Lag Ba'omer

The Secret of Mount Meron

Translated by Hillel Fendel

Every year, more and more myriads of people stream to the gravesite of the author of the Kabbalah, Rav Shimon bar Yochai, in the Galilee hilltop village of Meron – signaling mounting anticipation of the Redemption itself!

Lag Ba'Omer

All traditions do agree though, that on the 33rd day of the count of the Omer these disciples of Rabbi Akiva did stop dying. It is interesting that we have a semi-holiday, nbecause somehow the evil decree allowed by heaven to end so many lives, such as it was, would not continue.

Respect For Others

Seasons of the Moon

Nineteen hundred years ago, the twenty-five thousand pupils of Rebbe Akiva all died in the days of the Omer between Pesach and Shavuot. This was a punishment for not treating each other with enough respect. The majority of the days Omer are in the month of Iyar. Thus Iyar is a time for us to work on improving respect for others.

How Did Rabbi Akiva's Students Die?

Why is the mourning period for the students of R. Akiva, so much more halachically serious than similar tragedies, in Jewish history? The class deals with the historic background of the time, as seen in the sources and archeology, which explicitly prove that the tannaim, R. Akiva's students, learned in a "Hesder" Yeshiva, combining Torah study with army service. They didn't wait passively for the redemption, but actively tried bringing it in the religious-Zionist way, which in their time was premature, but nevertheless serves as the Rambam's precedent for the future geula. Many other "innocent" sources in the Talmud are explained here, on the backdrop of the historic events of their time, and show that the Omer period mourns the fall of the 3rd State of Israel, a true national tragedy.

Why Do We Rejoice on Lag Ba'Omer?

Lag B’omer

Rashbi - Basing Law on Thought

Many Jews visit the grave of Rashbi on Lag BaOmer, but the real point of this occasion is to attach oneself to this righteous sage through his teachings. The sages thus say, “We do not make gravestones for the righteous; their words are their memory.”

Success and Ideal

Why do we continue to praise and commemorate the activities of Rabbi Akiva and Bar Kokhba generation after generation? Was not their war on the Romans a reckless step, a lost cause that brought nothing but tragedy and hardship upon the Jewish people?