Shuvoo Newsletter

Issue 16 – May 18^th, 2006

 

Thoughts on Ancient Times & Current Events by Ashirah Yosefah

 

 

LAG B’OMER

May 16^th, 2006 – The 33^rd day of Sefirat haOmer

 

 

Entrance to Rabbi Shimon bar Yochai’s Tomb in Meron.

© Ashirah Yosefah Photo

 

The community of Meron, on the slopes of Mt. Meron, in the northern Galilee region of Israel, sees a good deal of traffic.  Sunday through Friday, there are always visitors to the Tomb of the great Talmudic Sage Rabbi Shimon bar Yochai, a student of Rabbi Akiva and the author of the Zohar.  Buses full of visitors seeking to daven at the tomb of Rabbi bar Yochai frequently ply the narrow streets and slopes of Meron, but this week, hundreds of thousands of Jews from Israel and around the world will descend on this holy and ancient mountain and the community for which it is known.  The occasion?  Lag b’Omer.

 

Lag b’Omer falls on the 18^th day of Iyar, the 33^rd day of Sefirat haOmer (the Counting of the Omer).  The count begins on the second day of Pesach/Chag haMatzot and continues until Shavuot when we celebrate the giving of the Torah.  “Lag” simply means 33, being comprised of the Hebrew letters “lamed” (30) and “gimel” (3).  

Sefirat haOmer is a period of heightened spiritual sensitivity and awareness.  Rabbi Shlomo Aviner, in his book Moadim LeSimcha, notes that “The Sefirat HaOmer period is a time of judgment, as it is written in the Mishna: ‘The wicked in hell are judged from Pesach to Shavuot.’  During this period, the yields of fruit and grain in Eretz Yisrael are also determined.  Since this is a time of judgment, we would do well to act cautiously and refrain from all sin.”[1]

 

Lag b’Omer is a day imbued with tremendous joy, but tinged with the memory of great tragedies.  Throughout the seven weeks of Sefirat HaOmer, most Jews observe customs of mourning to commemorate the gravity of the events of the past, particularly the death of 24,000 of Rabbi Akiva’s students some 1900 years ago during the Sefirat haOmer period:

 

“It was said that Rabbi Akiva had 12,000 pairs of disciples from Gabbatha to Antipatris; and all of them died at the same time because they did not treat each other with respect. The world remained desolate until Rabbi Akiva came to our Masters in the South and taught the Torah to them. These were Rabbi Meir, Rabbi Yehuda, Rabbi Yose, Rabbi Shimon and Rabbi Elazar ben Shammua; and it was they who revived the Torah at that time. A Tanna taught: "All of them died between Passover and Shavuot". Rabbi Hama ben Abba or, it might be said, Rabbi Hiyya ben Abin said: "All of them died a cruel death." What was it? Rabbi Nahman replied: "Croup." (Yevamot 62b)^2”

 

On Lag b’Omer, the plague that had claimed all but five of Rabbi Akiva’s students stopped taking its deadly toll.  This is one of the reasons why the atmosphere of mourning that characterizes the Sefirat haOmer period is suspended on Lag b’Omer for a day of celebration and joy.  The other reason has to do with one of Rabbi Akiva’s most famous students, Rabbi Shimon bar Yochai, but before we tell this story, let us consider other reasons why Jews observe customs of mourning between Pesach and Shavuot.  During the Sefirat haOmer period, religious Jews do not marry, do not cut our hair, men do not shave, we refrain from listening to or playing music, we do not dance.  Why?

 

Over the years, other great tragedies have occurred to Jews during the Omer period:  Some 900 years ago, the First Crusade resulted in the deaths of entire Jewish communities in Germany, with men, women and children all being slaughtered and the Torah scholars burned alive.  In the Ukraine, about 360 years ago, Bodgdan Chmielnicki (y”s) enflamed Ukranian peasants and enlisted the aid of Dneiper Cossacks and Tartars from Crimea to perpetrate a hideous massacre of Jews:  In the town of Nemirov, in the synagogue, 6,000 Jewish men, women and children were slaughtered by the Cossacks using the ritual shechitah knives.

