But all is not lost. We have the ability to bring contamination into the world, but we can also bring down purity and holiness. The corruption brought into the world on Tisha B’Av can be rectified by acts of love between brothers. If we act with ahavas chinam (baseless love), we can bring a godly light to the world and tie it down here as well.
This is what we celebrate on Tu B’Av. While the tribes at Givah and in the Sinai Desert were certainly acting for the sake of Heaven, their actions were causing divisiveness in Klal Yisrael. On Tu B’Av occurred two wondrously joyous events – the enabling of the tribes to marry within each other. Why is this such a special event? Because it brought ahavah (love) into Klal Yisrael. It broke down the barriers of negativity and polarization. These events created a holiness that stems from shalom (peace) and permanently changed the world for the better – by tying that holiness to the world through the calendar date.
Why is there no more festive day for Israel than Tu B’Av? Because it is the day where our actions cause a tikkun (rectification) for the saddest day of the year. All our sorrows stem from a lack of Hashem’s presence in the world, which in turn stems from the exile and the destruction of the Temples. We all wish for the day when Mashiach will come and rebuild the Beis Hamikdash. But it is more in our hands than we realize. Tisha B’Av shows us that we can bring impurity to the world, but Tu B’Av shows us that our deeds can bring holiness to the world and fix our mistakes. The month of Av teaches us to realize the significance of our actions. May we merit internalizing this message, and by doing so may we merit to see the redemption, speedily and in our days. Amen.
This month’s column is adapted from Pri Tzaddik.