Dear Doves,
I thought I had written up everything of any consequence that I could find regarding Tu B'Av over the past several years and why it should be strongly considered as the possible date of the rapture...and then I came across this from a Jewish website:
"The Hebrew month of Av (or Menachem-Av, the consoler of Av) is the fifth of the twelve months of the Jewish calendar.
The name Av literally means "father." It derives from the root which means "to will" or "to desire."
It is the month of the "low point" of the Jewish calendar (the 9th of Av, the day of the sin of the spies and the destruction of both the first and second Temples in Jerusalem) as well as the month of the "high point" of the Jewish calender (the 15th of Av--"there are no happier days for Israel than the 15th of Av and Yom HaKippurim" (Mishnah Ta'anit 26:)--the day of finding one's predestined soul-mate)."
...." Relative to all other souls of Israel, the soul of Mashiach, who comes to redeem Israel from her state of (spiritual as well as physical) exile, is like a groom to his bride. After his birth on the 9th of Av he reveals himself to his bride and betroths her on the 15th of Av." (I didn't add anything to the above text except color, underline and italics for added emphasis). BB
I have written to rabbis concerning Tu B'Av. Perhaps you watched the video I posted recently. A few days ago I posted a link to an hour long video of Jewish teaching concerning Tu B'Av. It explained in thorough detail why it was considered to be the happiest and most important Jewish festival in ancient times. It also stressed that unlike all the other festivals, it was forward looking to an as yet unfulfilled event ...the wedding of the Messiah. Here is what I wrote..."I found this teaching about Tu B'Av and listened to the whole thing. It is 62 minutes long, but I paid especial attention to the section 49:56 to about 52:50 finding it to be very interesting (yet the whole thing was extremely enlightening!).
http://www.naaleh.com/viewclass/2635/single/audio/
This is long and challenging to listen to because she talks very fast. But she does talk about all the things I had dealt with in my other posts on Five Doves concerning Tu B'Av. "
In case you missed all the other things I have posted about Tu B'Av, here is a little bit:
"Tu B'Av has so many traditions associated with it that are parallels for the rapture. One of the most compelling is that the Jews while wandering in the desert were according to the Midrash commanded by Moses to sleep in their graves as punishment for not believing the spies who were sent to scout out the promised land. The Jews who slept in their graves each year would arise from their graves and discover that 15,000 of the older generation had died in the night. This continued to happen until all of the older generation had died off. Tu B'Av was celebrated because they knew that at long last they were freed from the curse of the grave and free to enter the promised land under the leadership of Joshua.
- We all know that the name of Jesus is derived from Joshua and it was Joshua who led the Jews into the promised land.
- I suspect we all are aware that there is a parallel between the "promised land" and Heaven.
- Tu B'Av commemorates when all the chosen people rose from their graves alive! When no one had died in their graves thus signifying that at last they were free to enter the promised land!
- The Jews celebrated by allowing the virgins to dress in white and dance in the vineyards to attract husbands.
- The tribe of Benjamin was allowed to snatch brides on Tu B'Av and that the word "snatched" in the Septuagint is "harpazo"! The same word "harpazo" we already know is a word associated with the rapture!
- The celebration of Tu B'Av became closely associated with courtship, marriage and the the triumph of life over death. And now I've found that some rabbis link it with marriage of the Messiah. In another post I quoted an esteemed rabbi, rabbi Lubavitch, on this related topic!
- After the Jews had entered the promised land, each year Tu B'Av was celebrated as one of the most important holidays. It was a time of their greatest, happiest celebration yet it occurred in the month that was considered the lowest, saddest of the year!
Friends, there is no closer parallel to the rapture than Tu B'Av and if we are sincerely watching the Jewish festivals, shouldn't we all be watching the same festival that the Jewish sages say is the festival that celebrates the future wedding of the Messiah? Yes, I know that the Jews don't understand the connection to the rapture...but surely we should.
Please forgive me if my conclusions are different from yours. I try to keep an open mind and I also watch Pentecost and Rosh Hashanah. Let's just agree to look and consider what the rabbis have said concerning Tu B'Av and see how it relates to the event we are all watching for.
YBIC
Bruce Baber