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"Lag B' Omer" means the 33rd day of the
Counting of the Omer. The Omer is the 49 day countdown of
anticipation between Passover and Shavuot, when we received the Torah. Lag
B'Omer is a special day for several reasons. First, it is the anniversary of the
death ("Hillulah" or "yartzeit") of Rabbi Shimon the son of Yochai
(known by the acronym, the " Rashbi"), one of the five most famous
students of Rabbi Akiva. In addition to being a great Talmudic scholar, the
Rashbi, was also the author of the foundation text of Kabbalah, the Zohar,
the dictation of which was completed on Lag B'Omer.  | | " The three days prior to the Rashbi's passing, he taught his students the secrets of the Torah, which were later to be edited into the Zohar...." | | |
The Zohar says that during the three days prior to the Rashbi's
passing, he taught his students the secrets of the Torah, which were later to be
edited into the Zohar; "Day was night and night was day, as the secrets of
heaven were being revealed on earth."
The days of the Omer are considered a mourning period, because
during this time 24,000 students of Rabbi Akiva from an earlier period died in a
plague. On Lag B'Omer they stopped dying.
What is the connection between Lag B'Omer and Shavuot? Rabbi
Dovber, the Mittler Rebbe of Chabad writes that we have to understand the
connection between Shabbat and a wedding. On Shabbat we make two main meals, the
night meal and the day meal. The night meal is called the meal of the "Holy
Apple Orchard", while the day meal is called the meal of the "Holy Ancient One"
and is much higher spiritually. Interestingly, while it is a common for the
night meal to feel more special, it is really the day meal that has most of the
spiritual power. | | " Shavuot is also called a wedding between the Jewish people and the Torah...." | | |
This is likened to a king who marries a girl from the provinces.
To honor the king and queen-to-be, all the ministers come with the king in all
of their finery to make a meal in her small village. None of the locals has ever
seen such a spectacle in their lives! Only afterwards does everyone go back to
the capital city for the real wedding party in the palace. While the real
magnificence is in the palace, none of wedding guests are affected by all of the
finery because to them it is commonplace. Similarly, we are very aware of
Shabbat at the night meal because of its contrast with the mundane week, while
it is really the morning meal, the "Holy Ancient One", that is more spiritually
potent and when we are on a higher spiritual level.
This is the connection between Shavuot and Lag B'Omer. The Torah
explains that just as Shabbat is a weekly wedding between G-d and the Jewish
people, so too, Shavuot is also called a wedding between the Jewish people and
the Torah. And even though on Shavuot we feel all of the excitement of the
giving of the Torah (i.e. the thunder and the lightning and hearing G-d say the
Ten Commandments), this is more like the Shabbat night meal when there is more
excitement, but the spiritual power is less.
When is the real power? The real power, the real connection to
the infinite, happens on Lag B'Omer when Kabbala's inner dimensions of the Torah
are revealed. So too, we can understand why Mt. Sinai happened before the
Rashbi's passing, just as the meal of the king and his ministers in the village
precedes the real wedding feast in the capitol. We also can understand why Lag
B'Omer precedes Shavuot in the annual calendar, to teach that it is only through
the inner desire of the Almighty to create the world so that the Torah could be
revealed. Celebrate Lag B'Omer Jewishly! Learn Zohar to connect with the
Rashbi. Begin in earnest your preparation for Shavuot!
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