Lag Ba'Omer: We're All In This Together

This Motzaei Shabbos, Am Yisrael is going to enter into a brief window of time where a tremendous amount of spirituality will enter the world. A special deal. A limited time offer. The largest yearly gathering of Jews anywhere in the world. This Motzaie Shabbos six hundred thousand Jews will converge on Meiron, the small town in the north of Israel – home to the Kever, the burial place of Rebbe Shimon Bar Yochai - better known simply as Rashbi the sacred author of the Zohar, the centerpiece of all of the hidden secrets of the Torah.

What’s happening this Motzaei Shabbos? It’s Lag Ba’Omer, the thirty-third day between Pesach and Shavuos, which happens to be the day that Rashbi passed away. But don’t worry – the end of the Zohar describes this day in detail and begins with the introduction where Rashbi says that his whole life was in anticipation of this day. On this day his life comes fully into fruition. On Lag Ba’Omer Rashbi tells of how he can reveal on this day more than any other.

But that’s not the only excitement of Lag Ba’Omer. It’s famously explained that this is the day upon which Rebbe Akiva’s students stopped dying. The end of this plague too is a reason for commemeration.

There are those that enter into Lag Ba’Omer thinking about Rashbi. There are those whose intentions are focused on the students of Rebbe Akiva. But when we attempt to approach matters with more depth a very poignant question must be asked. We know already that the Jewish cycle of the year is really a series of different spiritual energies that enter the world. Everyday has its nuance which translates into the importance of that day. There is something very unique about the tenth day of Tishrei that creates Yom Kippur. If this is true then it must be that if multiple things fall out on one date then automatically they must be related. Therefore if Lag Ba’Omer is the date on which two separate occurrences took place – namely the celebration of Rashbi and the commemoration of the death of the students of Rebbe Akiva then perforce we say that they are linked.

Based on this out question becomes deeper. Lag Ba’Omer isn’t just anywhere on the calendar. Lag Ba’Omer is just that – on the Omer. The Omer is our path to Shevuos and Kabalas HaTorah. Whatever the connection between the two facets of Lag Ba’Omer is, we need to analyze it in the context of it’s centricity to the national acceptance of the Torah.

(My Rebbe, Rav Yoel Rackovsky brought down a beautiful illustration of the importance of Lag Ba’Omer to Kabalas HaTorah: David HaMelech says, Gal Einai V’Abita Niflaos MiTorasecha - Open up my eyes and I will see miracles from Your Torah. Gal (Open up) spells Lag [33 – as in the day of the Omer]. Niflaos is really broken down into two parts: Nun Plaos - fifty wonders. What is David HaMelech saying? Perhaps one level of understanding is this. ‘Gal Einai’ Let me see the world through Lag, meaning Lag Ba’Omer, V’Abita Nun Plaos MiSorecha and I’ll automatically connect to the fifty wonders – the fifty phenomenal days that lead to Kabalas HaTorah. I can’t have Sfiras HaOmer without Lag Ba’Omer. Hopefully we will come to understand why this is so.)

Why did Rebbe Akiva’s students die? The Gemara tells us that they didn’t act with proper respect between one another and for this Hashem sent a wave of death that reduced Rebbe Akiva’s Torah kingdom to rubble. (Why their lack of respect garners a death penalty is a completely different topic, and not the one of this essay, nonetheless this is what happened.) The Gemara, in its description of the tragedy, throws in the two cities between which these students lived. The commentators point out that these two towns are actually not that far away from one another. What emerges is that these people were probably close socially. Their geographical situation allowed for lots of potential closeness – which wasn’t there. They could’ve been very close and they passed it up.

Rashbi is the total opposite. From Chassidishe and Yeshivish to the completely non-observant. Six hundred thousand Jews make the trek up to become unified by him. He’s got that power. There is no being a germy by Rashbi. Claustrophobia ceases to exist on Lag Ba’Omer. In Meiron, everyone is your brother and you best friend – no matter how different he is. I’ve experience this first hand.

