Lag B'omer by the Rebbe - Part I

00:00 The Lag B'Omer, we'll discuss various that the Rebbe mentioned, ex-- elaborated on over the years in regard to this special day. In a nineteen fifty, during the Lag B'Omer , the Rebbe began that based on the words of our sages, that there is nothing that is not hinted in Torah, which means everything has a source in Torah. Move on, it's understood that also the union of Lag B'Omer is also merumas in Torah. And the Rebbe continues, "In Torah Shas we find two rumors in regard to Lag B'Omer. One, a pasuk, a verse, which is in Parsha VaYetzé toward the conclusion of the Parsha, where it says, This is the, uh, pile of stones will be a witness." And a second place is in Tehillim chapter kuf yud tes, one-nineteen, the pasuk, Unveil my eyes and I will see wonders from your Torah. And the Rebbe explains, that in this, the first, uh, reference is expressed the great necessity of learning and spreading Torah Shas, which is the union of Lag B'Omer, the Matan Torah of Pnimiyus HaTorah, especially in our time. The pasuk was said when Lavan ran after Yankiv, after Yankiv left with his family, and Lavan caught up to him, and they then took a pile of stones, and they made a gal, a pile. And Lavan referred to it as and Yankiv referred to it as galit. And then Lavan said to Yankiv, "This pile is a witness, and this monument is a witness that I am not to pass this pile

02:29 to go to you, nor are you to pass this pile and this monument to come to me to do harm." And a deeper insight, the Rebbe elaborates that in regard to the chase that Lavan did after Yankiv, it's mentioned in Seforim that the true reason was not as Lavan figured that he's gonna run after Yankiv to do something bad to him, but because at the conclusion of the of Yankiv and Choron, there were certain sparks of kedusha, sacred sparks that were left by Lavan that were not refined yet by Yankiv. So therefore, Lavan ran after Yankiv to give him these last sacred sparks that were left by him in order that the birur, the refinement and the elevation of the sacred sparks should be completed. So the Rebbe continues, the same thing is also in our days in the heels of Mashiach's coming. As the words of the previous Rebbe, that after the avoda that we already have refined the sparks of kedusha in all the exiles up till this last exile, so there needs to be the refinement of the last sparks that are still outstanding. like the last sparks that were left by Lavan, and he brought it to Yankiv. And this is the time of that Mashiach is standing behind the wall. And then it'll be fulfilled what it says, that I will remove the impurity from the earth, and that will be in the arrival of Mashiach So the Rebbe concludes that since we find ourselves in the and we are

04:38 dealing and refining the last sparks of kedusha, it is understood the great necessity in revealing and spreading Pnimiyus HaTorah. In regard to the day of Lag B'Omer itself, the Rebbe Rashab mentions in a maamar in the in the series of maamarim of nineteen oh six that Lag B'Omer is the Matan Torah of Pnimiyus HaTorah. On another occasion, the Rebbe explains that although we say also that Yud Tes Kislev in the-- is Matan Torah of Pnimiyus HaTorah, so in the same sense that we see in regard to the, the Luchos tablets, they were the first Luchos that were given on Shavuot, and then there were the second Luchos after Yom Kippur. In the same sense, the first Luchos is the Matan Torah of Pnimiyus HaTorah of Lag B'Omer, and then there is the Matan Torah of Pnimiyus HaTorah as it is connected with Yud Tes Kislev, the redemption date of the Alter Rebbe. The to the earlier installment in regard to Lag B'Omer by the Rebbe, the, and the Rebbe's insights on Lag B'Omer, we continue now with installment number two, discussing the calendar setting of Lag B'Omer. And the date in the month when Lag BaOmer takes place. In a sicha of the Rebbe by Midbar taf shin lamed hei, nineteen seventy-five, the Rebbe discusses and explains what the Alter Rebbe says in the siddur, that Lag BaOmer falls out on the same day in the week as Purim, and the siman is Peleg. This is based on the siman, simanim that are mentioned already

