The Hebrew Month of Av | A Time of Opposition and Opportunities

At present, the Hebrew month of Av is primarily known for the 9th of Av (Tisha B’Av) and all the tragedies that took place during this time. It is also known for being part of the season of Dire Straits (the three weeks of mourning leading up to this day).

Like the Hebrew month of Tammuz, the theme of “strict justice” is prevalent in this month, when judgment is often rendered. 

Tragedies Remembered and the History of Tisha B’Av

• Ten spies brought a bad report to Moses about the land of Israel. They refused to enter the Promised Land. As a result, God allowed the generation to wander in the desert for 40 years and die in the wilderness (Numbers 14).
  
• King Nebuchadnezzar destroyed the First Temple in 586 B.C.
  
• The Romans destroyed the Second Temple in 70 A.D.
  
• The Betar fortress was breached and destroyed in the Bar Kochba Revolt.
  
• Roman general Turnus Rufus plowed over where the Temple once stood.
  
• Jewish people in York, England, were victims of an anti-Semitic massacre in 1190, where they were trapped and murdered. 
  
• The Jewish people were expelled from England in 1290.
  
• The Jewish people were expelled from Spain in 1490.
  
• Germany declared war on Russia, and World War I began, leading to the Holocaust.

• The Expulsion of Gush Katif in 2005. 

Hebrew Letter: “Tes” and Month of Contradictions

The ninth month on the Hebrew Calendar, the month of Av, is associated with the Hebrew letter “tes.” The number 9 represents judgment, devastation, and destruction that often happen when justice is strict.

“Tes” represents the hidden light the Father conceals for a future time for those who are righteous before Him. Because it is hidden, the letter does not appear in the names of the 12 tribes.

The shape of the letter appears to have two heads–one bent in and one looking straight ahead. The head looking straight ahead represents the righteous who delight in the glory of the Divine Presence. Like the head on the left, they have turned away from what is immoral.

“Tes” also resembles a snake. Biblically, the snake signifies evil, as we know from the creation story. Numbers 21:6-9 records that the serpents bit the people in the wilderness, and many died. Later, a bronze snake was elevated, and when the people of Israel looked upon it and shifted their heart gaze towards the Father in Heaven, they were healed.

Likewise, the Hebrew month of Av holds both mourning and potential–contraindications are common.

Clay in the Potter’s Hands

The Hebrew letter “tes” symbolizes the nature of man, who was created from clay but contained life within, which was breathed into him by the Spirit of God, according to Genesis. 

Thus, Jewish sages teach that God made man in His image from both realms. We were created with the dust/clay of the earth, which formed our bodies from the lower realm, while God’s breath imparted the soul of man from the upper realm.

Therefore, humanity was created with opposing characteristics. Our lives are lived to bring our body and soul–the physical and the spiritual–into a place of unity and alignment so that our physical clay would not be a stumbling block to our spirits.

Like mankind, “tes” represents a dualism and is an expression of both the spiritual and the physical. 

Opportunity in the Hebrew Month of Av

During the Hebrew month of Av, we have an opportunity to press in and embrace a relationship with God that separates us from the masses. 

To do so, we must turn our faces like flint toward the things of God and His Kingdom and turn away from distractions–even the distraction of the destruction around us.

Like the tribe of Levi, who served as priests, we have a lifetime opportunity to accept His yoke and serve, know, and minister to the Father. 

We have an opportunity to cast off what causes us to lose focus and turn our heads away from the distractions of the world.

“Stay sober, stay alert! Your enemy, the Adversary, stalks about like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour.”—1 Peter 5:8

“Tes” and Sense of Hearing 

“Tes” is also associated with the sense of hearing, not hearing with our external senses but an internal hearing that settles in the depths of our hearts.

The hearing that says, “Oh, I get it.” The hearing that knows and perceives. The hearing that rests upon the soul and results in transformation.

Hearing is, after all, very spiritual in nature. Unlike what we can see and touch, hearing senses what is non-physical in make-up to perceive. 

• “Open your ears, and come to me; listen well, and you will live —I will make an everlasting covenant with you, the grace I assured David.”—Isaiah 55:3

Interestingly, in the Hebrew month of Av, those in the wilderness chose not to adhere to the Word of God and have faith in Him. This month, the negative report brought by the ten spies was heard and believed, resulting in a nation that lost confidence in God. Thus, this time became a period of mourning for generations not only because of the spies’ sin but also the destruction of the first and second temples.

