The Fifteenth of Av

There were other significant events that took place on Tu B’Av. The decree that Jews would die in the desert, ended on the fifteenth of Av. This meant that all alive at that time would enter Eretz Yisrael.

It was also the date when permission was granted to bury the large number of Jews killed at Beitar. Miraculously, their bodies did not decay and they were given a proper burial. This led to the insertion of the fourth blessing of ברכת המזון, known as הטוב והמיטיב.

The fifteenth of Av also represented a miracle where they were able to gather enough wood for the altar. Wood gathered after the fifteenth, tended to be wormy and unfit the altar. It was a miracle because the enemies of Israel tried to prevent this, and we prevailed.

This date was a cutoff date for ערלה. This means that a tree planted before the fifteenth of Av, was considered as having completed one of the three years needed before eating the fruits of the tree.

Technically, a tree planted on the fourteenth of Av in 5781, for example, would allow its fruit to be eaten after Tu B’Shvat 5784, when a total of thirty months passed. Nevertheless, Halachically, it is considered three years.

And finally, when a Shmitta year approaches, like this year, no more planting is allowed after Tu B’Av. Anything planted after this date is uprooted.

So we see, there’s a lot going on connected with Tu B’Av!