06:37 in Halakha of Adar bash, that whenever the first day Pesach falls out, that is the same day in the week for Tisha B'Av. And when it comes to Peh, it's Peleg, Peh and lamed, that whenever it is Purim, in the same day in the week will be Lag BaOmer. So the Rebbe asks the question, v'cha'eira, what shaychus does it have to the siddur? The siddur is not a place of sipurim stories or simanim, v'kalveina. And the Rebbe begins explaining, v'abir bazeh bederech hefsher, what can be said and explained is that Purim is kimu v'kiblu haYehudim. Yidden took upon themselves then and have fulfilled what they already accepted by Har Sinai. And it was as Chazal say, kimu ma she kiblu k'var. They fulfilled what they already accepted generations earlier, which this is an example of a shtar of a contract, a contract that was disputed, and then it was confirmed, validated, and memeile this shtar, this contract is now sort of eternal, and this is the chayus, the life of the shtar. This gives the shtar a kiyum nitzchi, and nothing could dispute the valid- validity of the shtar. In the same sense also, Purim was the kiyum and chayus and pnimius of the Torah, because this is when Yidden showed it in a practical sense. And the Rebbe continues, "The chayus of niglah of the Torah," the revealed part of Torah, which we received then at Matan Torah, its chayus is pnimius haTorah. And this is the connection of Purim and Lag BaOmer, that

08:36 Matan Torah of Pnimius haTorah was Lag BaOmer. Matan Torah, the Rebbe says, chavrashol, um, didn't-- will not happen again. But this means that Lag BaOmer is similar to what Purim accomplished benegeah to niglah of the Torah. It confirmed their exception at Har Sinai. Al derech ze benegeah to Lag BaOmer, benegeah pnimius haTorah. Bemele with this, we understand the connection of Purim and Lag BaOmer. And with this, the Rebbe answers the question, why is it that the Alter Rebbe mentions it, notes it in the siddur? Because Torah has a shaychus to tefillah. Uh, therefore, before davening in the morning, we say certain sections of Torah, Parshas HaKorbanos, Parshas HaTomiyd, Parshas HaK'tas, and also from the oral law, Eizeh Makima. And surely after tefillah, a Yid goes on to study, beis hakneses le-beis hamedrash. And bemele, the Alter Rebbe installed in the siddur, made note of the krias, the calendar setting of Purim and Lag BaOmer, that they're both in the same day in the week. And whenever Purim is in a certain day in the week, in the same sense also Lag BaOmer takes place in the same day in the week. On another occasion, in a hora, in a sicha taf shin nun beis, late 1991, the Rebbe explains that Lag BaOmer is on the eighteenth of the month. Eighteen is a symbol ofchai, chayus. So the Rebbe explains the Matan Torah of Pnimius haTorah is in a manner, in a format that the etzem, the essence remains concealed. It is not something that the

10:32 recipient is able to absorb it, to understand it in a logical manner. And therefore, the krius of Matan Torah of Pnimius haTorah is in the eighteenth, chai, similar to the etzem hachai, similar to the essence of the energy in the person, in the nefesh, which is not revealed. On the other hand, when it comes to Matan Torah of Torah Shasides, this is when it is in the nineteenth of the month, Yut Zah Shides. As it's expl-explained, al pi Shasides, al pi Kabbalah, that it shows on revealing the concealment. Behem shechta, the earlier installments benegeah to Lag BaOmer by the Rebbe, we continue now with installment number three, discussing some of the menahagim, customs of Lag BaOmer, which the Rebbe elaborated on during the various farbrengens relating to Lag BaOmer. The first thing in is the minhag of playing with a bow and arrow. The Rebbe in a sicha, Lag BaOmer taf shin yud alef, 1951, states that it's mentioned in Zoharim that since during the lifetime of Rab Shimon ben Yochai, a rainbow was not seen in the cloud because the merit of Rab Shimon ben Yochai protected the generation, and therefore there was no need to demonstrate, to show a rainbow in the cloud, because the rainbow is a sign that the will not bring a mabul. But during the lifetime of Rab Shimon ben Yochai, his zchus, his merit protected the generation. So therefore, on the day of the hishtalkus of Rab Shimon ben Yochai, like Beimer, we play with a bow and

12:27 arrow to show that since the hishtalkus of Rab Shimon ben Yochai, we again need a rainbow to remember that Eibeshte will not bring a mabul on the world. So the Rebbe continues and says that according to this reason, it seems like that the playing of a bow and arrow like Beimer reminds us on something negative. On a situation where there can be a mabul and the rainbow is to remind us that Eibeshte will not bring a mabul. So the Rebbe explains that a rainbow also has a positive significance and that is based what it says in the Zayyar and Tikkun Yizayyar that you should not expect the heels, the feet of Mashiach till you will see a rainbow with various illuminated colors and that is when you can hope for Mashiach which means when one sees a rainbow with various colors this is a siman that the time came for Mashiach to arrive. Ragli Mashiach as the Rebbe expressed himself in the Sichah Sishenda, even the raglayim for Mashiach, even the legs of Mashiach are already here and since like Beimer is the Yemai Lulah of Rab Shimon ben Yochai who opened up the channel for the revelation of Pnimius HaTeidah, the concealed levels of Teidah to the extent of Yafutza Meines Echachutza, spreading the wellsprings forward to the outside. So this is a preparation and an introduction and a vessel for Mashiach to come and therefore it is customary to play with a rainbow on this day like Beimer to be merames, to refer

