Tu b’Av (named for the date in the Hebrew calendar, the 15th (Tet = 9, Vav = 6; 9+6=15) of the Hebrew month of Av) is one of the lesser known holidays in the Jewish calendar...
...The first mention of Tu b’Av is in the Mishna (Taanit), where it says (attributed to Rabban Shimon ben Gamliel), “There were no better days for the people of Israel than the Fifteenth of Av and Yom Kippur, since on these days the daughters of Jerusalem go out dressed in white and dance in the vineyards. What they were saying: Young man, consider who you choose (to be your wife).” (Taanit 4:8). http://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/jsource/Judaism/tubav.html
All the daughters of Jerusalem dressed the same so that there was no distinction between rich and poor. Nowadays many parents complain to me how difficult the period of shidduchim is and how much harder it is than years ago. I wish there was a magoc solution and I praise those who are involved in trying to better the situation. May your efforts succeed and may we be zocheh to make many shidduchim, thereby increasing our numbers.
Speaking about numbers, Rabbi Lord Jonathan Sacks writes an excellent Parsha thought about the "fewest of all peoples" in an article titled Numbers Don’t Tell The Story.
Moses warns the Israelites against intermarriage with them, not for racial but for religious reasons: “They will turn your children away from following Me to serve other gods.” Malbim interprets our verse as Moses saying to the Israelites: Don’t justify intermarriage on the grounds that it will increase the number of Jews. God is not interested in numbers.
Read full article: http://www.jewishpress.com/judaism/parsha/numbers-dont-tell-the-story/2012/08/01/
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