Shiloh's Special Festival: Tu B'Av

Did you know that, besides the three main pilgrimages of Succot, Pesach and Shavu'ot, there is only one other festival day that is described as "Chag HaShem", a Holy Day dedicated to a unique worship of G-d?

Open your Tanach to the Book of Judges, Chapter 21, Verse 19 where it is written: "...Behold, there is an annual festival for the Lord at Shiloh, which is located north of Bet-El, east of the highway which leads from Bet-El to Shchem yet south of Levonah". This was the day that was selected by the tribes to settle their fratricidal dispute that had broken out over the affair of the Man of Binyamin and his Concubine at Giv'ah (see Judges, Chapters 19-21). The Talmud traces the origins of the festival to the joyous remembrance that on the Fifteenth of Av, the dying out of the Bnai Yisrael who were the Generation of the Desert was halted.

For modern-day Shiloh, a community founded in the hills of Efrayim north of Jerusalem, in early 1978, we have fervent hopes that this year's Tu B'Av Festival will also signal an end to the murderous actions of the Arabs against us. As a result of the terror war launched by Arafat, the Shiloh community has lost three of our residents: 5-month old Yehuda Shoham, stoned to death when a rock came threw his parents' car window just north of Shiloh; 17-year old Shmuel Yerushalmi, blown up by an Arab homicide bomber in Jerusalem; and 18-year old Avi Siton, gunned down outside his dorm room at the Yeshiva highschool in Itamar. Indeed, despite these difficult times, life, growth and development continues at Shiloh.

Here at Shiloh, the summer brings an all-family fun day at Tel Shiloh, the archeological mound where the Tabernacle stood for almost four centuries. On July 24, scores of families will have come to participate in creative workshops, a scavenger hunt, tours, theatrical performances, a live band and, for some, a special highlight of a workshop for singles. After all, the Tu B'Av festival has been transformed into an expression of building marriage and families based on the Biblical story already quoted when the men of Benjamin selected for themselves brides who were dancing in the vineyards of Shilo.

On August 8, a unique women's study day happened at the Tel Shiloh on the subject of Chana's Prayer. For it was to Shiloh that Chana, the childless wife of Elkanah, came to pray for a son, as recounted in the first chapter of the First Book of Samuel. The High Priest Eli was a bit abrupt and mistook her soundless prayer as a sign of drunkeness. Granted a son, Chana returned and prayed once again. The Talmud indicates that Chana's Prayer served as a paradigm for all future prayers as it is written in the Gemara Brachot 31A: "How many great Halachot can we learn from the verses of Chana!". Indeed, Chana's prayer was adopted by the Rambam and other Torah greats as the example to be followed when engaged in communication with G-d.

This year, the study day falls on Rosh Chodesh Ellul, and the women participants will hear lectures in Hebrew and English, hear the Binyamin's Women's Regional Choir, tour Tel Shiloh and enjoy a buffet luncheon. Leading up to the High Holy Days, this study day will be a time of learning and introspection as a full expression of women in the practices of Judaism. Both these activities, of course, are open for Israelis and visiting tourists.

Shiloh is a special community, quite appropriate to the activities taking place here.

The main synagogue is scale-modelled to resemble the ancient Mishkan, the Tabernacle that preceded the construction of the Temple in Jerusalem. Emphasis is placed on encouraging our youth through a new Talmud Torah that was built, a youth center project and youth movement activities. New (and veteran) immigrants are a mainstay including Jews from over two dozen countries including New Zealand, South Africa, Argentina, Algeria and Holland. In addition, recent converts to Judaism from Marrano families of Majorca, Peru and Mexico also have made their homes in Shiloh. A new industrial park is filling up and several 'outposts', the satellite communities that have taken over the hills, have sprung up around us: Givat Harel (named after Harel Bin-Nun, son of Shiloh's Rav Elchanan Bin-Nun; Achiyah, which recalls another prophet of Shilo; Adei-Ad and Esh-Kodesh).

There is a special atmosphere at Shiloh and no doubt, the unique history of the site and its important place in Judaism contributes to this.

The past two years have impressed upon the residents of Shiloh that in the struggle for Eretz-Yisrael, there is no substitute for dedication and sacrifice.