When Americans think of Valentine’s Day on Feb. 14, images of flowers, chocolate and love pop into their heads. What most Americans do not know, however, is that Israelis have a similar holiday celebrated at a different time of the year.

Tu B’Av, or the 15th day of the Jewish calendar’s month of Av, is celebrated as the Israeli equivalent of Valentine’s Day. Tu B’Av begins at sundown on August 10 this year. Many Israelis choose to have weddings and other celebrations on this day.

“In Israel, Tu B’Av became the day of love. That’s how it became akin to Valentine’s Day,” said Rabbi Carnie Shalom Rose at Congregation B’nai Amoona. “It’s becoming more and more popular, I think in part because of Valentine’s Day. It’s similar and people love a day for love.”

Tu B’Av signified the beginning of the grape harvest, an exciting time for Jews in the time of the Temple in Jerusalem. Yom Kippur marked the ending of the harvest.

“Tu B’av is the day that God forgave the Jewish people for the transgressions committed by the 10 spies who went into Israel,” Rose said. “We explain that the combination between the festive nature of Yom Kippur and the festive nature of Tu B’av is that they’re both days when God’s love for the people of Israel overcomes God’s strict sense of justice.”

Another reason why Tu B’Av is such a joyous day in Israel is that it arrives less than a week after Tisha B’Av, the date on which both of the temples were destroyed.

“The 17th of Tamuz to the 9th of Av, there are no weddings permitted [by Jewish law]. It’s a sad, sorrowful time,” Rose said. “And less than a week later, you have a great day of celebration. It starts to become a time when you get married as quickly as you can.”

While both Tu B’Av and Valentine’s Day are religious to a certain degree, many Jewish teens do not think about the religious aspect of the American Valentine’s Day at all.

“[Valentine’s Day] is very secular now,” said Julia Zigman, a Marquette High School junior and Shaare Emeth congregant. “I couldn’t say that [being Jewish] would affect my celebration at all. […] I just like the culture part.”

In addition to not knowing the history and religious background of the American Valentine’s Day, a Catholic holiday named after Saint Valentine, many teenagers are not aware of the Israeli version.

“I didn’t even know there was such thing as an Israeli Valentine’s Day,” said Rebecca Fink, a junior at Parkway North High School and Shaare Emeth congregant. “I guess I just assumed it was American, an American cultural holiday. I didn’t really think that another country would have Valentine’s Day.”

The reason so few American Jewish teenagers know about this holiday is that religious school classes do not teach about Tu B’Av. These classes focus on more widely-celebrated holidays.

“We’ve learned about other Jewish holidays, but this one wasn’t really taught,” Rose said. “I think the reason it wasn’t taught was because it really hasn’t become so popular as it’s starting to become now in modern Israel.”

*This story originally appeared in the St. Louis Jewish Light.*