14:22 to and signify the rainbow with various colors which seeing it is a siman for Ragli Mashiach, the arrival of Mashiach. The Rebbe continues in the above mentioned Sichah, the connection between Talmidim, students of Yeshivas playing with a rainbow on like Beimer as the Rebbe explains it there in lengthy form. Another inyan which the Rebbe mentioned b'negiert to like Beimer and that is b'negiert to a Talmid of the Arizal who would say the Tefillah of Nachim throughout the year. Every day he would say this prayer of Nachim which laments the destruction of the Beis Hamikdash and laments Yidden being exiled to Golus. He would say it in the weekdays, he would say it Shabbos, he would say it Yom Tef, he would say it Rishonah, Yom Kippur throughout the year. There was one time when he said it on the day of like Beimer and Rab Shimon ben Yochai was displeased with that. It is the day of Rab Shimon ben Yochai's Yem Simchase, the day of his rejoicing and he asked that Yidden should rejoice on this day. It is Yem Simchase and Mamele this made Rab Shimon ben Yochai displeased, unhappy about this custom. And there was a certain kpeidah that hurt this Talmid of the Arizal as the Arizal relayed a message to his Talmid that there was a punishment that he received for that. So the Rebbe explains and asks, l'cheir it's not understood. With all this, it still was after the destruction of the Beis Hamikdash, it was in a time

16:29 of exile and we see it also by Rab Shimon ben Yochai that he also went through the pain of being in a cave together with his son for 12, 13 years and this came as a result of exile. He needed to hide from the Romans because if Yidden would have had the upper hand, he wouldn't need to hide in a cave. Why couldn't this person say Nachim, the student of the Arizal? So the Rebbe explains because like Beimer accomplishes a very unique quality that is higher than time. So therefore, even being in Golus and in the darkness, the darkness as a darkness that we have in our Golus, in this Golus, like Beimer accomplishes an elevation to a level which is higher than time and therefore it is not appropriate to say then Nachim. The hemsach to the earlier installments b'negeir like Beimer by the Rebbe, we're continuing now with installment number four, discussing the inyan of Simcha on like Beimer. In a Sichah like Beimer Tovshin Yud Aleph 1951, the Rebbe states that b'negeir to the inyan of Simcha in general, the previous Rebbe said in one of his Sichahs, fun vos is dof reiloch tzanzayin? Fun what is there to be joyous about? And the Rebbe continues, this is all b'negeir to ordinary days in the year, but on like Beimer it's a completely different eifem. Like Beimer is the Yemai Lulah of Rasbi that he said that I can exempt the whole world from judgment. So the Rebbe continues, if he has

18:20 in his potential to exempt the whole world from judgment, surely he is completely good. And sin, this goodness does not need meditation, research in order to be able to find it because it is revealed for all. Therefore, we can rejoice with the goodness of Rab Shimon bar Yochai that he is And especially in addition to that, as Rab Shimon bar Yochai said that this day, like BeMeir, is a day of his rejoicing. the Simcha that we rejoice with the goodness of Rab Shimon bar Yochai is also connected with the rejoicing of Rab Shimon bar Yochai himself, which is the ultimate joy. And through this Simcha, all the limitations are removed. And the Rebbe continues, There's an expression in the Talmud that Rab Shimon is worthy that we should rely on him. So the Rebbe says that this is used also by many not only in Halacha that it's a tough time, it's, um, an uncom-comfortable time, but also in the that the greater there is the limitations and the coarseness and the darkness of Galus, as the of the Rebbe in Yiddish, "We grease the gutters on nor Zain, finster ers on nor Zain." So Rab Shimon bar Yochai's chus merit is worthy to rely on him in order to nullify all the of judgment, and to remove all the concealments to the extent of bringing the of Am Yisrael. And the Rebbe continues, but what? We need to remove these limitations, each one as each one knows on the personal level. One of the

