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!

VaYishlach/Chanukah: Putting It All On The Line

Some of the ideas in this essay have been adapted from a Rav Avraham Schorr in his Sefer HaLekach V’Halibuv, Rav Moshe Shapiro in his Sefer Afikei Mayim, the Sfas Emes and the Shem MiShmuel. If there are concepts that I misunderstood; and thereby improperly conveyed, I apologize.

In the beginning of this week’s Parsha, Yaakov Avinu prepares for his reunion with his brother and nemesis - Eisav HaRasha. After sending gifts to appease him, and splitting up the camp in order to outsmart him; Yaakov, in a last minute decision decides to backtrack in the middle of the night to recover some forgotten containers. There he meets an angel, whom he wrestles with the whole night. Locked in stalemate, the angel lands a blow to Yaakov’s hip, but Yaakov doesn’t give up, rather he retains a headlock on his challenger and demands a blessing. The angel concedes and blesses Yaakov by giving him a new name: Yisrael.

It’s brought down that this strike to Yaakov’s hip was a P’gam, a ‘wound’ in the cosmic attribute of Hod; and through this, all of our problems with Greece begin as well. We need to clarify what Hod is, how this struggle damaged it, how this is connected to Greece, why the angel’s attack occurred now, and most importantly of all what we can take out of it all.

Hod means magnificence or glory. The deeper sources teach us that the beauty of Hod is different than other types of beauty. Hod is the beauty of revealing a splendor contained within. When externals are subdued to let the internal purity shine through – this is Hod.

In regards to our Avodah, Hod is our ability to be Modeh to Hashem. Modeh, L’Hodot, Hoda’a all have connotations of thanks and admittance. What is the common denominator between to thank and to admit? The answer is that when I thank someone, I admit that something I have is really attributed to him or her. When I admit in court that I in fact owe my friend two hundred dollars, I’m saying that in my possession is something that is not really relevant to me, even though right now it is physically located near me.

The Ramban explains that this is why we are called Yihudim (also from the same Lashon), because the entire role of a Jew lies inHod; to reveal and admit that no matter what the world says, everything s really Hashem’s. By thanking Hashem, we reveal His true ownership over everything and thereby return all physicality back to its spiritual source. Our relating things back to Hashem, sheds them of their dull physicality and reveals their inner beauty, i.e.: their connection to the divine. This is Hod.

It’s brought down that the different spiritual attributes parallel the human body. Hod corresponds to the leg/thigh. Why? The thigh is the part of my body that I use to bow, like we do during Modim (again, the same Lashon). By bowing, I say that I am subduing my body so that is can be a vessel of Ratzon Hashem. Bowing at the hip is an Avodah of Hod. In my life, all times that I ‘bow’ – all the times that I suppress my body so that my soul can shine through, I begin to express my inner Hod.

When the angel strikes Yaakov in the hip, an attempt is made to impede his ability to bow, and therefore the bang to the leg is a P’gam in Hod.

But why is the angelic ambush specifically posed against Yaakov Avinu now? As we mentioned before, Yaakov runs back in the middle of the night to find some lost containers. The Midrash tells us that these containers held oil inside, and even more amazingly it was this oil that lasted through the generations and was used to light the Menorah during the miracle of Chanuka! With a worldview of Hod, where everything is a vessel to reveal God’s dominion, every single thing in my possession gains an elevated purpose – everything is now of tremendous importance. How can I just let my possessions slip through my fingers? Everything I own is an instrument used to reveal God’s unity! So Yaakov makes a midnight run to retake another small tool to reveal just a little more Hod in the world – and it is here where the angel challenges him.

Through this jolt to the hip, the Jews received a prohibition: we can no longer eat from the Gid HaNasheh, which is commonly translated as the sciatic nerve, a tendon that runs through the thigh. Why is it called the Gid HaNasheh? The Zohar says because it is the Gid, the nerve which is Menasheh, which causes forgetfulness in man. (In Parshas Miketz we read the term Ki Nishani ‘because I was forgotten’. Enosh is also a description of mankind in his forgetful state.) The Gid HaNasheh is a tendon, that when eaten, creates a spiritual reality that causes one to forget the good that God does to him.

In essence the Gid HaNasheh and it’s consumption are in direct opposition to the attribute and beauty of Hod. When I thank Hashem, I tap into Hod. When I associate with the Gid HaNasheh, I forget Him and therefore push Hod farther away. Simply put, it’s Hod versus Gid HaNasheh. Hod is the part of my thigh that helps me serve Hashem, the Gid HaNasheh is the part of the thigh that prevents me from doing so.

Greece is compared to the hip. In one of Daniel’s prophecies he sees a statue comprised of four parts, each one corresponding to one of the four exiles. There, the hips, which are described as the third segment, are analogous with the Greek domination. It’s brought down that this paralleling of the Greeks to the hips teaches us that Greece stands as the opposition to Hod.

How? Greeks introduced philosophy. They tell us that we don’t need a Torah, because all the wisdom you need is right there is your brain. The olympics teach us to glorify the body. In essence they tell us that reality starts and ends with human capabilities and that there is no need to tap into a higher source. There is no reason to attribute things to a higher power. So we see very clearly that the Greek mentality stand in direct disagreement to everything that Hod stands for.

This is why they attempt to impurify the Beis HaMikdash. The Gemara in Brachos tells us that the term Hod is a reference to the Beis HaMikdash. Why? Because it is there that we fully ‘bow’ to Hashem, in the physical and figurative sense. There, through animal sacrifice, we clearly say that the physical is merely a vessel that reveals the divine.

The Zohar tells us that the three hundred and sixty five negative prohibitions line up with the days of the solar year. The prohibition of eating the Gid HaNasheh corresponds to Tisha B’Av, the day of the destruction of the Temple. The day of the loss of the Beis HaMikdash, is the day that we lose Hod, and therefore it corresponds to the Gid HaNasheh, the energy that opposes Hod.

It’s brought down that the two names of Yaakov and Yisrael correspond to the body and soul respectively. So it is only when Yaakov, the body side, puts his life on the line for the sake of Hod can he achieve the highest level of personal Hod by letting his soul shine through and attain the name Yisrael corresponding to his spirit-portion.

And therefore it is only when the Chashmonaim; the Maccabees, put their physical bodies on the line in defense of the Beis HaMikdash and everything that Hod stands for can they find the very same containers of oil that Yaakov Avinu put his body on the line for, and did so for the very same reason. And when they do, they reveal from within this oil supernatural amount spirituality. For nothing reveals godliness in this world, nothing serves as a vehicle of Hod as much as an open miracle, and the classic example of an open miracle is the oil’s burning for eight straight days.

The whole world stands in the way of Hod. Culture screams to us that we should see things only on the surface. Billboards and disposable cutlery dull us to any deeper sense of reality. But it is our job, like Yaakov Avinu and Chashmonaim to put ourselves on the line and see through all the density that blinds us to the meaning of life. It is this mentality that re-establishes the Beis HaMikdash.

B’Ezras Hashem we should be Zocheh to perceive the world in such an exalted manner. Because if we can, there is no doubt that we will live lives of Simcha and meaning, moving closer to HaKadosh Baruch Hu and ultimately the Geulah Sheleimah!