{"id":106103,"date":"2021-07-21T10:57:33","date_gmt":"2021-07-21T07:57:33","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blog.nli.org.il\/?p=106103"},"modified":"2024-08-15T14:13:30","modified_gmt":"2024-08-15T11:13:30","slug":"bais-yaakov-tu-bav","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blognli2026.moonsite.co.il\/en\/bais-yaakov-tu-bav\/","title":{"rendered":"The Feminist Revival of Tu B&#8217;Av, the Jewish Festival of Love"},"content":{"rendered":"<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">Do a quick Google search on Tu B\u2019Av, and two sorts of material will appear. The first describes a festival dating back to late antiquity, in which, according to Mishnah Ta\u2019anit 4:8, \u201cOn these days [the 15th of Av] the daughters of Jerusalem would go out in borrowed white garments in order not to shame anyone who had none&#8230;\u00a0 The daughters of Jerusalem would come out and dance in the vineyard. What would they say? Young man, lift up your eyes and see what you choose for yourself&#8230;\u201d<\/p>\n<figure id=\"attachment_106105\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-106105\" style=\"width: 500px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-106105\" src=\"https:\/\/blog.nli.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/07\/PikiWiki_Israel_1112_hadera_\u05d9\u05dc\u05d3\u05d5\u05ea_\u05e8\u05d5\u05e7\u05d3\u05d5\u05ea.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"500\" height=\"705\" srcset=\"https:\/\/blognli2026.moonsite.co.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/07\/PikiWiki_Israel_1112_hadera_\u05d9\u05dc\u05d3\u05d5\u05ea_\u05e8\u05d5\u05e7\u05d3\u05d5\u05ea.jpg 440w, https:\/\/blognli2026.moonsite.co.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/07\/PikiWiki_Israel_1112_hadera_\u05d9\u05dc\u05d3\u05d5\u05ea_\u05e8\u05d5\u05e7\u05d3\u05d5\u05ea-213x300.jpg 213w, https:\/\/blognli2026.moonsite.co.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/07\/PikiWiki_Israel_1112_hadera_\u05d9\u05dc\u05d3\u05d5\u05ea_\u05e8\u05d5\u05e7\u05d3\u05d5\u05ea-426x600.jpg 426w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 500px) 100vw, 500px\" \/><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-106105\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Girls dancing on Tu B&#8217;Av in Hadera, early 20th century. From the Khan Hadera Archive and Museum (Photo: Sonia Kolodany \/ Photo Sonia \/ <a href=\"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/2.5\/\">CC BY 2.5<\/a>)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">Along with this ancient matchmaking festival, we might also learn of the revival of Tu B\u2019Av in modern Israel, as a Jewish Valentine\u2019s Day, or festival of love. The Orthodox world, in Israel and beyond, has also taken up this day as a \u201cGlobal Day of Shidduchim,\u201d in which great rabbis pray, without charge, for unmarried men and women to find their mates.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">Yet Tu B\u2019Av, it turns out, may have been first revived in the modern period neither by modern Zionists celebrating romance nor by Orthodox organizations praying for \u201cshidduchim.\u201d<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><strong>Bais Yaakov<\/strong><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">Now generally associated with perhaps less-than-progressive ultra-Orthodox educations for girls, the Bais Yaakov movement was actually quite radical in its early years.<\/p>\n<section class=\"elementor-section elementor-top-section elementor-element elementor-element-a5efefb elementor-section-content-middle elementor-section-boxed elementor-section-height-default elementor-section-height-default\" data-id=\"a5efefb\" data-element_type=\"section\">\n<div class=\"elementor-container elementor-column-gap-default\">\n<div class=\"elementor-row\">\n<div class=\"elementor-column elementor-col-50 elementor-top-column elementor-element elementor-element-7a13674\" data-id=\"7a13674\" data-element_type=\"column\">\n<div class=\"elementor-column-wrap elementor-element-populated\">\n<div class=\"elementor-widget-wrap\">\n<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-53d7795 elementor-widget elementor-widget-text-editor\" data-id=\"53d7795\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"text-editor.default\">\n<div class=\"elementor-widget-container\">\n<div class=\"elementor-text-editor elementor-clearfix\">\n<p>In 1917, a dressmaker with an eighth-grade education named Sarah Schenirer opened a girls\u2019 school in Krak\u00f3w, hoping to stem the tide of Orthodox girls who were abandoning tradition.