." The Prophet Yirmiyahu, an eye-witness to the destruction of the Temple, Yerushalayim and its population, describes those events in Megillat Eichah, in tears. He builds the structure of the Megillah on the "Aleph-Bet," meaning not only that it was written in Hebrew, but also that the structure of the chapters themselves is built on the "Aleph-Bet." This is so in the sense that in the first two of the five chapters as well as the last two, the first verse begins with an "Aleph," the second with "Bet," the third with "Gimel," and so on. And the middle chapter is built on the structure of a triple "Aleph-Bet;" that is, "Aleph, Aleph, Aleph," "Bet, Bet, Bet," "Gimel, Gimel, Gimel," and so on.
It is as if the Holy Language of the Holy People comes to comfort them on the loss of their holy Temple and on the countless other tragedies and massacres suffered by the Jewish People during this month.
And yet another meaningful interpretation of the name, "Menachem Av," is that it is a valid description of Jewish History that at the darkest times, when there seems to be no hope for the future, a ray of light is found. This is why the Shabbat right after "Shabbat Chazon," "The Shabbat of the Vision," on which the Haftarah (the Shabbat Reading from the Prophets) beginning "The vision of Yeshayahu ben Amoz," which contains the Prophet Yeshayahu's warning of the impending Destruction, is followed immediately - with Tishah B'Av in the middle - by "Shabbat Nachamu," the Shabbat in which the Haftarah beginning "Nachamu, Nachamu, Ami," "Be comforted, Be comforted, My People," the Haftarah containing Yeshayahu's description of the ultimate Redemption of Israel.
More often than not, a way is found out of despair by Jewish women, and involves the secret of Jewish marriage, whereby the One Who designed the human soul made it such that each "neshamah," or soul, has a companion, which it requires for its completion and happiness.
That is why we bless every "Chatan and Kallah," "bridegroom and bride, that they find the same happiness as did the Original Couple, Adam and Chavah, in "Gan Eden," the Garden of Eden.
And that is why Miriam's (sister of Moshe) advice to her father, Amram, in the bleakest time of bondage in Egypt, when the Egyptians were tossing Jewish baby boys into the Nile, to re-marry Yocheved, was so crucial.
And that is also why the last Mishnah in Taanit says that there were no holidays so joyous for the Jewish People as "Tu B'Av," the Fifteenth of Av (we don't use the more natural, especially in these metric times, addition of letters "Yud," 10, and "Heh," 5, because the combination of those letters is a contracted form of the Name of G-d, and we don't want to use that Name unnecessarily) and Yom Kippur, …
Biblical Significance of the Month
A Biblical reference to this month in the "Chumash," the Five Books of Moshe, is the one cited above under Names which speaks of the death of the great "Aharon HaKohen," Aharon, the Priest. Aharon represented all that is good in the Jewish character, and all that is thrown out when "sinat chinam," "hatred based on nothing" is brought into Jewish life. Aharon is described in Pirkei Avot as one or better, the one who exemplified the characteristic of "loving peace and pursuing peace, loving people, and bringing them closer to the Torah."
The Talmud in Masechet Gittin (55b-56a) identifies the immediate cause of the destruction of Yerushalatim as the incident involving Kamtza and Bar-Kamtza. It is clear that although this specific incident may have provoked Rome to move against Yerushalayim, the attitude portrayed in the incident,hardness of heart, reflects that that attitude was deeply ingrained in the hearts of the Jewish People at that time. The story shows the destructive effect of causeless hatred, which, throughout Jewish History, has visited destruction in various forms upon the Jewish People.
The Zodiac Sign of the Month is the Lion. It is quite possible and likely that this is related to the verse in Eichah, "He is a lurking bear to me, a lion in hiding." It seems that in the past, to some extent, Hashem has stood aside in this month, and let the "wild animals" of history have their way with us, to teach us where we would be without His protection.
