Weddingbee Blog

Hello there, Hive! I have missed posting here regularly, but I have been popping around the boards just to make sure I don’t miss anything. I wanted to jump in with a post about a Jewish tradition that I haven’t yet talked about here, and one that I think many people will like.

Every year on the Jewish calendar, is a relatively unknown holiday called “Tu B’Av,” or the 15th of the Hebrew month Av. It occurs in the summertime, usually in August. This year, it falls on the eve of the 14th and until sundown on the 15th of August (and the dates almost never line up like this!). Historically, the holiday was known as a day of matchmaking, when women would dress all in white, and dance outside the city walls, and choose who they wanted to marry. It has been said that “There were no better (i.e. happier) days for the people of Israel than the Fifteenth of Av…since on these days the daughters of Israel/Jerusalem go out dressed in white and dance in the vineyards. What were they saying: Young man, consider whom you choose (to be your wife).”

Today, it something like Valentine’s Day in the Jewish community—a day to celebrate love and relationships, and the magnitude of choosing your partner, and may include dancing and singing together into the night.

In recent years, it has become a favorite holiday of mine, and a chance to celebrate my relationship with Mr. Hermit Crab, no matter what else may be going on.

(personal photo from my cousin’s wedding at the end of July—sorry it’s a bit fuzzy!)

This year, as Mr. HC and I head into our second year of marriage, we will enjoy dinner together and reflect on the past year and our hopes for the future as we continue to grow together.

Do you have any traditions that celebrate relationships that you can share with the Hive?