24
Federation Star
May 2021
ORGANIZATIONS/COMMENTARY
Celebrating Lag b’Omer Rabbi Ammos Chorny
T
he forthcoming celebration of Lag b’Omer, which relates events that occurred about 2,000 years ago, when Jews were forbidden to study Torah or practice Judaism, is celebrated on the 18th of the Hebrew month of Iyar, corresponding to the 33rd day of counting the Omer. During the Second Temple period, we are told Rabbi Akiva counted thousands among his disciples, of which 24,000 died in an epidemic. This sad event took place during the 49 days of the Omer; however, on the 33rd day, the plague abated. Further, Lag b’Omer marks the passing of Rabbi Shimon Bar Yochai, said to have revealed fundamental teachings of Jewish Mysticism …
and so, Lag b’Omer has become a day of joyous celebration. Despite the Roman prohibition, Rabbi Akiva was determined to keep the Torah alive. The legend holds that Rabbi Akiva instructed his students to dress up as hunters and pretend they were going hunting (with bows and arrows). When the Romans saw them, they would think nothing of it, allowing them to meet their master in a cave deep in the woods. Similarly, Shimon Bar Yochai — Rabbi Akiva’s leading student — continued to oppose the Romans. As a result, he endured persecution in his attempt to ensure the Torah would not be forgotten. The Romans decreed a death sentence against him, forcing him to go into hiding. With his son, Elazar, Rabbi Shimon fled to a cave in the northern region of Israel, where a miracle occurred and, along with a stream of water, a carob tree sprouted in the cave, allowing the two men to survive. Rabbi Shimon and his son remained in the cave for 12 years, concerned
with nothing but Torah study. Finally, Elijah the prophet came to the cave and announced that the Caesar had died, and the decree against the Rabbi was lifted. If Lag b’Omer marks Rabbi Shimon’s death, why is it a celebration? As the Romans convicted him of a capital crime, by all rights, he should have died well before his time. Yet, through tremendous self-sacrifice and a series of miracles, he lived out a full life, the climax of which was the revelation of great secrets. All this is cause for celebration! Traditionally, Lag b’Omer is celebrated with the lighting of bonfires, commemorating a great fire that surrounded Rabbi Shimon during his revelatory trance and his passing. The day is also one of pilgrimage to his resting place in the Galilee town of Meiron, where it is estimated more than 250,000 visitors gather to remember and celebrate his spiritual gifts. Since haircuts are not permitted during the Omer period, another tradition associated with Lag b’Omer stems from the custom among Chassidic Jews, who
do not cut the hair of their children until reaching the age of 3, to use this joyous day to give the boys their first haircut. There is disagreement about the mourning period that anticipates Lag b’Omer, as well as the day itself. For some, Lag b’Omer is only a cessation in the mourning period, which carries on once the day is over. For others, who question the veracity of the facts and reasons given, all mourning practices are terminated, and weddings and all other celebrations are reinstated. This last point of view is supported by Rabbi Joseph Caro (author of the Code of Jewish law), who believed the mourning period should end 15 days prior to Shavuot, hence, Lag b’Omer would be the final day of mourning. Since the establishment of the Modern State of Israel in 1948, many consider this a moot point, and disregard all mourning practices following Yom Ha’Atzmaut. My best wishes for a joyous and revitalizing Lag b’Omer celebration! Rabbi Ammos Chorny serves at Beth Tikvah.
over every cup of wine at his son’s wedding celebration. There is a theory that declares the tree of knowledge was actually a grapevine. The imbibing of grapes brought death into the world. After surviving the Great Flood, Noah plants a vineyard and you can read of the disaster that followed in Genesis Chapter 9. In Chapter 19, we read about Lot, whose daughters make him drunk and cause him to sin with them. As consumption of alcohol can have disastrous consequences, we opine the wish that this drinking of wine be “to life.” If you think about it literally, Tevye’s translation of the words, “To Life, To Life, L’Chayim,” is blatantly wrong. The word “L’Chayim is plural, not singular. It literally means “to lives.” When we toast, is it not just us we are concerned about? Should we think about others as well? Or is it possible there is something else in play here? As Hillel said, “If I am not for myself, who will be for me? If I am only for
myself, what am I? If not now, when?” (Pirke Avot 1:14). But Pirke Avot also says, “The world is merely a waiting room for the world to come … One hour of life in the next world is more blissful than the cumulative pleasure of this entire world.” (Pirke Avot 4:16-17). Perhaps when we utter the expression, “To Life, To Life, L’Chayim,” as it is mentioned twice, we are toasting not only the life we have here and now before us, but also the future life we hope for. Rabbi Nachman says, “You must always attach your thoughts to the next world, never forget this.” So, the next time you hoist your glass for whatever good reason, listen to Rabbi Nachman’s words, always remembering to live in the here and now and never forgetting to think about the next world. L’Chayim! Rabbi Howard S. Herman DD serves at Naples Jewish Congregation.
“To life, to life, L’Chayim” Rabbi Howard S. Herman DD
I
am certain that most of you are familiar with the song, “L’Chayim, To Life,” sung by Zero Mostel, Chayim Topol and Hershel Bernardi as well as all the others who starred as Tevye in “Fiddler on the Roof ” so many years ago. That melody, along with its words, its energy, and its verve, encompassed an overarching nostalgia for all things Jewish. Even within the dismal and desperate times Tevye and his family lived, there were times to celebrate, to be joyful and grateful for not only what they had, but who they had to enjoy it with. I think we often lose sight of this important insight. This is not to say that we should simply blot out the negative and deny it exists. But from both a
Jewish perspective and a Jewish philosophic point of view, there are lots of blessings we enjoy that we simply ignore or give short shrift to in deference to the negative we face in life. The former Chief Rabbi of Britain, Rabbi Jonathan Sacks, admonished us to “Count your blessings, and begin to change your life.” We already have most of the ingredients for attaining a fulfilling and happy life, but we tend to take them for granted and focus on unmet wants. Sacks said that “giving thanks and praise, expressing gratitude, spending time with family, living our values and forgiveness are all steps in the right direction.” If you remember the scene in “Fiddler on the Roof,” this song was sung during and after a lot of drinking takes place. So why is it that we say “L’Chayim, To Life” when we drink as Jews? Two thousand years ago, people would toast to “wine and life to the mouths of the rabbis.” Even Rabbi Akiba supposedly said this formula
aerial sculpture...continued from page 23 Lehr’s 2020 solo museum show at the Mennello Museum of American Art was selected by The New York Times as one of its leading museum exhibitions in the U.S. in 2020. She has currently been chosen by Flying Horse Editions as an invited artist for a major project this year. She is a graduate of Vassar College (1956) with a degree in art history, under the mentorship of Linda Nochlin, the renowned feminist art historian. Her works have been collected by major institutions across the U.S., including the Smithsonian Museum of American Art (Washington), the Getty Museum Research Center (Los Angeles), the Boca Raton Museum of Art, the
Perez Art Museum (Miami) and the Frances Lehman Loeb Art Center (NY), among others. The Jewish Museum of Florida-FIU is housed in two restored historic buildings that were once synagogues for Miami Beach’s first Jewish congregation. Centrally located in South Beach, the original synagogue was built in 1929. The second, built in 1936, was designed by Art Deco architect Henry Hohauser and features 80 stained-glass windows, a copper dome and a marble bimah. While reflective of the Jewish experience in Florida, the museum creates understanding of the shared immigrant experience in our multicultural society.
Mira Lehr in her studio