We pray for the time that those "wild animals" will be chased away, or their natures will be changed, as foretold by Yeshayahu, "The wolf will live with the sheep, and the leopard will lie down with the kid; and a calf, a young lion and a young sheep will walk together, and a young child will lead them. A cow and a bear will graze and their young will lie down together; and the lion, like cattle, will eat hay. A nursing child will play by a viper's hole; and a newly weaned child will stretch his hand towards an adder's lair. They will neither injure nor destroy in all of my holy mountain; for the earth will be as filled with knowledge of Hashem as water covering the sea bed." (Yeshayahu 11:6-9)
1 Nisan
2 Iyar
3 Sivan
4 Tammuz (29 days)
5 Av (30 days)
6 Elul (29 days)
7 Tishrei
8 Cheshvan
9 Kislev
10 Tevet
11 Shevat
12 Adar
The period beginning with "Shiva Asar B'Tammuz," "17 Tammuz," and ending in "Tisha B'Av," "9 Av" is known as the period of "Bein HaMetzarim," "Between the Straits," days of historical trouble and tragedy for the Jewish People. The period beginning after Tisha B'Av and continuing through the month of Elul is the period of the "shiva d'nechemta," the "seven weeks of being comforted," when we read Haftarot in which the great destiny of the Jewish People is foretold, days of glory and peace. The concluding weeks of the seven week period coincides with the month of Elul, the month of "Teshuvah," "Repentance," and of closeness to Hashem.
The Story of the "Churban," the Destruction
The Story of the "Happy Day," "Tu B'Av"
Hilulot for Av
Hilulah Day | Name (Click on the name to view more info.) |
|---|---|
| 1 | Elazar HaKohen Served as Kohen Gadol (High Priest), after the death of his father Aharon HaKohen. His son was the famous, Pinchas HaKohen. |
| 1 | Aharon HaKohen Prophet, brother of Moshe Rabeinu (Moses) and Miriam the Prophetess, the first Kohen Gadol (High Priest). The chariot for the Sephirah of Hod. |
| 3 | Rabbi Shimshon of Ostropola Kabbalist, died during the Chmelnitzki Massacres. |
| 4 | Rabbi Menachem Azarya of Pano Kabbalist |
| 4 | Rabbi Raphael Enkaoua Leader of the moroccon Jewish community. |
| 5 | Rabbi Gedalyah Chayun Kabbalist. Founder of yeshivat Beit El. |
| 5 | Rabbi Chaim of Krasna One of the early followers of the Baal Shem Tov. |
| 5 | Rabbi Yitzchak Luria- The ARI - The ARI Kabbalist. |
| 9 | Rabbi Yaacov Yitzchak - The Chozeh of Lublin - The Chozeh of Lublin Chassidic leader |
| 10 | Rabbi 'Don' Yitzchak Abarbanel Philosopher and Biblical commentator, at the time of the Spanish expulsion(1492). |
| 10 | Issachar ben Yaacov Avinu Son of Jacob the Patriarch and Leah the Matriarch. He is one of the 12 Tribes. |
| 13 | Rabbi Natan Neta Shapira - Megale Amukot - Megale Amukot Kabbalist and chief rabbi of Cracow. |
| 14 | Rabbi Tzvi Hirsh of Liska Chassidic leader in Hungary. |
| 20 | Rabbi Eliezer of Azipalia Chassidic leader, son of the tzaddik Rabbi Yehuda Tzvi of Stretin. |
| 22 | Rabbi Meir of Premishlan I He was one of the first students of the Baal Shem Tov and the granfather of the famous Rabbi Meir of Premishlan II. |
| 26 | Rabbi Yehuda Fatiyah Kabbalist and famous exorcist. |
| 26 | Rabbi Yoel Teitelbaum of Satmar Chassidic leader of the Satmar movement. |
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Additional information:
... Because of the Golden Calf, death was brought back into the world. ...In the Talmud it says that Bnai Yisrael did not experience death in the desert except around 9th of Av - when on the eve of it, they would dig up and sleep in the sand. Those who survived 9th of Av, would move on...
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Other Sites
Sinai Live
Children's Book - When We Left Yerushalayim: Stories of the Churban Beis Hamikdash
