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Dina Gudai, Israeli Representative
Phone: 074-7800643
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Please mail your check to:
The Schechter Institutes, Inc. (a 501(c) 3 tax exempt organization)
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Please mail a check to:
The Schechter Institutes
Attn: Dina Gudai, Finance Department
PO Box 16080,
Jerusalem, 9116002
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For assistance, please call Dina Gudai at 074-780-0643 (8:00 AM – 3:00 Israel time Sunday through Thursday).
Your donation will be tax deductible in the US to the extent allowed by the IRS.
To make a tax-deductible donation by wire transfer in the US, please contact:
Avrum Lapin, North American Representative
Toll-free: 1-866-830-3321
Email: schechter@thelapingroup.com
To make a tax-deductible donation in Israel, please contact:
Dina Gudai, Israeli Representative
Phone: 074-7800643
Email: dina@schechter.ac.il
Please mail your check to:
The Schechter Institutes, Inc. (a 501(c) 3 tax exempt organization)
Box #3566
PO Box 8500
Philadelphia, PA 19178-3566
Attn: Mr. Avrum Lapin, North American Representative
Toll-free: 1-866-830-3321
Email: schechter@thelapingroup.com
Please indicate the donation is "for your joint Schechter Institutes program."
Checks should be made payable to the Jewish Theological Society of Canada and mailed to:
Jewish Theological Society of Canada
c/o Camp Ramah in Canada
3845 Bathhurst St., Suite 310
Toronto, ON, M3H 3N2
Phone: 416-789-2193, ext. 2139
E-mail: accounting@campramah.com
Please mail a check to:
The Schechter Institutes
Attn: Dina Gudai, Finance Department
PO Box 16080,
Jerusalem, 9116002
Israel
For assistance, please call Dina Gudai at 074-780-0643 (8:00 AM – 3:00 Israel time Sunday through Thursday).
In recent years, Tu B’av has become the ‘holiday of love’, a sort of Jewish version of ‘Valentine’s Day’. Why?
The well-known mishna in tractate Taanit (4:6) states: “There were no good days for Israel like the fifteenth of Av and Yom HaKippurim in which the daughters of Jerusalem go forth in white garments, in order to not embarrass anyone who does not have [fine clothes].. And the daughters of Jerusalem go out and danced in the vineyards.”
15 of Av is included here along with Yom Kippur, and the Talmud wondered: Why is Tu B’Av so great? Why did it receive such attention?
The first two answers (out of six) given to this question are: “The day when tribes were allowed to come together” and “the day when the tribe of Benjamin was allowed to come in crowds.” check better translation- join with the other tribes?
Even without knowing the biblical background to these answers (the first is the story of the daughters of Tselophad in the book of Bamidbar (Numbers), the second is the story of the concubine in the hill in the book of Judges), it can clearly be seen that the emphasis is not on relationships and romance but rather on the connection within the People. If so, five days after fasting for the destruction of the Temple caused by division and gratuitous hatred, it is absolutely appropriate to celebrate a holiday that symbolizes the complete opposite. You can, of course, buy a bouquet of flowers for your loved one on this day, but you should remember that this is not the only meaning of this special day in the Hebrew calendar. We should focus on healing the rifts among the various segments of Israeli society and trying to approach each other with curiosity and respect.
Dr. Gila Vachman is a Lecturer in Midrash at The Schechter Institute of Jewish Studies and coordinates The Schechter Rabbinical Seminary’s Torah Lishmah program at Neve Schechter in Tel Aviv.
Dr. Gila Vachman received her BA (summa cum laude) in Talmud and Hebrew Literature, MA (summa cum laude) in Midrash and Aggadah, and her PhD from the Hebrew University in Jerusalem. She is also a lecturer in Midrash and Aggadah at the Hebrew University in Jerusalem. Born on Kibbutz Yavne, Dr. Vachman is married, the mother of three children, and lives in Jerusalem.
