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"There were no days as glorious for the people of Israel as the 15th of Av and as Yom Kippur, when the daughters of Jerusalem would come outside with borrowed white garments and dance in the vineyards." -(Talmud: Taanit 26b)

Tu B'Av, the 15th Day of Av, is both an ancient and modern holiday. The Talmud records that on Tu B'Av, the death of the generation that left Egypt ended. The holiday was instituted in the Second Temple period to mark the beginning of the grape harvest, which ended on Yom Kippur. During that period, it served as a matchmaking day for unmarried women.

Today, it has become one of the most popular days of the year for weddings in Israel, coming less than a week after the end of the three-week period from the Fast of Tammuz to Tisha B'Av, when weddings are prohibited.

As a photographer, I can attest that I have not witnessed moments of pure joy greater than those of a Jewish wedding. This photo essay features a few such moments from weddings I have photographed in the past two years.

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Yehoshua Halevi is a photojournalist, event photographer, teacher, trekking guide and writer who lives in the Judean Mountains south of Jerusalem. A self-taught photographer, his work has appeared in National Geographic publications and major Jewish publications around the world. He is also the creator of a weekly photo blog entitled Israel the Beautiful, which can be viewed at http://israelthebeautiful.blogspot.com/ You can view more of his work at www.goldenlightimages.com.