In honor of Tu B'Av, sometimes known as the Jewish day of joy and love, Israel's Central Bureau of Statistics (CBS) has published wedding statistics.  The number of Jewish weddings is rising, as is the age of marriage - though not in all circles.

Tu B'Av, the 15th day of the Hebrew month of Av, fell this year on Saturday, August 16.

The CBS press release is headlined with a quote from an ancient Jewish text known as the Mishna explaining the Jewish significance of the day.  The Mishna, written 2,000 years ago, explains that Tu B'Av is one of Judaism's most festive holidays, on which Jewish maidens used to go out to the fields wearing borrowed white clothing, so as not to embarrass those who did not have fine garments of their own. The lasses would say, "Young man, lift up your eyes and appreciate whom you are selecting [to marry]. Look not at beauty, but rather at the family..."

The number of Jewish couples who married in recognized religious ceremonies in Israel in 2006 was 33,880 - up 8.3% from the year before.  The number of new Moslem couples, however, rose 12%, to 9,273.

The median age of marriage for Jewish men was 28.2, compared to 26.4 for Moslems.  Among women, it was 25.7 for Jews and 20.8 for Moslems.

More Than Half are Bachelors

Singlehood is becoming more prevalent in Israeli society.  In 1986, 38% of men aged 25-29 were unmarried - and this percentage rose to 57% in 2006.  In Norway, the rate is 58%, and in Italy - 80%.

Among women aged 20-24, 70% were unmarried in 2006 - compared with 74% in Norway and close to 90% in Italy and Britain.

Traveling to the East

A report by Globes says that travel agencies and sociologists note a trend of late in which unmarrieds aged 30-35 "drop everything" and leave for several months or more for the Far East.  An Israeli hiking site, LaMetayel, finds that 47% of surfers on a forum for the Far East are aged between 25 and 40.

Religious Circles: Age Drops

On the other hand, an opposite trend has been noted in some religious-Zionist circles in Israel.  Weddings of 18-year-old brides and 19-year-old grooms are no longer uncommon, and the matter has become a matter of public discussion.  Some rabbis have expressed skepticism and even objections to the trend, while others have come out heartily in favor.

Many Jewish weddings are, in fact, held on Tu B'Av, and the day is known among secular Israelis as Love Day.   Rabbi Shmuel Shapira, the rabbi of the town of Kokhav Ya'ir, explained to Arutz-7 that the secularization of the day "is positive from one standpoint: It shows that people want to love. True, they sometimes take advantage of it for various negative things that are very unacceptable - but the inner point of this striving for love, for goodness, for the ability to give to others and to feel united - this is something that we should try to develop, of course in a pure and holy manner..."