The Fifteenth of Av
It is written in the Mishnah (Taanit, p 26b): “Rabbi Shimon Ben Gamliel said, ‘No days were better for Israel than the fifteenth of Av [11th Hebrew month], and Yom Kippur [Day of Atonement], when the daughters of Jerusalem would come out dressed in borrowed white garments, so as not to shame those who do not have.
The daughters of Jerusalem would come out and dance in the vineyards. What would they say? ‘Young man, lift up your eyes and see what you choose for yourself.
Do not cast your eyes on beauty; cast your eyes on family.’” (And on page 31) “Those who did not have wives went there. Our sages taught, ‘What would the beauties among them say? ‘Turn your eyes to beauty, for a woman is only for beauty.
’What would the wellborn among them say? ‘Cast your eyes on family, for a woman is only for sons.’ In The Eye of Jacob he adds, ‘The wealthy among them say,
‘Cast your eyes on the wealthy.’ What would the unsightly ones among them say? ‘Take what you take for the Creator, as long as you crown us with gold coins.’” (Rabash, “The Fifthteenth of Av”)
“The unsightly Daughters of Jerusalem” is the final stage of Malchut, Dalet de Dalet, called “poor and wretched.”
A person runs away from such work; he has no motivation or desire for it because all of this work is in faith above reason.
One must understand that this is arranged deliberately, precisely to help a person attain the spiritual world!
He must see that exactly where his egoistic desire does not function, where there is no desire, where beauty and fulfillment do not attract, that is the sign he needs a different kind of fuel.
He is given the opportunity to picture a state in which he is not bribed by his egoism, and if he works in such a state, it will be for the sake of bestowal.
But where will he get such “anti-fuel,” the ability to work without energy, without filling his ego?
It is precisely in such a state that he realizes he needs the Creator’s help. If he does not receive the force called “the light” from above, he cannot move from his place.
If I desire only to bestow without wishing to receive any compensation, neither wealth, nor beauty, nor nobility, and I choose a “poor and wretched wife” in the evaluation of my egoism, and choose only the ability to bestow without any conditions, then I arrive at the day of joy, the Day (quality and light) of Love (the 15th of Av).
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From the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 7/26/10, Writings of Rabash “The Fifteenth of Av”
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