Tu B’Av 2025: The Jewish Festival of Love and Connection

As the full moon of Av rises on the evening of August 8, 2025, we enter Tu B’Av, one of the most heart-opening holidays in the Jewish calendar. Often nicknamed the "Jewish Valentine’s Day," Tu B’Av invites us into a sacred space of love, connection, and renewal. Its meaning includes romance but also reaches into a much wider terrain.

What Is Tu B’Av?

Tu B’Av, the 15th day of the Hebrew month of Av, was once celebrated with joyful dancing under the moonlight. In ancient times, unmarried people would wear white and gather in the vineyards to meet, dance, and open themselves to possibility. The day also marked the lifting of historical restrictions, symbolizing freedom, forgiveness, and the return of unity within the Jewish people.

Tu B’Av is a day to honor love in all its forms, including love between friends, within families, between communities, and the love we cultivate within ourselves. It is a moment for spiritual connection and emotional renewal.

How to Celebrate Tu B’Av in 2025

There is no single way to observe Tu B’Av. The beauty of this day is in its openness. You can choose to celebrate it with others or create a personal ritual that brings meaning to your evening. Here are a few ways to mark the occasion:

• Reach out to someone meaningful. This could be a friend, a family member, or someone you’re just beginning to know. Let them know you care.

• Forgive where you can. Tu B’Av is a traditional time for reconciliation. Offer softness where there's been tension.

• Spend time under the moon. Take a walk, sit outside, or simply gaze upward. Let the fullness of the moon mirror the fullness of your own capacity to love and be loved.

• Write a love note. To a friend, a partner, or even yourself. If you need inspiration, explore our Yiddish Love Notes for Tu B’Av, playful, heartfelt cards that bring Jewish soul to your affection.

• Create a ritual of presence. Light a candle. Journal. Say a blessing over yourself or your community. Love doesn’t need fanfare, just your attention.

Making Tu B’Av Your Own

Tu B’Av offers a rare invitation: to pause, to soften, and to open your heart. There is no required structure, only the opportunity to recognize and honor the love that holds you.

From shared laughter with friends to quiet moments of self-compassion, Tu B’Av can be a gentle reminder that love is a spiritual practice. Small acts of connection can be just as sacred as grand gestures.

A Full Moon, A Full Heart

Tu B’Av comes during a season of healing, just one week after Tisha B’Av, the communal day of mourning. From sorrow to love, this lunar arc teaches that renewal is possible. That connection can follow rupture. That tenderness can be a form of strength.

Celebrate what is, nurture what’s growing, and let yourself be held by the love that is already present in your life.