<\/p>\n<figure id=\"attachment_106108\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-106108\" style=\"width: 500px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.nli.org.il\/en\/books\/NNL_ALEPH002131626\/NLI\"><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-106108 size-full\" src=\"https:\/\/blog.nli.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/07\/Sarah-Schenirer.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"500\" height=\"706\" srcset=\"https:\/\/blognli2026.moonsite.co.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/07\/Sarah-Schenirer.jpg 500w, https:\/\/blognli2026.moonsite.co.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/07\/Sarah-Schenirer-212x300.jpg 212w, https:\/\/blognli2026.moonsite.co.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/07\/Sarah-Schenirer-425x600.jpg 425w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 500px) 100vw, 500px\" \/><\/a><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-106108\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Sarah Schenirer. From <em><a href=\"https:\/\/www.nli.org.il\/en\/books\/NNL_ALEPH002131626\/NLI\">Collected Writings<\/a><\/em>, the National Library of Israel collection<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>By the 1930s, the movement had branches on three continents and dozens of schools, not to mention vocational training institutes, a chain of colonies and summer camps, three teachers\u2019 seminaries, a monthly literary journal and other periodicals, its own publishing houses, a youth movement and much more.\u00a0The character of the movement changed dramatically after the Holocaust, yet recently the <a href=\"https:\/\/thebaisyaakovproject.religion.utoronto.ca\/\">Bais Yaakov Project<\/a> was founded to preserve and share this fascinating early history.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p><strong>The women\u2019s holiday<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Online as part of the Bais Yaakov Project archives, a <a href=\"https:\/\/thebaisyaakovproject.com\/bais-yaakov-journal\/bais-yaakov-journal-issue-4-3rd-year-of-publication-1926\/\">1926 issue of <em>The Bais Yaakov Journal<\/em><\/a> reports local celebrations of Tu B\u2019Av throughout Poland that year. The newspaper describes the numerous correspondents who wrote in to the office of the Bnos (the youth movement associated with the Agudah and Bais Yaakov) to report on how they had celebrated the day and to express \u201cthe outpouring of joy awakened by the revival of this traditional historical women\u2019s holiday.\u201d<\/p>\n<figure id=\"attachment_106160\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-106160\" style=\"width: 500px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-106160 size-full\" src=\"https:\/\/blog.nli.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/07\/Beis-Yaakov-Rabka1-Enhanced.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"500\" height=\"310\" srcset=\"https:\/\/blognli2026.moonsite.co.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/07\/Beis-Yaakov-Rabka1-Enhanced.jpg 500w, https:\/\/blognli2026.moonsite.co.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/07\/Beis-Yaakov-Rabka1-Enhanced-300x186.jpg 300w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 500px) 100vw, 500px\" \/><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-106160\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Beis Yaakov activities in Rabka (near Skawa), 1929. From <a href=\"https:\/\/www.nli.org.il\/en\/books\/NNL_ALEPH002131626\/NLI\"><em>Collected Writings<\/em><\/a>, the National Library of Israel collection<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/section>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">The fact that this was not a one-time occurrence in 1926 but a regular feature of Bnos and Bais Yaakov life is evident from other writings, including by Sarah Schenirer, detailing how this old-new holiday might be celebrated, and clarifying its meaning for the Bais Yaakov movement. One participant in a Tu B\u2019Av ritual led by Sarah Schenirer herself provided a rich description of the 1932 celebration in the woods of Skawa, a village thirty miles south of Krakow where the seminary students were spending the last summer before they left for their assigned teaching posts.