There were no greater festivals for Israel
than the 15th of Av and Yom Kippur. On these days the daughters of Jerusalem
would go out... and dance in the vineyards. And what would they say?
"Young man, raise your eyes and see which you select for yourself...."
And so it is written, "Go out, daughters of
Zion, and see King Solomon,1 in
the crown with which his mother crowned him on his wedding day and on the day of
his heart's rejoicing" (Song of Songs 3:11). "His wedding day" -- this
is the Giving of the Torah; "the day of his heart's rejoicing" -- this is
the building of the Holy Temple, which shall be rebuilt speedily in our days.
Talmud, Taanit 26b
It is no coincidence that Yom Kippur and the 15th of Av served as occasions
for matchmaking for the young men and women of Jerusalem: these two days are the
respective betrothal and marriage2 dates of G-d and Israel. Yom Kippur
-- the day on which the Second Tablets were given to Moses, marking
the fulfillment of the covenant at Mount Sinai
-- is the day of Israel's betrothal to G-d. Av 15 -- the day that represents
the rebirth which follows the great fall of the Holy Temple's destruction on the 9th of Av -- celebrates the ultimate consummation
of our marriage with the final redemption of Moshiach.
After relating how "the daughters of Jerusalem would go out... and dance in
the vineyards" and "whoever did not have a wife would go there" to find
himself a bride, the Talmud goes on to describe three different categories of
"daughters" and how each would call out to her perspective bridegroom:
What would the beautiful ones among them say?
"Look for beauty, for a woman is for beauty."
What would those of prestigious lineage say?
"Look for family, for a woman is for children."
What would the ugly ones say? "Make your acquisition for the sake of
Heaven, as long as you decorate us with jewels" (Talmud, Taanit 31a).
The Lubavitcher Rebbe explains that the
marriage of G-d and His people also includes these three categories of "brides":
the souls of Israel include "beautiful" souls, souls "of prestigious
lineage," and "ugly" souls,3 each of whom contribute their
own unique dimension to our relationship with G-d.
Love
There are two types of love, say the Chassidic masters. There is a love that
is generated by the person's own mind and heart, when s/he meditates on the
greatness and desirability of a person (or thing, or state) and thereby develops feelings of
love and attraction to him/her/it. Then there is an inborn love: a love that a person
has not created himself -- indeed, he may be unaware that he possesses it -- but
which resides in his heart from birth, a natural bond and attraction to
something that is implanted in his soul by virtue of who and what he is.
"You shall love G-d" (Deuteronomy 6:5) is a crucial component of our
relationship with the Almighty. Aside from the fact that loving G-d is itself a
mitzvah (Divine commandment), it is also a prerequisite for the proper
observance of all the mitzvot. As Rabbi Schneur Zalman of Liadi elaborates in
his Tanya, mitzvot which are not motivated by a love of G-d are performed
mechanically and erratically; only one who loves G-d serves Him in a manner that
is both integral and enduring.
Our love for G-d also comes in the two forms described above. By studying
what G-d has revealed about Himself to us in His Torah, and contemplating and
meditating upon these truths, one develops a feeling of love toward Him -- a
desire to approach His great and magnificent being, to unite and become one with
it. Indeed, this is one of the primary functions of prayer, "the service of
the heart": to generate a feeling of love for the Creator by meditating on His
greatness and majesty.
But also the person who does not succeed in creating a "self-generated"
love by these means can attain a love of G-d, by resorting to the inborn love
for Him we each possess as "an inheritance from our forefathers." Abraham,
the first Jew, was the very embodiment of divine love ("Abraham, who loves Me,"
in G-d's words to Isaiah), and G-d rewarded him with the gift of "fatherhood"
-- the ability to bequeath this love to his descendants. So each and every Jew
has Abraham's love of G-d encoded in his spiritual genes. As with all inborn
characteristics, this love may be buried in the subconscious, stifled by the
dross of material life; but it can always be wakened and called upon to
stimulate and vitalize our observance of the mitzvot.
The advantages of the second type of love are obvious. Every Jew possesses it
-- and the ability to realize it -- regardless of the extent of his cognitive
and meditative skills or his spiritual sensitivity. Furthermore, a
self-generated love will always be limited by the finite capacities of the mind
and heart which have created it, and will fluctuate in accordance with the
person's mental and emotional state at any given moment; our inborn love,
being divinely granted, is infinite and unequivocal.
But there are advantages to self-generated love as well. Though lesser in
essence and scope, it is more keenly felt, more exuberantly experienced. For
such is our nature: what we create is more precious to us than the most valuable
endowment, what we conceive of ourselves is somehow more relevant and real than
what is learned from the greatest master. So although the stimulation of our
inherited love for G-d would suffice to drive our observance of the mitzvot, we
should nevertheless strive to enhance our relationship with Him with the ecstasy
and passion that only a love created by our own faculties and initiative can
bring. In the words of our sages, "Although a fire came down [on the Altar]
from the heavens, it is imperative to also kindle a man-made fire."
The Sallow-Skinned Bride
Therein lies the deeper significance of the Talmud's description of how "the
beautiful ones," "those of prestigious lineage" and "the ugly ones"
among the daughters of Jerusalem conducted their courtship dance in the
vineyards on Av 15.
The dancing maidens of Jerusalem calling out their virtues to their
prospective bridegrooms echo the call of the souls of Israel to their Divine
Groom. Among these are the beautiful souls, those who have achieved a
best-of-both-worlds perfection in their love of the Almighty: a passionate,
self-generated love set upon the immutable foundation of inherited love. "A
woman is for beauty," call these souls to G-d; take us as your bride, and You
will be rewarded by the pleasure You derive when Your creations realize the
potential for perfection You have invested in them.
Then there are the souls of "prestigious lineage." We cannot offer you
the flawless beauty of our perfect sisters -- they call to G-d -- but we have
unearthed the hereditary love You have implanted in us. "A woman is for
children": our relationship might not, as of yet, yield beauty, but it will
bear fruit -- the mitzvot generated by our natural love for You. (In the words
of the Midrash Pesikta Zutrati on Genesis 6:9: "The offspring of the righteous
are good deeds.") For is not Your ultimate purpose in creation that Your
creations fulfill your will? Our love for you might not excite our senses and
illuminate our lives, but we offer You the rewards of family -- the good deeds
that are the tangible, enduring offspring of Israel's commitment to her
Creator.
And the ugly ones? Those who have neither roused their minds and hearts to
desire their Creator, nor wakened their hereditary loyalty to Him? Those who
never generated a self-created love and whose inborn love lies dormant under a
squalid veneer of apathy and iniquity? They cry: "Make Your acquisition for
the sake of Heaven!"
"Do for Your sake, if not for ours,"4 call the "ugly" souls of Israel. Take us as Your own, despite
our appearance, because only You know what lies behind our appearance, and only
You know the truth of what You can inspire in us. For You know that, in truth,
"The daughters of Israel are beautiful, it is only that poverty obscures their
beauty."5 You know that our "ugliness"
is not our true essence, but imposed upon us by the spiritual poverty of galut.
If we have failed to realize our potential for beauty and fruitfulness, then
it is left to You to "decorate us with jewels" -- to shower us with the
gifts that will waken our quintessential bond to You and bring to light our
innate perfection.