The physical reality is merely a symbol of the spiritual essence. How does Rebbe Shimon do it? What does Rashbi have that brings Jews together? He tells us himself. It is said in the name of the Zohar that the spreading of the concepts of the deeper aspects of Torah that he revealed, Pnimius HaTorah - is one of the main vehicles that will bring the Geula. The profundity of Torah gives us the strength and the insight to see and tap into the inherit holiness that permeates the very physical and seemingly mundane world around us. Redemption means Kibbutz Galios - ingathering of the exiles. All the Jews from all of their various colorful backgrounds, Jews from all over the world are and will be drawn together by the Zohar’s propelling redemptive force. And therefore they all converge on his Kever on his deepest day - Lag Ba’Omer..

The important thing is that in contrast to Rebbe Akiva’s students who could’ve be close and weren’t - Rashbi takes those who wouldn’t normally be close and brings them together. These two things happen on the same day become one is the answer to another. The problem faced by Rebbe Akiva’s students could have easily been solved by the messages of Rashbi. It’s now clear why the end of the plague coincides with the revelation of national unity via Pnimius HaTorah. The plague ends when the message comes out.

And as we’ve discussed in other essays – it’s absolutely impossible to have a national acceptance of Torah without complete and total unity. As Chazal explain: We are told that there are six-hundred-thousand root souls of the Jewish nation which correspond to the six-hundred-thousand letters of the Torah. Just as Halacha declares that if there is one letter missing the whole Torah scroll is rendered invalid – then in the same way the Jewish people suffer as a whole if they do not come together as individuals to create that unit. And this explains that if the wholeness of the Torah is intertwined with the unity of Am Yisrael then the Midrash which says that the Torah was only able to come down in a situation in which all Jews were present. If we are whole down here, then it can come to be with us. Based on this we understand why Lag Ba’Omer falls out during our journey to Kabalas HaTorah. We see the depth of Gal Einai V’Abita Niflaos MiSorasecha. We can’t get there without this.

Perhaps we can take things one step deeper. Hashem operates with this world through seven emanations called Sfiros or Midos. These spiritual modes of communication mirror themselves as character traits in man. Through our refinement of those Midos from our end we liken ourselves to our Maker and therefore automatically we become more holy.

Each one of these seven can be seen in the light of the other seven. For example – the first Midah of Chessed has within it all the other seven. If all seven have all seven then the result is forty-nine combinations in all.

Each one of these forty-nine combinations has its very specific Avodah mirrored on man’s end that stems from the uniqueness of its factors. If you look in your Siddur you will see that each one of the days of Sefira is dedicated to the refinement of one combination of Sefiros (they come from the same root for good reason). Each weak one Midah is taken as the big picture and then all seven are passed through it as a prism. Therefore on the fifth day of the third week, the fifth Midah in the series is seen in the context of the third etc…

The fourth Midah in the series of seven is called Hod. Hod, which literally means ‘Glory’ is described as the ability to empty myself of my biases and pre-concieved notions to make room for a greater presence. The Bitul - the nullification – of desires, distractions and predispositions - that is required in so much of our Avodas Hashem is rooted in Hod. But that’s just in regards to our relationship with Upstairs. There is Hod in my interpersonal relationships as well. Those people who it most difficult for me to get along with require the same implementation of Hod if there is to be nay chance of fostering a relationship between the two of us. If I get see past my own ego, if I remain stuck in my own perspective and fail to remove myself from the equation to see a bigger picture – then I nix the opportunity to create something very deep with those who seem not to be able to stand.

If the fourth Midah is Hod, that means that Hod becomes the theme of the fourth week of the Omer. In the same vein, the fourth day of the fourth week with be the day of Hod within the context of Hod. The fourth day of the fourth week becomes the day where I am most able to rectify the interpersonal relationships that I find more than just challenging the rest of the year. The fourth day of the fourth week is exactly thirty-three days into the count. Hod within the context of Hod falls out on Lag Ba’Omer.

Lag BaOmer is time where we will be uniquely empowered to achieve in our relationship with the divine via improving our relationships with our neighbors. Lag Ba’Omer is a central and pivotal step in the process of making it towards Matan Torah. Because if we are unified, if we come together in the name of making the world a more meaningful place - everything that Rashbi is trying to teach us - then that togetherness only creates an exponentially more potent Kabalas HaTorah.

