Editing Tu B'Av (section)

==Historical significance==
According to the [[Mishna]], Tu B'Av was a joyous holiday in the days of the [[Temple in Jerusalem]], marking the beginning of the grape harvest.<ref>[https://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/tu-b-rsquo-av Jewish Holidays: Tu B’Av]</ref> On [[Yom Kippur]] and Tu B'Av, the unmarried girls of Jerusalem dressed in white garments and went out to dance in the vineyards.<ref name="myjewishlearning">{{cite web |title=Tu B'Av, the Jewish Day of Love |url=https://www.myjewishlearning.com/article/tu-bav/ |website=My Jewish Learning |access-date=6 August 2022}}</ref><ref name="archivejewishagency" /><ref>{{cite web |title=AB, FIFTEENTH DAY OF - JewishEncyclopedia.com |url=https://www.jewishencyclopedia.com/articles/111-ab-fifteenth-day-of |website=www.jewishencyclopedia.com |access-date=6 August 2022}}</ref>{{efn|However, scholar [[Eitam Henkin]] hypothesized that the meeting on vineyards only took place on [[Tu B'Av]], while the wearing of white clothing only took place on Yom Kippur, in contrast to the general presumption that both practices were done on both holidays.<ref>[https://asif.co.il/wpfb-file/%D7%98_%D7%95-%D7%91%D7%90%D7%91-%D7%94%D7%9E%D7%97%D7%95%D7%9C%D7%95%D7%AA-%D7%95%D7%94%D7%97%D7%92%D7%99%D7%9D-pdf/ ט ו באב – המחולות והחגים], p.71-72</ref>}} The [[Talmud]] states that there were no holy days as happy for the Jews as Tu B'Av and Yom Kippur.<ref name=t30/>

Various reasons for celebrating on Tu B'Av are cited by the Talmud and Talmudic [[meforshim|commentators]]:<ref name=t30>Mishna Taanit 4:8 and [[Babylonian Talmud]] [https://www.sefaria.org/Taanit.30b.8 30b-31a], Rashi on these</ref>
* While the Israelites wandered in the desert for forty years, female orphans without brothers could only marry within their tribe to prevent their father's inherited territory in the [[Land of Israel]] from passing on to other tribes, following the incident of the [[Daughters of Zelophehad]]. After the conquest and division of Canaan under [[Joshua]], this ban was lifted on the fifteenth of Av and inter-tribal marriage was allowed.
* At the end of Israel's wandering in the wilderness, the last remnant of the generation of the [[The Twelve Spies|sin of the spies]], which had been forbidden from entering the Promised Land, found that they were not destined to die. For forty years, every Tisha B'av the Israelites made graves for themselves in which they slept expecting to be their last night; every year a proportion of them died. In the 40th year, the fifteen thousand who had remained from the first generation went to sleep in the graves and woke up the next day to their surprise. Thinking they made a mistake with the date, they kept sleeping in graves until they reached Tu B'Av and saw a full moon. Only then did they know they were going to enter the Land of Israel with the new generation.
*The [[Tribe of Benjamin]] was allowed to intermarry with the other tribes after the incident of the [[Battle of Gibeah|Concubine of Gibeah]] (see {{Bibleverse|Judges|19–21|HE}}).
*Cutting of the wood for the main altar in the [[Temple in Jerusalem|Temple]] was completed for the year. The holiday celebrated the wood-offering brought in the Temple (see {{Bibleverse|Nehemiah|13:31|HE}}). [[Josephus]] refers to it as the Feast of Xylophory ("Wood-bearing").<ref>[[The Jewish War|Bellum Judaisum]] 2:17</ref>
*King [[Hoshea]] of the [[Kingdom of Israel (Samaria)|northern kingdom]] removed the sentries on the road leading to Jerusalem, allowing the [[ten tribes]] to once again have access to the [[Solomon's Temple|Temple]].
*The nights, traditionally the ideal time for [[Torah study]], are lengthened again after the summer [[solstice]], permitting more study.
*The Roman occupiers permitted burial of the victims of the massacre at [[Betar (fortress)|Bethar]] during the [[Bar Kochba rebellion]]. Miraculously, the [[Incorruptibility#Judaism|bodies had not decomposed]], despite exposure to the elements for over a year.