1,000 Jews Pray at Joseph's Tomb on Tu B'Av, Holiday of Love

Adam Eliyahu Berkowitz : Aug 8, 2017
Breaking Israel News

According to the Talmud, Tu B'Av was a joyous holiday in the days of the Temple, marking the beginning of the grape harvest. On that day, the unmarried girls of Jerusalem dressed in white garments and went out to dance in the vineyards.

(Israel)—[Breaking Israel News] An estimated 1,000 Jews arrived on Monday night for an overnight prayer vigil at the Tomb of Joseph adjacent to the Biblical city of Shechem (Nablus). The gathering, intended to celebrate Tu B'Av, the Jewish holiday of love, was described in Palestinian media as a military onslaught in which, "Talmudic rituals ... caused clashes with the Palestinian locals." (Photo: Joseph's Tomb, early 1900s/Wikimedia Commons/BIN)

The visit was coordinated with the IDF. Dozens of soldiers secured the site and no incidents of violence were reported. The visit was to celebrate the minor holiday of Tu B'av (the fifteenth day of the Hebrew month of Av). According to the Talmud (Ta'anit 30b-31a), Tu B'Av was a joyous holiday in the days of the Temple, marking the beginning of the grape harvest. On that day, the unmarried girls of Jerusalem dressed in white garments and went out to dance in the vineyards.

Celebrating the holiday of love at Joseph's Tomb is powerfully significant. Jacob...

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