HaKadosh Baruch Hu should give us a Bracha to be empowered enough to implement Hod as a means to achieve the deepest possible levels of Gal Einai V’Abita Niflaos MiTorasecha. If we can do this there is no doubt that we will live lives of Simcha and Shleimus, moving closer to the Creaotr and ultimately the Geulah Sheleimah!

Pesach/Metzora: Talk the Talk

In this week’s Parsha we deal primarily with Tzara’as; a plague, often mistranslated as leprosy, which arrives on a person as a result of speaking Lashon HaRa, evil speech, about another person.

Throughout Torah literature we learn about punishments for many types of sins; lashes and even capitol punishment are dealt out by courts for different offenses. We are even told that certain transgressions will generate spiritual decrees that arrive without the need of a human court to carry them out - Kares, which means to be cut off from the Jewish people – is one example.

But at first glance, the relationship between Lashon HaRa and Tzara’as is a strikingly novel exception to the rule. It comes as a result of an Aveira, a sin, that has no physical ramifications other than speech, and none the less creates a physical malady that plagues the home, one’s clothing and then eventually the body itself. It’s not like other sins because there is no action, and it’s not like other punishments because the response which is carried out by heaven is physical. We don’t see anything like this anywhere else in Judaism.

So we need to ask both how this works and why this is so. How is it possible that my speech creates a physical reality, and why does Hashem choose to send this message home specifically by Lashon HaRa?

And while we are on the subject of speech, we need to discuss its very accentuated relationship to Pesach, whose name Peh-Sach - ‘The speaking Mouth’ and whose main villain Paroh, whose name spells Peh-Rah - ‘Evil Mouth’ – is a dead giveaway to the connection.

The whole Seder-evening surrounds the theme of speech. The Mitzvah of the night is “V’Higadita L’Vincha” – And you shall tell it over to your sons. The Sfarim HaKadoshim go wild over the greatness of Sipur Yetzias Mitzrayim - the commandment to tell over the story of the Exodus. We are told in the Hagadah how the greatest of our sages would tell over the story for hours upon hours. And we know that the ideal format of the Seder is a question-and-answer discussion, not simply reading the text to one’s self.

So our question returns. What is the seeming obsession with speech when it comes to Pesach?

To gain clarity, we need to spend a little time analyzing what speech is. The First Speech belongs to God. Hashem originally created the world through speech, like the Passuk says, “VaYomer Elokim Yehi Ohr” And God said let there be light – and there was light. God’s speech creates our physicality. As the Passuk says in Tehilim, ‘B’Dvar Hashem Shamayim Na’asu’ – With the Word of God were the heavens made. The Tanya explains that as long as God continually sustains the Ma’amaros, the statements with which He created the world, existence remain intact.
And we have this power as well. We too continually keep the world going with our speech. My Rebbe, Rav Yoel Rackovsky explained this with a unique understanding of King Solomon’s famous adage, “Hevel Havalim, HaKol Havel” – ‘Futility of futilities, all is futile.’ This sobering saying expresses how all things are worthless in comparison to the pursuit of Divine Closeness. But, Havel, doesn’t just mean worthless matter. It also means ‘breath’. Chazal tell us that the world only remains in existence in the merit of Hevel Tinokos Shel Beis Raban - The mutterings of young school children. There simple, honest readings of Chumash, the pure Modeh Ani, this unadulterated Havel – that’s what’s our contribution to the continuation of the universe’s being.

The Passuk in Bereishis says “VaYipach B’Apav Nishmas Chayim” – God blew a Soul of Life from Himself into man. Unkelos on the spot translates “Nishmas Chayim” as Ruach Mimalila - a spirit of speech. When God blew from Himself into us – it generated our ability talk The Talk, namely God’s.

My speech is so powerful that my prayers can sway the outcome of real life events. Whether or not I appreciate it, my speech, in parable-like comparison to God’s, created realities as well. And this is, understandably, of tremendous weight. But it begins to shed light on Lashon HaRa, a sin carried out with speech.

