15th of Av: When Your Soul Shines Its Brightest

Why does everything feel so uncertain - and what can we do about it?

We’re living in a time of confusion. Truth feels negotiable. Values shift like sand. People long for clarity, yet are bombarded with contradiction. In a world unraveling at the seams, what is the Jewish answer to this spiritual disorientation?

As always, we find direction by “living with the times”—not the headlines, but the spiritual rhythm embedded in the Jewish calendar. Each day carries a unique divine energy that speaks to the soul and offers a compass for action.

Tomorrow is the 15th of Av—a day the Talmud (Taanit 26b) ranks among the greatest festivals in Jewish history, alongside Yom Kippur. Why would a little-known summer day carry such weight?

Jewish mysticism teaches that the moon, always changing, mirrors the Jewish people. We’ve faced darkness and decline, but we always return to light. Like the moon, our story is one of resilience. We count time by its cycle because its journey is our own.

The fifteenth of each month is when the moon is full—complete, radiant. That’s when many Jewish holidays fall: Passover, Sukkot, Purim. But the 15th of Av is different. It doesn’t celebrate an obvious historical miracle. It marks the quiet, steady return to light after deep pain. The kind of light that emerges only through struggle.

The moon doesn’t create its own light—it reflects a higher one. So too, we can choose to reflect something greater than ourselves. But to do that, we must remove what blocks the light: ego, fear, resentment. Only with clarity and humility can we reflect truth, hope, and divine wisdom.

And paradoxically, it’s our setbacks that help remove those blockages. When life doesn’t go our way, when we’re stripped of illusion, we’re forced to confront what really matters. That’s when we can begin to shine—not with borrowed light, but with light we’ve earned.

The month of Av recalls our greatest traumas. But it also reveals our deepest power: the ability to rebuild, to reflect divine light even from the ashes. As our sages said: “According to the pain is the reward.”

Through trial, light becomes yours. You don’t just echo truth—you embody it.

Now is our time to shine.

As we sing each Friday night:

“Wake up, wake up, rise and shine, for your light has come.”