Dancing In The Vineyard

Tu B’Av, this coming Monday, is a day of celebration. Chazal say (Mishna Ta’anit, 4:8) that Am Yisrael never had a better yom tov than Tu B’Av and Yom Kippur. The Gemara (Ta’anit 31a) lists numerous good things that happened on Tu B’Av.

What is the connection between Tu B’Av and Yom Kippur? The Mishna (above) quotes a pasuk – “Go out and see, daughters of Zion, King Solomon wearing the crown in which his mother crowned him on the day of his wedding and on the day of his rejoicing” (Shir HaShirim 3:11).

The Mishna says that Shlomo HaMelech was married on the day we received the second set of luchot (Yom Kippur) and the “day of his rejoicing” – was Tu B’Av, the day the first Mikdash was built.

These two specific days of Tu B’Av and Yom Kippur, were exemplified by the unmarried girls dancing in the vineyards as part of a shidduch ceremony, to attract suitable grooms. What is so special about dancing, and why specifically on these two days?

There are two terms used for dancing in the Tanach. In the Chumash the only word for dancing is “Machol” (e.g. Shemot 15:20). In the rest of the Tanach, another word is also used – “Rikud” (e.g in Hallel, “The mountains will dance like rams,” Tehillim 114:4).

The word “Machol” has a dual personality. On the one hand its meaning is negative, as in the word “Machala” (illness), or “LeChalel” (to violate – the Shabbat for example). One the other hand, its meaning is positive, as in dancing or in the word “Mechila” (forgiveness).

The second term used for dancing, “Rikud,” also has a double meaning. On the one hand it can be positive (re: the dancing mountains, Tehillim 114:4), but if you switch the letters around it can also be “Dakar” (stabbing, a form of killing).

Not surprisingly therefore, dancing has the power to do good or evil. After Shirat HaYam, Miriam led all the women in song and dance. When Am Yisrael sinned with the golden calf, Moshe returned to find them dancing.

The Sforno says that the essence of the sin of the golden calf was the dancing, without the dancing the sin would not have been so severe. Am Yisrael were in a panic – the yetzer hara showed them a vision of Moshe’s coffin floating in the air and they thought that he was dead. No Moshe – no leader, no food! In Moshe’s merit, Am Yisrael received the mann. They were stuck at the bottom of Har Sinai, in the middle of the desert with only the mann to eat! It is understandable for someone to panic in such a situation and panic makes people do silly things, things they would not normally do. However, there is one thing someone does not do when they are in a panic – they do not dance. The fact that Am Yisrael were dancing and rejoicing around the golden calf, was unforgivable.

Dancing is like a puppet supported by strings. Some strings pull upward (neshama) and others pull downwards (physical body). The question is – what is the general direction? If the direction is upwards and spiritual, then dancing is something positive, elevated. If the direction is downwards and material, the dancing is something negative.

There is bi-directional communication between the physical body and the neshama. Something that originates in the neshama, filters down and is eventually reflected in the physical body. A smile is such a phenomenon. The joy of the spiritual neshama is reflected in the physical form by a smile. Conversely, the physical body has an effect on the neshama. The laws of kashrut are an example. Someone who eats food that is not kosher, is not harming his physical body, but it filters up to the neshama and causes damage.

Dancing is another manifestation of this phenomenon. Joy from the neshama filters down and may be reflected in the body by dancing – using not just the mouth to smile, but the entire body. Dancing is a “full body smile,” reflecting spiritual joy. Conversely, if the dancing is from the opposite pole, a lewd, uninhibited manifestation of something purely physical, this may have a negative effect on the neshama and be the source of sin. It all depends on which direction the strings are pulling in.

Dancing on Tu B’Av and Yom Kippur reflect an upward pulling of the strings, an elevated, spiritual manifestation of dancing.

You would think that on Yom Kippur the last thing anyone would have on their mind is shidduchim or … dancing. Yom Kippur is a somber day, a serious day of reflection and introspection. However, that is not the essence of Yom Kippur. Yom Kippur is in fact a day of great rejoicing. It is a day when we are cleansed of all our sins and given a clean slate. What could be more joyous that that? G-d presses our reset button and we are like a newborn, all over again.

What else reminds you of such a cleaning of the slate? When a bride and groom are married, all their sins are forgiven! It is not incidental that Shlomo HaMelech was married on Yom Kippur, the day that G-d gave Am Yisrael the second set of luchot and forgave our sin of the golden calf. Both are a reset! What better day for a groom to choose his bride than on Yom Kippur.

The dancing of the unmarried women in the vineyards was not anything like a Roman orgy, chas v’chalila. Lehavdil, it was a spiritually uplifting occasion done in complete purity of thought. Yom Kippur is the perfect day for such an event.

Similarly, Tu B’Av is also a reset. A mere six days prior, we mourned the destruction of the two Batei Mikdash and the sins that reduced us to the depths of despair. However, Tu B’Av is also the day that Shlomo HaMelech built the first Mikdash and, the Mishna tells us, also the day that the third Mikdash will be rebuilt. It is the switch from despair to hope.

Parshat HaShavua Trivia Question: What happened in the place called Di Zahav (Devarim 1:1)?

Answer to Last Week’s Trivia Question: In Yitro the commandment to observe the Shabbat is “Zachor.” In this week’s parsha it is “Shamor.” What is the difference?