The severity of Lashon HaRa is the fact that, even though we see it as only words, this sin – in a very real way – paints a reality in which my victim exists in a more negative light. And therefore the punishment is that he becomes a Metzora, which Chazal explain to come from the term Motzie Ra - He who brings out bad. He who, with his words, chooses to revamp the world around him in a negative angle – the results shine back at him.

When a person, Chas V’Shalom speaks Lashon HaRa, he shows that he neither realizes nor cares about the intrinsic power that strength that speech carries. Says Hashem in response, ‘You think that your words don’t matter? You think they aren’t real? I’m going to show you that your words are very real.’ And thus it is specifically in a transgression of speech that Heaven delivers a very real, very tangible reminder that words matter – a lot.

And with the same concept we can begin to understand what is going on with Pesach as well. Says the Ramchal, the light which generated the first redemption, meaning the energy with which we left Egypt, is the same light, the same force that will be used to bring about the final redemption. In our terms: every year when we celebrate Pesach, another giant leap is taken towards Geula.

And this happens specifically by speaking out Sipur Yetzias Mitzrayim. The more I talk about redemption, the automatic outcome is that I paint a reality which is more receptive to the coming of Moshiach

And this emerges beautifully from a close reading of a seemingly simple piece in the Hagadah. There is a discussion between Ben Zoma and the Chachamim in regards to how we go about remembering Yitziyas Mitzrayim. The Passuk commands that you are obligated to remember the exodus, ‘Kol Yimei Chayecha’ - All the days of your life. Ah, but the Passuk could have said Yimei Chayecha - The days of your life, so what do we gain by throwing in all the days of your life? Say the Chachamim, Yimei Chayecha teaches us that in our times we need to fulfill this commandment, but the extra ‘all’, the extra ‘Kol’, that teaches us that we will remember the exodus even when the Messiah comes, “LeHavi L’Yimos HaMashiach”.

That’s the way we were taught to understand this passage since we are little kids. The problem is that is simply not what the words mean. LeHAvi L’Yimos HaMashiach doesn’t mean ‘in the days of the Messiah’ rather it means ‘to bring to the days of the Messiah’. What does it mean that this Mitzvah brings us to the days of Mashiach?

Now we understand clearly. Says the Sfas Emes, it is through speaking about redemption; it’s through telling the story of the exodus that we infuse the very fabric of the world around us with redemptive energy. And thus the Passuk comes to tell us that in as much as we speak about the Geulah from Mitzrayim do we also prepare the world do re-accept that light. ‘Kol Yimei Chayecha - LeHavi L’Yimos HaMashiach.

It’s clear at this point that the power of speech is no small thing. It is Godly and it has the ability to, on the one hand wreck the universe and tear up our lives and conversely it is on speech that the world stands and it is that same power that will bring the Geula Asida.

HaKadosh Baruch Hu should give us a Bracha to find the inspiration and motivation to only speak about the right things. When we do, we automatically make the world a better place. This Pesach, we should be Zoche to play an active role in bringing the redemption and be meritorious enough to see it soon. If we can do this, there is no doubt that we will live lives of Happiness and Growth, moving closer to the HaKadosh Baruch Hu and eventually Yimos HaMashiach!

Terumah: Monkey See, Monkey Do

The Ari’Zal teaches us that the first six weeks of Sefer Shemos are specifically infused with energy and inspiration that bring a person to Teshuva. The Passuk says - Shuvu Banim Shovavim! - Repent you sons, you wild-ones! The Hebrew word for ‘wild-ones’ is Shovavim, which serves as the Rashei Teivos, an acrostic for titles of the first six Parshios of Sefer Shemos. Shemos Vaera Bo Beshalach Yisro Mishpatim.

But this year, things are a little bit different. This year is a Shana Me’uberes, a year with a double-Adar (This Shabbos Kodesh we enter into the first of them). Beis Din set up a system in which every few years an extra month is added into the calendar to ensure that solar, seasonal calendar matches up with the series of months, as the are enumerated by the lunar calendar.

