Name of the month: AV
Other names of the month: MENACHEM-AV
Mazal of the month: ARYEH (LION)
Tribe of the month (according to the Arizal): SHIMON
Tribe of the month (according to the Zohar): YISOCHOR
The nature of Av
The month of Av is one that starts with tragedy known as the Nine Days. We are told to start the month with decreasing levels of rejoicing (in contrast to the month of Adar). This continuing sadness reaches it’s peak on Tisha BiAv but then moves on to a happy day with Tu BiAv and this starts off the seven weeks of comfort that are climaxed with Rosh Hashana – a new start. These two elements are what makes us call the month “Menachem-Av” expressing that it is menachem, comfort, to deal with the churban. The Kedushas Levi finds an allusion to these two different parts of the month in it’s name – Av, in Hebrew. The Aleph stands for Aroar, curse, while the Beis stands for Boruch, blessing, symbolising the two natures found in this month. The mazal, astrological sign, for Av is the Lion. The tribe that this month parallels is Yisocher, according to the order of birth, or Shimon, according to the Degolim, camps.
The extreme nature of Av
The Maharal (Netzach) tells us that we can see the year based on the movement of the sun. Any times of extremes is not good for the Jews while when in time things are balanced and equal they are good for the Jews, namely the months of Nissan and Tishrei when the day and night are more or less equal. Extreme temperatures, either too hot or too cold and when the day is much longer than the night or the reverse is good for the goyim, examples being the months of Teves, Tammuz and Av.