Although associated with “hearing,” the Hebrew month of Av was a time in history when the people of God demonstrated a refusal to hear. What began with the erection of the Golden Calf and represented hearts that lacked faith and trust culminated in an ideology that no longer believed God was able and received the negative report. 

Tribe: Simeon 

Simeon was the only tribe that did not receive a blessing from Jacob or Moses. Jacob said:

• “Simeon and Levi are brothers; instruments of cruelty are in their dwelling place. Let not my soul enter their council; let not my honor be united to their assembly; for in their anger they slew a man, and in their self-will they hamstrung an ox. Cursed be their anger, for it is fierce; and their wrath, for it is cruel! I will divide them in Jacob and scatter them in Israel.”—Genesis 49:5-7 

While Jacob did not curse them, he did curse their fierce anger and cruel wrath, making them impulsive and potentially prone to mistakes.

Likewise, Moses blessed the tribe of Levi but did not bless the tribe of Simeon because of Zimri’s sin (Numbers 25). We also see anger and a sense of strict justice demonstrated by Simeon with the people of Shechem:

• “Now it came to pass on the third day, when they were in pain, that two of the sons of Jacob, Simeon and Levi, Dinah’s brothers, each took his sword and came boldly upon the city and killed all the males. And they killed Hamor and Shechem his son with the edge of the sword, and took Dinah from Shechem’s house, and went out. The sons of Jacob came upon the slain, and plundered the city, because their sister had been defiled. They took their sheep, their oxen, and their donkeys, what was in the city and what was in the field, and all their wealth. All their little ones and their wives they took captive; and they plundered even all that was in the houses.

“Then Jacob said to Simeon and Levi, ‘You have troubled me by making me obnoxious among the inhabitants of the land, among the Canaanites and the Perizzites; and since I am few in number, they will gather themselves together against me and kill me. I shall be destroyed, my household and I.’ But they said, ‘Should he treat our sister like a harlot?’”—Genesis 34:25-31

Mercy. Strength. Splendor. 

Although a God of justice guided by mercy, strength, and splendor, Hashem never acts impulsively or makes mistakes.

In Judaism, it is believed that: 

• Abraham is the epitome of chessed (mercy). 
• Isaac is the epitome of gevurah (strength in both the natural and the spiritual realm).
• Jacob is an example of tiferes, or splendor. Tiferes represents balance of mercy and strength and is also called emes or truth.

Levi and Simeon acted from a place of fiery passion, zeal, and sometimes impulsiveness. We can learn from their examples that being hot-headed can lead to mistakes if not balanced with chessed. 

The Blueprint for the Jewish Nation

Jacob’s blessings for his children were the blueprint for the Jewish nation. His curse of their anger–not them as people nor their goals or ideals–removed the possibility of Simeon or Levi leading from a place of ruthlessness.

Strength must meld with mercy and love for others. Without mercy, it can lead to a place of judgment and love of self, negating the needs and emotions of others. This makes us susceptible to haughtiness–being consumed with our “own righteousness” to the point we are indifferent to others. This vantage point can cause us to fall into the trap of idolatry. Instead, we must embrace strength, mercy, compassion, and empathy to find balance and alignment.

When God created the world, the first verse mentions the name Elokim, which is connected to strict justice. Later, He is referred to as Hashem, associated with divine mercy. God knew that the world He created and built could not survive through strict justice alone.

Humanity requires divine mercy.

• “O Lord, I have heard Your speech and was afraid; O Lord, revive Your work in the midst of the years! In the midst of the years make it known; in wrath remember mercy.”—Habakkuk 3:2

Redemption to Come: The Connection Between the Hebrew Months of Av and Nisan

There is an apparent connection between the month of Passover (Nisan)  and the month of Av–thus, a connection between the tribe of Judah (Nisan) and the tribe of Simeon (Av).

It can be noted that the first night of Passover and Tisha B’Av always fall on the same day of the week, creating a subtle link to a cycle that repeats itself annually.

Jewish rabbis say we can see this connection prophetically in Judges:

• “And the Lord said, ‘Judah shall go up. Indeed I have delivered the land into his hand.’ So Judah said to Simeon his brother, ‘Come up with me to my allotted territory, that we may fight against the Canaanites; and I will likewise go with you to your allotted territory.’ And Simeon went with him.”-—Judges 1:2-3

According to the Word of the Lord, Judah’s land “was delivered”—in the past tense—because in the month of Nisan, Judah’s month, the nation of Israel was delivered at Passover and has since carried with it the distinct mark of redemption and deliverance.

Judah then promised to go with Simeon to his allotted territory. In Jewish tradition, this represents a future promise that someday, the month of Av, a month marked with mourning and devastation, would likewise be a month of glory and redemption.