In a year which is a Shana Me’uberes, and has in it an extra Adar, two more weeks are added into Shovivim, turning it into Shovivim-Tat. ‘Tat’ stands for Terumah-Tetzaveh which are the names of the two weeks which are added.

But why? Why do we need to add two weeks to Shovivim just because the year is a little longer? The answer is brought to us by the Heilige Reb Tzadok HaKohen Mi’Lublin.

Why do we need to insert the extra month in order to fix the calendar in the first place? Why didn’t Hashem just line them up from the start? The answer is that He did, but as the Midrash tells us, in the start of creation the moon was out of line and so it was decreased in size, thus decreasing what it could accomplish in the course of twelve months, making it lag behind its greater, more powerful counterpart – the sun. Every few years the moon falls so far behind that it risks throwing the whole cycle off. For this reason we add more strength to the moon – we add a month to its cycle – in order to match it up with the sun.

Says Reb Tzadok, a year where such a thing occurs contains within it a taste of the word to come, when the moon will be restored, and the two cycles – lunar and solar – will line up once again. This added strength is a symbol of the Teshuva that moon is doing over the course of history in order to overcome its original limitation. Thus a Shana-Me’uberes is a year which is naturally filled with a greater potential for Teshuva overall, and therefore it is very fitting that Shovivim be extended.

But why extend Shovivim specifically into Chodesh Adar? And why specifically into the Parshios that deal wit the building of the Mishkan? What about this month, and these Parshios makes it an extra special occasion to make tremendous leaps of growth in our Avodas Hashem?

Let’s explore.

We are taught that every month has a specific letter from which it is emanating from. The spiritual potential of any given month is being formed from the essence of the letter which is appointed over it. The letter of Chodesh Adar is Kuf.

The Zohar does not have positive things to say about Kuf. Says the Zohar, the letter Hei represents the Shechina, which is compared to an Eishes Chayil, a Woman of Valor. And what is Kuf? Kuf is a cheap counterfeit. A Harlot. She dresses pretty, she’s got the moves but she lacks class. If Hei represents the Shechina, which is all the good vibes and energies in one place, the Kuf is the Sitra Achra, the Yetzer HaRa, the center of all impure and negative energy in the universe.

Why does Kuf represent the cheap imitation? The Zohar goes on to tell us that Kuf comes from the language of the word Kof, which means monkey. You can take an elaborate dance routine and more or less teach it to monkey. But what are you going to get? Are you going to get a sharp, exacting run-through of the moves? No. It’s going to be a sloppy, dumbed down version of the original plan.

Says the Sfas Emes, this ‘monkey-see monkey-do’ trick is how the Yetzer HaRa gets me to mess up. My soul desires greatness. I’m destined for big things, to make waves. But my Yetzer HaRa takes that very desire for greatness in the realm of holiness and ruins it. So in the end I just have an ego. My soul desires a personal intimate relationship with HaKadosh Baruch Hu. This desire for closeness, this longing for relationship gets Kof’ed-out by the Yetzer HaRa and I end up with all of my lustful desires. In essence all of my bad traits are rooted in a good place, but the power of Kof takes them, twists them and serves them back to me as negative, temping urges.

But there is a Kof, the power of imitation, that is rooted in a very holy place as well. And in truth, it is the aimof all of Teshuva and the goal of all Avodas Hashem. It’s brought down that Every time I do a Mitzvah I’m really doing two Mitzvos. Why? Because every time a Mitzvah is done, I’m also doing the Mitzvah of ‘V’Halachta B’Drachav’ – to imitate God’s ways. Every Mitzvah is another piece of advice how to be more godly. We say this in many ways. Chazal tell us ‘Mah Hu Rachum, Af Atah Rachum.’ – Just as He is merciful, so too shall you be merciful. ‘Mah Hu Chanun, Af Atah Chanun’ – Just as He is gracious, so too shall you be gracious. We are playing copy-cat with God!

Just like the Passuk says in Parshas Kedoshim, “Kedoshim Tihiyu, Ki Kodesh Ani Hashem Elokeichem” - ‘You shall be holy, for I your God, am holy.’ What’s the motivation for being holier? Ki Kadosh Ani! Be holy because it makes you more like God!

