Timeless Torah

The Omer period should have been a time of joyful anticipation, marking as it does, the Exodus from Egypt until the revelation at Sinai. Instead, it is a time of semi-mourning, except for Lag B’omer, when our sorrow is temporarily halted. What occurred then? The Talmud relates that during this period, Rabbi Akiva’s 24,000 students died from a mysterious plague sent from Heaven because, “They did not show respect to one another.” Nonetheless, on Lag B’omer the plague ended. This only creates new questions. Why does this event merit thirty-two days of sadness when greater tragedies, such as the destruction of both Temples, are marked by a single day of grief. In sheer numbers, the Inquisition, Crusades, Chemelnitsky pogroms, and the Holocaust far overshadow the death of Rabbi Akiva’s students. Yet, these tragic events are not commemorated by even one special day of remembrance. Why is the death of some scholars given so much more weight? There are other inconsistencies. If the students died as a result of their sins, why should we mourn them? Didn’t they deserve their fate? Also, why should a temporary halt of the epidemic be set aside as a day of celebration? Would not a memorial day for those who died be more appropriate? And how does all of this relate to Rabbi Shimon Bar Yochai, author of the mystical Zohar and student of Rabbi Akiva, about whom we sing on Lag B’omer? The answers lie shrouded in the history of a turbulent age. The Romans destroyed the Second Temple and the entire country. Hundreds of thousands died in the fierce fighting and many more were forced into slavery and exile. The Romans considered the Jewish nation defeated and erected a monument in Rome which stands to this day that says Judea Capita -Judea is kaput, finished, done for. But even in defeat the Sages struggled to rebuild Jewish life. They were so successful that around 135 C.E. a Jewish military leader, Bar Kochba, succeeded in organizing a fighting force to rid the land of the hated Romans. The masses rallied to his cause, including the great scholar, Rabbi Akiva. From a hisorical point of view, Rome’s paganism and oppressiveness had many searching for an alternative. Judaism attracted significant numbers, including several members of the Roman Senate. Thus large numbers of Jews and their sympathizers throughout the Empire could have coordinated a popular revolt. Rabbi Akiva furthermore believed that Jews could have returned to their land, and ushered in the Messianic Era of justice, spiritual revival, and universal peace. As Maimonides records, “Rabbi Akiva was the wisest of the scholars of the Mishna and was the armor bearer of Bar Kochba. Both he and the sages of his generation believed that Bar Kochba was the Messiah...” All seemed to be in readiness. With Rome rotten and corrupt and many other nations straining at the yoke, Bar Kochba trained an army capable of igniting the powder keg of rebellion and Rabbi Akiva lit it with the dramatic proclamation that the long awaited Messiah had arrived. More importantly, Rabbi Akiva added a spiritual dimension. He merged the soldiers of the sword with the soldiers of the book, his 24,000 students.  read more »

Lag B’Omer, the thirty-third day of the Omer count from Pesach to Shavuos, is the day most associated with the teachings of Kabbalah. It is the anniversary of the passing of Rabbi Shimon bar Yochai, author of the most basic Kabbalistic work, the Zohar. Literally, the Aramaic word Zohar is translated as luminance or radiance, but it is most often referred to as The Book of Splendor.  read more »