Av (Hebrew month)

Av (Hebrew month)
Name	Av
Hebrew	אב
Season	Summer
Days	30
Previous	Tammuz
Next	Elul

Av (Hebrew month) is the fifth month of the ecclesiastical year and the eleventh month of the civil year in the Hebrew calendar. It corresponds roughly to July–August in the Gregorian calendar and is associated with summer heat in the Land of Israel and with significant historical and liturgical themes in Judaism, Temple Mount history, and Jewish communal memory. Av encompasses mourning and reflection alongside minor celebrations and has shaped synagogue practice, rabbinic literature, and Zionist commemoration.

Name and etymology

The name Av derives from the Akkadian month name "Abu" used in the Neo-Assyrian Empire and Neo-Babylonian Empire calendars, adopted into Hebrew during the Babylonian captivity; related parallels appear in Akkadian language sources and in inscriptions from Nineveh and Babylon. Rabbinic etymologies proposed by figures such as Rashi and Maimonides link the name to biblical roots found in the Book of Genesis and to the patriarchal calendar, while medieval commentators including Ibn Ezra and Rabbi Saadia Gaon discuss linguistic and calendrical origins. Modern scholars in Assyriology, Biblical studies, and Ancient Near East philology analyze the month-name's transmission through imperial administrations like the Neo-Babylonian Empire and the Achaemenid Empire.

Calendar position and duration

Av is the fifth month of the ritual year beginning with Nisan and the eleventh of the civil year beginning with Tishrei; it usually contains 30 days and follows Tammuz and precedes Elul. Its fixed placement is determined by the lunisolar rules codified in rabbinic months and later institutionalized by authorities such as Hillel II and medieval calendar-makers like Maimonides and Rabbi Jacob ben Asher. The month aligns with July–August in the Gregorian calendar; modern Hebrew calendars produced by institutions including the Chief Rabbinate of Israel and academic chronologists map Av's dates for civic and liturgical planning.

Religious observances and fasts

Av contains major fast days, most notably the Ninth of Av (Tisha B'Av), observed as a day of communal mourning for the destructions of the First Temple and Second Temple, events recorded in Jeremiah and Josephus narratives. Rabbinic sources such as the Talmud (tractates including Taanit and Megillah) and medieval halakhic codifiers like Maimonides and Rabbi Joseph Caro outline fasting laws, injunctions against marriage, and synagogue lamentations associated with Av. Other observances include the commencement of the "Three Weeks" that begin on the seventeenth of Tammuz and culminate in Tisha B'Av, with legal and liturgical adjustments addressed by authorities such as Rabbi Moshe Feinstein and institutions like the Rabbinical Council of America.

Historical events and significance

Av marks dates tied to pivotal episodes in Jewish and regional history: the destruction of the First Temple by the Neo-Babylonian Empire under Nebuchadnezzar II and the destruction of the Second Temple during the First Jewish–Roman War and subsequent siege of Jerusalem led by commanders such as Titus and chronicled by Flavius Josephus. The month is also associated with later calamities including persecutions during the Crusades, expulsions such as the decree by King Edward I of England and events in Spain during the reign of the Catholic Monarchs, as reflected in communal chronicles and responsa literature by scholars like Rashi's successors and Rabbi Isaac Abarbanel. Conversely, Av contains celebratory anniversaries such as medieval communal recoveries recorded by authorities in Sepharad and modern national commemorations by institutions like the State of Israel.

Customs and liturgy

Liturgy for Av and its fasts incorporates penitential poetry and practices from sources including the Book of Lamentations (Eichah), the Talmudic liturgical layers, and piyutim by poets of the Golden Age of Jewish culture such as Solomon ibn Gabirol and Rabbi Yehuda Halevi. Synagogue customs include reclining practices during meals and the public chanting of Eichah on Tisha B'Av, recitations of the kinnot developed by medieval liturgists like Rabbi Elazar Hakalir and printed in prayer books from presses in Venice and Prague. Halakhic rulings by Rabbi Joseph Caro in the Shulchan Aruch and glosses by Rabbi Moses Isserles shape communal observance, while folk customs preserved in communities from Ashkenaz to Yemen reflect diverse minhagim compiled by ethnographers and historians.

Modern cultural and communal practices

In the modern era, Av's themes inform secular and religious commemorations: national mourning and memorial events organized by the Israel Defense Forces, the Jewish Agency for Israel, and municipal councils mark Tisha B'Av alongside historical exhibitions in institutions such as the Israel Museum and memorial sites like the Yad Vashem archives where anniversaries are contextualized with Holocaust remembrance. Contemporary rabbis across movements — including leaders of Orthodox Judaism, Conservative Judaism, and Reform Judaism — address the month in sermons, while artists, poets, and scholars at universities like Hebrew University of Jerusalem produce works reflecting Av's motifs. Community organizations such as Hatzalah and volunteer networks coordinate services during heat-prone summer months, and cultural festivals in cities like Jerusalem and Tel Aviv sometimes schedule programming mindful of Av's calendar restrictions.

Category:Hebrew calendar months