And it’s all summed up by the Gemara in Bava Basra (58:a) which says that ‘Adam B’Fnei Shechina? K’Kof B’Fnei Adam. What does man look like in front of the Shechina? He looks like a monkey who stands before a man. We are trying to imitate all that which is holy, because that brings holiness into our very being.

The Ohr HaGanuz explains how the building of the Mishkan embodies this idea.

The Parsha opens up by Hashem listing off all the materials need to building the Mishkan. ‘I want your gold, silver, bronze. I need wood. Lots of wood. Cloth, dyes, and hides. We’re building something amazing here.’ Moshe looks at the list and God finishes off by saying, ‘Take a look at all this stuff, because with this - Va’Asu Li Mikdash V’Shachanti B’Socham - through the building of the Mishkan I will come to dwell in the very beings that make up the Jewish people.

But then, between the lines of the Psukim, Moshe Rabbeinu asks a question to Hashem: How is this stuff going to make you dwell in the Jewish people, in the essence of every single Jew?

So God answers back with another question, “I have a better question. Instead of asking how I’ll make Myself fit into the heart of every Jew, ask how I can fit My presence into the Mishkan! You can ask an ever better question. I’m infinite. Nothing else is infinite. How I do I fit in the heavens? How I do I cram myself into any of the levels of any of the spiritual universes! Nothing is big enough to contain Infinite! The answer is a constrict Myself, I hold back infinitude because I want to be with you. And if I can crunch Myself down through the supernal dimensions. I can also cram Myself into the heavens, and I can bring my presence into the world, and I can concentrate My Presence into a building.” And so the Passuk says, “K’Chol Asher Ani Ar’eh Oscha” – Just like I will show you – “Eis Tavnis HaMishkan, V’Eis Tavnis Kol Keilav - The structure of the dwelling place. Which one? Shochen Bamromim! – I’ll show you that if I can fit in there, in all of those worlds. - V’Chein Ta’asu - That’s how you’ll do it. That’s how you’ll fit my presence into the small physical space called the Mishkan. If I can do that, it’s no big leap to believe - V’Shachanti B’Socham, B’Chol Echad V’Echad.
that I can bring my presence into to bodies of the Jewish people as well.

And so building the Mishkan shows us that God can bring His presence, He can influence any space that invites Him in. This is how my Rebbe Rav Yoel Rackovsky Shlita understands the Passuk in Shir HaShirim. The Passuk says ‘Mashcheini Acharecha Narutzah’ – The Jewish people ask Hashem, Mashcheini - Pull us after You and we’ll come running! Says my Rebbe, Mashcheini can be interpreted to mean ‘Turn me into a Mishkan!’ Infuse me with Hashem’s presence!

This is what Chodesh Adar is all about! Adar’s whole essence is about bringing Hashem’s presence into our lives. To become influence by Him. To become more Godly ourselves. Adar is coming from the term Adir BaMarom Hashem - Hashem is awesome in the highest places. But He takes all that awe and brings it down. Adar spells out the phrase ‘Alef-Dar’ – The Alef dwells. Who is the Alef? Alufo Shel Olam! The Commander of the universe, Hashem! In Adar Hashem comes down, now more that ever, to come and infuse us, to enrich our lives with godliness.

We are striving to be more like Hashem. To be holy, to sanctified, to be actively bringing the world to a better place. This is what godliness is. This is what the Mishkan is all about. This is what Adar is all about. This is nothing less dramatic than what the goal of all Avodas Hashem is about. So in a year like a Shana Me’uberes, a year laden with such potential, is it not fitting to pull Shovivim into themes like this?!

Hashem should give us a Bracha that we should be able to take advantage of the tremendous opportunity that is upon us right now. We should be Zoche to truly maximize ourselves, to become Godly people - V’Shachanti B’Socham, B’Chol Echad V’Echad. Because if we can do that there is no doubt that we live lives of Simcha and Shleimus moving closer to the Creator and ultimately the Geulah Sheleimah!