HaRav Dov Begon is Head of Yeshivat Machon Meir.
On Tisha B'Av we mourned the destruction of the Beit HaMikdash and the Exile, the painful state of separation from our Land and our Temple, as every separation brings sorrow and mourning. Yet immediately afterward we move toward a happier situation of reunion and unity on Tu B'Av.
Tu B'Av is the day on which the tribes were permitted to marry one another, and the tribe of Benjamin was readmitted into the Congregation of Israel.
It is the day on which the Generation of the Wilderness ceased dying and Divine communication with Moses was renewed.
It is the day on which the roadblocks erected by Jeroboam the son of Nebat on the way to Jerusalem were removed, allowing the people once again to ascend to the Holy City.
It is the day on which the blessing HaTov VeHaMeitiv was instituted in honor of the slain of Beitar, who were finally granted burial.
It is the day on which the cutting of wood for the Altar came to an end.
It is the day when people begin increasing their Torah study during the nights.
It is also the day when the daughters of Israel would go out to dance in the vineyards in order to find suitable marriage partners and establish faithful homes in Israel.
Indeed, our Sages taught that "Israel had no greater festivals than the Fifteenth of Av and Yom Kippur," the Day of Atonement, which is a day of forgiveness and pardon (see Ta'anit 30b). Wherever there is repentance born of love, connection, and unity, there is joy.
As Rabbi Kook of blessed memory writes:
"When a person returns to God out of love, the light of the existence of the World of Unity immediately begins to shine upon him. There everything is organized into one unified whole, and within that universal connection there is no evil at all, for evil joins together with good to enrich it and elevate its precious value even further" (Orot HaTeshuva 12:5).
At present, our own generation resembles Tu B'Av following Tisha B'Av. Only one generation ago, the Jewish People were at the depths of exile and suffering during the terrible Holocaust in Europe. Yet only a few years later - from 5705 (1945) to 5708 (1948), a span of just three years - the State of Israel arose. We passed from the dreadful condition of exile and separation, with all its tragic consequences, to the wondrous reality of becoming one nation in its Land.
We ascended from the deepest abyss to the highest heights.
We must recognize the abundant kindness and goodness that Hashem has bestowed upon our generation, just as we rejoice with glad hearts on Tu B'Av, the day of unity and togetherness for both the nation and the individual. We should express our gratitude in joyful dance, like the dance of the righteous of which our Sages speak:
"In the future, the Holy One, blessed be He, will make a circle for the righteous, and He will sit among them in the Garden of Eden. Each one will point with his finger and say: 'Behold, this is our God, for Whom we hoped, and He will save us. This is the Lord for Whom we hoped; let us rejoice and be glad in His salvation'" (Isaiah 25:9; Ta'anit 31a).
Awaiting the complete Redemption.