The Mystery of Lag b’Omer

SPIRIT

Adults and children in Tel Aviv joyously celebrate amid Lag b’Omer bonfires.

The Mystery of Lag b’Omer

The occasion of Lag Lag b’Omer, because accordb’Omer, which is cus- ing to tradition, the plague tomarily celebrated as ended on this day. The Rama a quasi-holiday, is shrouded (16th-century Rabbi Moses in mystery. Unlike every other Isserles of Krakow, Poland) special occasion on the Jewish adds that Lag b’Omer is calendar, regard- observed as a minor holiday. ing Lag b’Omer, The Peri Chadash (by Rav we have precious Chizkiya Da Silva, Italylittle information Jerusalem, 1659-1698) asks why about what it is the end of the plague is cause we are celebrating. for celebration. The plague

Rabbi Dov The Gemara ended only once there were

Loketch in Maseches no students left to die. Why is Yevamos (62b) this something to celebrate? tells that Rabbi Akiva had 24,000 The Peri Chadash therestudents who all died from a fore shifts the focus from the dreadful disease during a single plague to its aftermath — period — the weeks after Pesach. Rabbi Akiva’s rebuilding Torah They perished, the Gemara scholarship after this calamity. says, because they did not treat According to the Peri Chadash, each other respectfully. The on Lag b’Omer we celebrate Gemara adds that their death the fact that Rabbi Akiva left the world bereft of Torah assured the future of Torah scholarship, until Rabbi Akiva after losing 24,000 students. approached five outstanding scholars and taught them, thereby ensuring the perpetuation of our sacred scholarly tradition.

We commemorate the death of Rabbi Akiva’s students by observing certain mourning practices during the weeks after Pesach, the period when they perished. The Shulchan Aruch (O.C. 493:2) writes that the mourning practices end on

ALTERNATIVE VIEWS

Another explanation is that Lag b’Omer marks the yahrtzeit of Rashbi (second-century Rabbi Shimon bar Yochai). This is based on an account written by Rav Chaim Vital (1543-1620) describing a pilgrimage made by his mentor, the Arizal (Rav Yitzchak Luria, 1534-1572), to Rashbi’s gravesite on Mount Meiron in the Upper Galilee on Lag b’Omer. Rav Chaim Vital writes that the Arizal referred to Lag b’Omer on that occasion as תמשםוי — “the day he died.” Many understood this to mean that Lag b’Omer is Rashbi’s yahrtzeit.

Others, however, disagree. In an early manuscript of Rav Chaim Vital’s account, this text reads, י"בשר'מש םויב. And in a different manuscript, the word 'מש appears as 'חמש. It seems clear that the intended phrase is י"בשרתחמש — “the joy of Rashbi,” and the letter ת was omitted to save space.

Accordingly, the Chida (Rav Chaim Yosef David Azulai, 1724-1806) writes (in Mar’is Ayin, likutim, 7:8) that the theory that Lag b’Omer marks the yahrtzeit of Rashbi stems from a mistaken reading of a manuscript. The Chida explains that י"בשרתחמש refers to the fact that on Lag b’Omer, Rashbi and his four peers began learning with Rabbi Akiva, thus setting into motion the renewal of Torah scholarship. Similar to the Peri Chadash’s understanding, the Chida writes that this was Rashbi’s joyous day because it was then that he began studying under Rabbi Akiva.

According to this understanding, there is only one reason for the Lag b’Omer celebration — the end of the plague and the subsequent rebuilding of Torah.

THE JOY OF FREEDOM

But there might also be a different explanation of י"בשרתחמש.

The Aruch Ha’shulchan (O.C. 493:7) by Rav Yechiel Michel Epstein of Nevarduk, Belarus, 1829-1908, interestingly enough, writes in discussing the Lag b’Omer celebration: “They say that he [Rashbi] passed away on this day, and also that he left the cave on this day.” As the Gemara (Shabbos 33b) tells, Rashbi and his son were forced to flee from the Roman authorities, and they hid for 12 years in a cave. Without citing any source, the Aruch Ha’shulchan brings a tradition that it was on Lag b’Omer when they discovered that it was safe to leave.

This, then, might be the meaning of י"בשרתחמש — that this was a day of immense joy, when he was finally free to leave the cave and resume his work disseminating Torah.

For over a year, we have found ourselves in a “cave” of sorts, limiting our excursions from our homes, in order to protect ourselves from a dangerous illness. Like Rashbi and his son, we have lived in a state of confinement.

We hope and pray that G-d will watch over and guard all of us just as He watched over Rabbi Shimon bar Yochai and his son, and that we will soon celebrate our “departure” from this isolation and come together in friendship, joy and love, amen.

Rabbi Dov Loketch is a rabbi at Agudas Yisrael Mogen Avraham synagogue in Southfield.