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">The celebration of Tu B\u2019Av, in Hodo Movshowitz\u2019s retelling, involved a moonlight hike in the woods, with 115 students and teachers walking hand-in-hand behind their leader and guide, Sarah Schenirer. After some difficulties, a bonfire is lit, and a student gives a talk, followed by Sarah Schenirer, and then the girls and women rapturously and prayerfully sing and dance, an experience of great mystical meaning.<\/p>\n<figure id=\"attachment_106157\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-106157\" style=\"width: 500px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-106157\" src=\"https:\/\/blog.nli.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/07\/Beis-Yaakov-Rabka2-Enhanced.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"500\" height=\"310\" srcset=\"https:\/\/blognli2026.moonsite.co.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/07\/Beis-Yaakov-Rabka2-Enhanced.jpg 500w, https:\/\/blognli2026.moonsite.co.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/07\/Beis-Yaakov-Rabka2-Enhanced-300x186.jpg 300w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 500px) 100vw, 500px\" \/><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-106157\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Beis Yaakov activities near Skawa, 1929. From <a href=\"https:\/\/www.nli.org.il\/en\/books\/NNL_ALEPH002131626\/NLI\"><em>Collected Writings<\/em><\/a>, the National Library of Israel collection<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">Tu B\u2019Av was revived in Bais Yaakov as a \u201ctraditional historical women\u2019s holiday\u201d; the student who spoke to the group around the bonfire explained its meaning, according to the description, as \u201cthe holiday that belongs to us, to young Jewish women.\u201d<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">The ecstatic dancing was done not before the eyes of prospective mates, as in the Mishnah, but rather, Movshowitz stresses, with no one watching. Tu B\u2019Av was celebrated in Poland by Orthodox Jewish girls and women, alone in the woods with their God, their guide, and each other.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><strong>Tu B&#8217;Av 1932 in Skawa<\/strong><\/p>\n<section class=\"elementor-section elementor-top-section elementor-element elementor-element-8588b20 elementor-section-boxed elementor-section-height-default elementor-section-height-default\" data-id=\"8588b20\" data-element_type=\"section\">\n<div class=\"elementor-container elementor-column-gap-default\">\n<div class=\"elementor-row\">\n<div class=\"elementor-column elementor-col-100 elementor-top-column elementor-element elementor-element-58ba31f\" data-id=\"58ba31f\" data-element_type=\"column\">\n<div class=\"elementor-column-wrap elementor-element-populated\">\n<div class=\"elementor-widget-wrap\">\n<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-53a4131 elementor-widget elementor-widget-text-editor\" data-id=\"53a4131\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"text-editor.default\">\n<div class=\"elementor-widget-container\">\n<div class=\"elementor-text-editor elementor-clearfix\">\n<p>Below is the full text of the article, which appeared in a 1932 issue of the <em>Bais Yaakov Journal<\/em>. It was originally written in Yiddish by Hoda Movshowitz, a teacher in Sokolov, and recently translated into English by Frieda Vizel.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/section>\n<section class=\"elementor-section elementor-top-section elementor-element elementor-element-36f3eff elementor-section-boxed elementor-section-height-default elementor-section-height-default\" data-id=\"36f3eff\" data-element_type=\"section\">\n<div class=\"elementor-container elementor-column-gap-default\">\n<div class=\"elementor-row\">\n<div class=\"elementor-column elementor-col-100 elementor-top-column elementor-element elementor-element-5c0267c\" data-id=\"5c0267c\" data-element_type=\"column\">\n<div class=\"elementor-column-wrap elementor-element-populated\">\n<div class=\"elementor-widget-wrap\">\n<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-aef8c78 elementor-widget-divider--separator-type-pattern elementor-widget-divider--view-line elementor-widget elementor-widget-divider\" data-id=\"aef8c78\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"divider.default\">\n<div class=\"elementor-widget-container\">\n<div class=\"elementor-divider\">\n<section class=\"elementor-section elementor-top-section elementor-element elementor-element-7bd0ae8 elementor-section-boxed elementor-section-height-default elementor-section-height-default\" data-id=\"7bd0ae8\" data-element_type=\"section\">\n<div class=\"elementor-container elementor-column-gap-default\">\n<div class=\"elementor-row\">\n<div