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B"H

Thursday, Iyar 18, 5776 / May 26, 2016 – HAKHEL YEAR

 

Today is Lag B'Omer. As mentioned yesterday, on this day we celebrate the lives of two great Talmudic sages: Rabbi Akiva & Rabbi Shimon bar Yochai.

 

Although it is the day of Rabbi Shimon bar Yochai’s passing, this day is a celebration honoring his life. On this day, when he returned his soul to G-d, he had accomplished his life’s mission in this world.

 

Rabbi Shimon bar Yochai authored the Zohar which deals with the hidden and deepest mystical teachings of the Torah and is the basis for the Kabbala. The Talmud is full of the teachings of Rabbi Akiva and Rabbi Shimon bar Yochai.

 

Rabbi Shimon bar Yochai together with his son, Rabbi Elazar, spent 13 years in a cave hiding from the Romans, who wanted to kill him for teaching Torah and for speaking out against their oppression of Jews in Israel. To avoid the death penalty, they hid in a cave and were sustained by a carob tree that miraculously appeared by the cave and by a stream of water that ran just outside.

 

Rabbi Shimon bar Yochai gave the following example to impress upon his students the importance of every individual’s action and how each person's deeds affect everyone else. He explained it with the following illustration: A boat filled with people was sailing on the ocean, when one of the passengers took a sharp tool and began to bore a hole under his seat. The other passengers shouted, "What are you doing?  Stop!"

 

The man replied, "What business is it of yours? I paid for this seat.  I'm boring a hole under my seat!"

 

"Fool!  Don't you realize that by boring a hole under your seat, you will cause us all to drown?1"

 

"Similarly," says Rabbi Shimon, "a person must remember that we are all riding in the same life-boat.  Every good deed we do affects everyone and every sin we commit affects the entire world!"

 

Rabbi Akiva would always say, “Whatever G-d does is for the good.” The Talmud tells that Rabbi Akiva was once traveling and he had with him a lantern, a rooster, and a donkey. At night, he came to a village, but no one invited him in. Instead of despair, he said, “Whatever G-d does is for the good,” and set up camp in the forest nearby.

 

During the night a wind blew out his lamp, a fox ate his rooster, and a lion slew his donkey. Rabbi Akiva again remarked, “Whatever G-d does is for the good!”

 

He awoke the next morning to find out that during the night soldiers had attacked the village which refused him lodging. Had he been in the village, he would have been captured together with the other residents. Had he had his light or his animals, the soldiers would have seen or heard them and he too would have been doomed. He always reminded his students: “Everything G-d does is for the good!”

 

HAVE A HAPPY, HEALTHY, SUCCESSFUL AND WONDERFUL LAG B’OMER