 

But, on the 33^rd day of Sefirat HaOmer, on Lag b’Omer, we set aside the mourning and prepare our hearts to rejoice, for it was on that day that Rabbi Shimon bar Yochai died. What?!  Celebrate death?  Yes, we joyously remember the passing of Shimon bar Yochai because on that day the he revealed the secrets of the Torah to his disciples and they were recorded in the Zohar.  Legend says that on the day that Rabbi Shimon bar Yochai died, the sun did not set until he had revealed all that G-d would permit, then, when the sun took its leave, his soul departed.

Rabbi Shimon bar Yochai was among the five pupils of Rabbi Akiva who survived the plague and the failure of the Bar Kochba revolt.  Their valiant efforts in the face of Roman persecution revived Torah after the terrible destruction of the Second Temple and the exile of Jews from Israel, scattering the Torah scholars far and wide.  When Rabbi Akiva’s entire academy was wiped out by illness, the situation had seemed bleak indeed (2nd century C.E.).

Rabbi Shimon bar Yochai, in defiance of the Romans, continued to study and to teach Torah.  As a result, he and his son, Rabbi Eliezer, were forced to flee.  At first, they hid in a synagogue and Rabbi Shimon’s wife brought them food each day.  This arrangement soon became too dangerous, so the Rabbi and his son hid themselves in a cave near the little town of Peki’in, between Tsaft and Meron. Miraculously, a carob tree grew at the mouth of the cave and a spring of water appeared. For twelve years they studied Torah day and night.  The teachings of those years were later written down to form the Holy Zohar, a book of Kabbalistic knowledge which is filled with the mysteries of G-d, the Torah and Creation.

Each Lag b’Omer in Israel, hundreds of thousands of people now flock to Meron to dance, sing and light bonfires, to celebrate the writing of the Zohar and to honor Rabbi Shimon bar Yochai.  “Zohar” means “Shining Light”.  Bonfires have become a popular way to celebrate Lag b’Omer as a symbol of the light of Torah.  These fires are also symbolic of the human sparks lit by Rabbi Akiva, the great Torah scholar who, despite losing all his students so tragically, pressed on, did not lose hope, and ignited within the five remaining students a passion for Torah that would ensure that the Torah continued to be studied and taught from generation to generation of Jews.

It is said that during the lifetime of Rabbi Shimon bar Yochai, a rainbow was never seen in the sky.  The rainbow, of course, was given by Hashem as the sign of the covenant He made with mankind at the end of the Great Flood (Genesis 9:12-17).  What may not be realized is that when a rainbow appears in the sky, it is an indication that the world is due for a flood as in the days of Noach, but because of Hashem’s promise, we are spared.  G-d places a rainbow in the sky is to let us know that the judgment we deserve is being withheld because Hashem is faithful to His Word.

Two weeks ago, on Yom haAtzmaut, if someone had flown over Israel, they would have seen the land dotted with smoke plumes from thousands of barbeques as Israelis enjoyed the Land of their inheritance. 

“He is HASHEM our G-d; His judgments are throughout the earth,

He is ever mindful of His covenant, the promise He gave for a thousand generations,

That He made with Avraham, swore to Isaac, and confirmed in a decree to Jacob,

For Israel, as an eternal covenant, saying,

‘To you I will give the land of Canaan as your allotted heritage.’”

(Tehillim 105:7-11)

 

This week, on the evening of Lag b’Omer, anyone flying over Israel will see thousands of bonfires dotting the landscape, lighting the night sky, reminding us of the Light of Torah.  This, too, celebrates Israel’s inheritance, for the heritage of Israel is twofold: 

 

“The Torah that Moses commanded us is the heritage of the Congregation of Jacob.” (Deuteronomy 33:4)

 

Israel is a land of barbeques and bonfires where the flames of “white fire” and “black fire” are more tangible than any other place on earth.  The black fire of the Hebrew letters emblazoned on the white fire of the carefully lettered parchment of the Sefer Torah scrolls.  May the sparks from these holy flames continue to go forth from Tsion and the Word of Hashem from Yerushalayim, in fulfillment of the words of the Prophets Yeshayahu and Yoel.  May these sparks ignite Israel to take her appointed role as a light unto nations, and may we merit to see darkness dispelled speedily in our days, for it only takes a little light to dispel a lot of darkness.

 

Lag b’Omer Sameach.