class=\"elementor-column elementor-col-100 elementor-top-column elementor-element elementor-element-8ccc664\" data-id=\"8ccc664\" data-element_type=\"column\">\n<div class=\"elementor-column-wrap elementor-element-populated\">\n<div class=\"elementor-widget-wrap\" style=\"text-align: justify;\">\n<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-48e7c97 elementor-widget elementor-widget-heading\" data-id=\"48e7c97\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"heading.default\">\n<blockquote><p>Evening. The sun is about to set. It is already on the other side of the linden trees. (Yes, the trees of Skawa, you will remain in our memory for a long time!) And suddenly it occurs to me: why does the sun hide behind these giant trees every day before it sets? Does it hide behind these enormous trees to prevent people from seeing the last few moments of its day? Maybe it doesn\u2019t want people to see the the misdeeds it has witnessed \u2014 is that why it reddens so with shame, and hides its face among the enormous trees?<\/p>\n<p>But I can\u2019t be lost in thought for long. The sound of some exalted mood reaches my ears and rouses me from my speculations.<\/p>\n<p>All the seminary girls are standing in front of the villa, ready for our excursion. We count a hundred and fifteen, and I too am among them.<\/p>\n<p>And so we set out.<\/p>\n<p>Frau Schenirer at the head. One hundred and fifteen of us go step by step, hand in hand, along the path, Frau Schenirer first among us, our guide. Our hearts beating with extraordinary joy, we follow in the steps of our leader and flag-bearer.<\/p>\n<p>The sun is already completely gone. A star-speckled sky is above us. The glow of the moon illuminates our path.<\/p>\n<p>And we walk and walk, but to where? Our great leader is before us, and we follow her lead.<\/p>\n<p>Finally, we reach a forest. It\u2019s pitch dark all around. The trees obstruct even the bright glow of the moon.<\/p>\n<p>Suddenly, the center of our group lights up. \u201cCampfire!\u201d we pass the word from ear to ear. A flash of light, and then it\u2019s pitch dark again. Something over there doesn\u2019t want to burn. The bonfire doesn\u2019t want to start. Our teachers busy themselves with it, to no avail. Some of us despair, but not those in charge of lighting fire, who keep on working with their bundle of twigs. They work with all their energy, lying flat on the ground with their faces close to the spot where a tiny spark still flickers. There they add a bit of their own life force and, finally, they\u2019re successful and the fire catches.<\/p>\n<p>Soon a large fire is burning in the center of our circle, almost like the Jewish fire which we kept burning for so long, deep in our hearts.<\/p>\n<p>It\u2019s quiet. No one dares to speak out loud, to break the silence, to interfere with what we are all feeling. Who? Every one of us! Because we are all experiencing something tremendous\u2014you can see it in our eyes. . .<\/p>\n<p>And then someone does break the silence. Who speaks? One of the students, who begins to give a talk. She speaks and each of her words rings out and is echoed back by the trees.<\/p>\n<p>She speaks of the meaning of the fifteenth day of the month of Av, about the holiday that belongs to us, to young Jewish women. The mood is serious, even sad, as she finishes.<\/p>\n<p>Again a silence lasts for a long time. From time to time we hear the crackle of the burning twigs. And suddenly we hear the voice of Frau Schenirer. All eyes are now focused in one direction, and with great anticipation we listen to the words of our great leader.<\/p>\n<p>Her eyes and the features of her face are sunken in the firelight, but her voice rings out: \u201cAnd the fire upon the altar shall be kept burning thereby, it shall not go out; and the priest shall kindle wood on it every morning; and he shall lay the burnt-offering in order upon it, and shall make smoke thereon the fat of the peace-offerings\u201d [Leviticus, 6: 5]. And she draws a picture to help us understand what this means. In the desert among the camps of Israel, the tribe of the Levites, and in their midst the tabernacle and the altar on which a fire burns that may never go out. This fire was sent by God himself to the altar. So was this divine fire not all that was needed to burn the sacrifices? But no, every morning the priest would add some wood. The divine fire can only burn for us when we have such divine priests who guard it, who feed the fire without cease, who add firewood without tiring of it. Only then can we be sure that the fire will always burn on our altar. And then, no power in the world can extinguish it.