The bond between these two tribes represents a connection between exile and redemption—mercy and justice—what was and is is linked with the hope of what is to come.

The tribe of Simeon represents the ultimate redemption. Although not yet manifest, it remains hidden in the month of Av–hidden in the Father. However, it is believed that the Merciful Father will hear the cries of His people and redeem this time of multiple tragedies. Like the month of Nisan this will become a time whenwe are led out of exile. 

Av: Father 

The Hebrew word “Av” can be translated as “Father.”

In the month of the “Father,” we have seen the consequence of strict justice but also a God of love who extends tremendous mercy amid judgment. We find ourselves in a month wrestling with contradictions and perhaps with God’s very nature.

Perhaps we are struggling to know and see God as the Father who loves us and carries strict justice. This God is one in the same but in our culture where love is confused with tolerance, acceptance, and agreement with sin, it can be confusing. 

• “For those whom the Lord loves He corrects, even as a father corrects the son in whom he delights.”—Proverbs 3:12 (AMP)

The Hebrew month of Av, although rooted in strict justice and correction, is ultimately rooted in the Father who loves us. These things do not contradict each other. Love and strict justice are not mutually exclusive. 

Connection and Transformation 

During this season, even what seems to oppose one another–mourning and transformation–can share a point of connection. 

The mourning pushes us to a place of repentance and transformation. It is the correction, realignment, repositioning, and awakened hearts that hear that enable us to connect in relationship with our Father God, who brings mercy and comfort.

From this refined place of strict justice, we can more fully embrace our one purpose: living in the service of God. 

One True Purpose

It is our responsibility to reconcile the opposing forces within us and focus our habits, patterns, and decisions on one purpose–living in the service of God.  When we leave conflicts unaddressed, the result is sin and destruction. Redemption happens when we surrender everything internally and externally for the sake of God’s purpose.

The transformation begins when we allow “our clay and our spirits” to remain in the Potter’s hands and be shaped according to His desire. 

Spiritual Lessons from the Hebrew Month of Av

So, what can we learn from the month of Av, which is marked by destruction yet holds fast to hope of future redemption?

Repent. All of us have fallen short, and all can use this time to repent, asking that the Lord’s strict justice be merciful towards us and others. Repent for yourself, your family, and your country. In the Hebrew month of Av, our heart position should be hearts bowed lowed.

Listen. Take the time to listen and hear deeply in a way that transforms your mind and creates an internal shift that positions you for the year ahead.

Wait. Learn from the impatience of the Israelites in the wilderness, and do not walk in any form of idolatry.

Protect your ears. Do not believe or receive the negative report from a place of fear. Choose to walk in God’s promise from a place of faith and see the opportunity, not the giants.

Don’t act with impulse or anger. Learn from the example of Simeon, and do not sin in your anger (see Ephesians 4:26). Do not allow your natural tendencies or emotions to rob you of future leadership.

Seeking God’s Comfort: Nachem “Console Us”—A Prayer for Tisha B’Av 

One of the traditional prayers said on this day of mourning is a prayer that seeks the comfort of God amid loss:

“Console, O Lord our God, the mourners of Zion and the mourners of Jerusalem, and the city that is in sorrow, laid waste, scorned and desolate; that grieves for the loss of its children, that is laid waste of its dwellings, robbed of its glory, desolate without inhabitants.

She sits with her head covered like a barren childless woman. Legions have devoured her; idolaters have taken possession of her; they have put Your people Israel to the sword and deliberately killed the devoted followers of the Most High.

Therefore Zion weeps bitterly, and Jerusalem raises her voice. My heart, my heart grieves for those they killed; I am in anguish, I am in anguish for those they killed. For You, O Lord, consumed it with fire and with fire You will rebuild it in the future, as is said, ‘And I myself will be a wall of fire around it, says the Lord, and I will be its glory within.’ Blessed are You, Lord, who consoles Zion and rebuilds Jerusalem. (Translation from The Koren Siddur)

While this prayer accepts the reality of loss, it maintains the position that our ultimate hope is in the Lord, who consoles and rebuilds. Even in these times, we continue to draw close to the heart of the Father in prayer, seeking comfort over answers.

May the Lord guide and protect us through Dire Straits and the Hebrew month of Av to a place of refreshing and renewal. May we pass through the season of strict justice where judgment is rendered in favor of the righteous. May we be surrounded by a wall of fire.

May we repent, listen, and wait on the Father. Blessed are You, Lord, who consoles and rebuilds your people.