20:42 HS is to break the limitations is through J- Simcha. And since this is a day of a Simcha, joy of Rab Shimon bar Yochai, with the goodness of Rab Shimon bar Yochai, this Simcha will break through all the limitations. On another occasion, Shabbos nineteen seventy-eight, the Rebbe said the following. That it's as mentioned in Svarim, that those that visited like BeMeir in Miron felt an exceptional joy, a joy which cannot be understood in a natural way. And the Rebbe continues, "This was the feeling that a person felt there, literally. And the reason for that is because by Rab Shimon bar Yochai, it was a state of he became connected with Hashem on this day. this became the day of his joy, and therefore this permeates everyone that visited in Miron." On another note, to the Simcha of Lag BaOmer, the Rebbe said in a Sicha, in the Farbrengen of Lag BaOmer nineteen eighty-three, when the Rebbe spoke about the Talmud of the Arizal, who was punished because he said lamenting the destruction of the lamenting the Jewish exile, and he said it on Lag BaOmer, and Rab Shimon bar Yochai was not pleased with it. He was upset, as we mentioned it in an early installment. So the Rebbe says this, this signifies the unique quality of Lag BaOmer and Rab Shimon bar Yochai, that although this Talmud said every day in the year, he said it and also and even Shabbos and Yom Tov. The Rebbe says, "But what do we see that the

22:53 uniqueness of the joy of Rab Shimon bar Yochai is even higher yet than the Simcha? That although he said it on Yom Tov, there was no objection to it. But when he said it on Lag BaOmer, which is Simchas of Shalash Be, that day there is no place for saying It doesn't exist then." it's understood that the Simcha of Rab Shimon bar Yochai is greater yet than the Simchas of the . The to the earlier installments about Lag BaOmer by the Rebbe, we're continuing now with installment number five, discussing the Rebbe Sicha on Shabbos Parshas nineteen fifty-seven, during which the Rebbe referred to the Sunday of that week when one of the first and very successful Lag BaOmer parades took place. The Rebbe said the following: "On Sunday, it was Lag BaOmer, the Hillulah of Rash- the Rashbi. In addition, the organization gathered many Jewish children and spoke to them about mitzvahs and observing the Shabbos, which is mitzvahs and Jewish education, et cetera." The Rebbe continues, "Therefore, all those who have participated and have been active, not just present at this mitzvah, as understood that we can't compare one who was just merely present with one who was active with an exertion. And especially those who exerted themselves with their soul and body, they should say l'chaim for themselves and for the children, that they will be able to declare eventually about these children," quoting from the verse, "See the children we raised." And another verse, "They are children blessed by Hashem." As we

25:04 say to one who brought Bikkurim new fruit to the Beis Hamikdash on Shavuot, that he should merit to return again next year. So the Rebbe says, "Likewise, should give, we should merit it again, and more children should participate, and this will take place together with Mashiach, that they will then present the children to Mashiach and say, as mentioned earlier, "See the children we raised. They are children blessed by Hashem." Tuv Shim Em 1980, a big Lag BaOmer parade took place, and the Rebbe farbrenged in the evening that followed the parade, and in the coming weeks up to even Shavuos, the Rebbe spoke about continuing the inspiration of the parade. We'll mention some of the segments of the Siches, how the Rebbe addresses the importance of continuing the inspiration of the parade. A number of texts mention that the Ari z"l would journey with his family to celebrate Lag BaOmer in Meron, remaining there three days. The importance of this custom is reinforced by the saying of our sages that everything that is written is r- relevant for generations. Anything that is printed is relevant for generations upon generations. We should emulate his example. Therefore, the Rebbe continues and explains, "Three, three farbrengens have been held in connection with Lag BaOmer. The first on Shabbos, another Sunday, and the third tonight, the eve of Monday. Thus, we have an additional opportunity to be together with Rab Shimon, Rab Shimon Ben Yochai, to learn his teachings and accept upon ourselves resolutions in the spirit of which Rab

27:09 Shimon would have desired. We should try to include in this celebration all whom we can, our youth and our elders, our sons and our daughters. The gathering of children all over the world have established strength, for there's no strength but Torah, by reciting verses from the Torah. It is proper to continue the momentum of Lag BaOmer at least until tomorrow, and if possible longer, until the work of strengthening the impression and the joy experienced by the children in the parades and meetings can be completed. Those individuals who took responsibility for heading the Lag BaOmer parade should also take a leadership role in this project." In the following Shabbos, Shabbos Parshas Behar Bechukosai, the Rebbe spoke that the Shabbos after the days of the week elevates everything that took place that week, and there's also a need to increase even more yet. The Rebbe's referring to the resolutions that were made on Lag BaOmer. Erev Chag HaShavuos, the Rebbe again spoke about the inspiration of, uh, Lag BaOmer, that it needs to be continued in the following days. In one of the years, the Rebbe gave a directive that they should publish a book, and it-- which will contain pictures of the parade and also letters from the children describing their experience at the Lag BaOmer parade. This is a book that was later published in English, a book on Lag BaOmer.