<\/p>\n<p>And after a short silence her voice rings out again. \u201cMany waters cannot extinguish love\u201d [Song of Songs, 8: 7].\u00a0Every person has within herself an altar. The heart of each person is a temple, and the fire that burns of its altar is the \u201cFear of God\u201d and \u201cLove of God\u201d. God starts off this fire on our altar. But we have to guard this spark, to blow on it again and again, without tiring.<\/p>\n<p>And again there is silence. All eyes are turned to the fire. Meanwhile it burns; dry twigs flame out on the ground. Our eyes are burning, too, and maybe something else as well, something invisible, in a secret place, a small and hidden flickering flame. No question about it \u2014 each and every one of us knows this about herself, without the slightest doubt.<\/p>\n<p>And suddenly we hear again the familiar voice; \u201cLet the children sing!\u201d<\/p>\n<p>And so we sing. Suddenly we are so overcome with the urge to sing that no power in the world can stop us.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThere is none like our God!\u201d<\/p>\n<p>We sing. Quietly at first, and then louder and louder and from the middle of that song, the tune of a deep prayer rings out:<\/p>\n<p>\u201cCleanse our hearts so we can serve you in truth!\u201d And ever more beautiful and stronger grows the song, until we are no longer singing \u2014 this is a fervent prayer!<\/p>\n<p>And it continues for another minute or two, until some extraordinary longing overcomes our soul, and out of our hearts tear the words \u201cNext year in Jerusalem!\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The tune grows stronger, more emotional, more prayerful. The fire in our eyes grows brighter, more radiant. We add wood to the fire and the flames leap up. We can no longer sit still, we rise. Everyone wants to dance.<\/p>\n<p>And so we dance.<\/p>\n<p>Alongside us dances our leader, Frau Schenirer. Hand in hand with us, together. We dance, we can no longer see anything before our eyes. Our eyes close, our souls pine for something, everything around us disappears. It is so good\u2026 Our feet dance of their own accord. And so we dance, strong, stronger, even stronger still.<\/p>\n<p>The dancing lasts for a long, long time, and still dancing we return from the woods. And still we dance. We dance as we accompany Frau Schenirer home, and only later do we ourselves go to sleep.<\/p>\n<p>***<\/p>\n<p>That was the fifteenth of Av, 1932, in Skawa. A year has already passed since then. We have dispersed, each to her own way. But did the bonds we forged then slacken? No, a thousand times no!<\/p>\n<p>We hold each other by the hand, united in one organization, united just as we were then, as we danced out of the woods with no one seeing us. We are each and every one of us deeply connected with the rest, even as each of us works in our own circle.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">\u2014<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><em>A <a href=\"https:\/\/thebaisyaakovproject.religion.utoronto.ca\/did-bais-yaakov-and-sarah-schenirer-revive-tu-beav\/\">version\u00a0<\/a>of this article was previously published as part of <a href=\"https:\/\/thebaisyaakovproject.religion.utoronto.ca\/\">The Bais Yaakov Project<\/a>. <\/em><em>It appears here\u00a0<\/em><em>as part of\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/europe.nli.org.il\/\">Gesher L\u2019Europa<\/a>, the National Library of Israel\u2019s initiative to connect with people, institutions and communities across Europe and beyond, through storytelling, knowledge sharing and community engagement.<\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/section>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/section>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Did an Orthodox girls&#8217; movement and its legendary founder revive an ancient and obscure holiday in the forests of Poland?<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":264,"featured_media":106137,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[218],"tags":[305,649,1534,1708,1218,1715],"tags2":[],"class_list":["post-106103","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-judaism","tag-europe","tag-gesherleuropa","tag-jewish-feminism","tag-jewish-holidays","tag-life-before-the-holocaust","tag-polish-jewry"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v24.8 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>The Feminist 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