Every Hebrew letter has a numerical value. An Aleph, the first letter, has a value of one. The second letter, Bet, has a value of two. (Note that the English word 'alpha-bet' is made up of the names of these first two Hebrew letters). As a result, words can be expressed numerically...the word for 'life' in Hebrew is "Chai" (as in 'l'chaim' - 'to life'). It is spelled with two Hebrew letters, the 'chet', which has a value of 8 and 'yud' which has a value of 10. Added together, the word 'chai' has a value of 18...that's why so many charitable donations are given in multiples of 18-$36, $54, $72 are common amounts donated-much to the confusion of non-Jewish recipients of those donations. It's as if the donor is adding a blessing for 'life' along with the monetary donation.
That brings us to a rarely celebrated, but wonderful Jewish holiday that is coming up this week--Tu b'Av. "Av" refers to the Hebrew month of Av, which started on July 22. But what is this "Tu"? First of all, it is NOT a Hebrew word, although it although appears in the name of another Jewish holiday-"Tu b'shvat". Rather, it is a number expressed as Hebrew letters. The holiday occurs on the 15th day of the month of Av, this year beginning in the evening of August 4 and continuing through sunset on August 5. It's the full moon of the month, a joyous holiday, where traditionally women would go out into the fields, dressed in festive white garments and dance in the vineyards, hoping to connect with the love of their lives. A kind of Jewish Valentine's day, it's a holiday about love and connection. But there's a problem with the number/letter correspondence for the 15th day of the month! The number fifteen would be most conveniently expressed as "ten" and "five"...the letters "yud" and "heh" respectively. But those two letters, in that order, are the first two letters of the four letter tetragrammaton, the unpronounceable name for the Holy Source of All. Rather than risk mispronouncing this name, Jewish tradition often uses substitutes. When encountering the four letters (Yud, Heh, Vav, Heh) in the text, we might say "Adonai", or "HaShem", or "Havaya", or "HaMakom". Here, tradition takes another approach, choosing two different letters with different numerical values to add up to 15, indicating the fifteenth day of the month. The letter 'tet' has a value of 9 (9th letter in the alphabet) and 'vav' a value of 6 (sixth letter in the alphabet). Thus "tet" plus "vav" equals 15 and is pronounced "Tu"!
What does this have to do with our spiritual journey at this time of year?We have just passed through the most challenging part of the year, where warnings and admonitions did not prevent the disasters we marked on Tisha b'Av. We mourn...and then we get up from our mourning. The Shabbat between Tisha b'Av and Tu b'Av is called Shabbat Nachamu...the Sabbath of consolation. This begins a seven-week process of solace and comforting-the necessary steps toward renewal after a significant loss.
Six days after Tisha b'Av comes this holiday of Tu b'Av, celebrating love. Thus the seventh day (always a significant number in Jewish tradition) after a day marking tragedy and sadness we have a holiday marking the creative power and revitalizing potential of love.
Tu b'Av is a kind of pivot point, turning aside our sadness, we celebrate love which is, after all, the pinnacle of all positive possibilities. When the month of Elul beings in two weeks, we begin to prepare for a totally new year. Each new beginning is ripe with risk and opportunity, when we are open to surprising and improbable events, unexpected invitations and tantalizing moments of potential connection. Let love lead the way into the next, totally new stage of our lives, with blessing, strength, compassion, hope and peace.