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On the day that Rabbi Shimon bar Yochai was to depart the world, he began arranging his teachings, for Tzaddikim of the stature of Rabbi Shimon know when they have fulfilled their tasks in this world, and when they are to pass on to the World of Truth.

We reap a blessing bestowed on the land not as the natural fruit of our labor, for the harvest is disproportionably large when compared to the amount of seed planted.Therefore, this harvest becomes ours only after we bring the sacrificial "omer" of a measure of barley.

Every miracle that G-d performs leaves an indelible impression on the world. The miracles during the Exodus from Egypt, at the giving of the Torah on Mt. Sinai, and the bestowing of the manna in the desert all left us with a spiritual treasure that can be accessed even in our lives and especially on the holidays that commemorate these events.

Throughout the generations, Jews have celebrated the first haircut of a boy at the age of three, for the primary purpose of leaving and essentially revealing the Peyot/sidelocks.

Clearly, a child at the age of three passes through a major transitional period on his journey from babyhood to childhood, mimicking the cosmic process of creation which evolved from Tohu/chaos into Tikun/correction.

Shavuot is called a wedding between the Jewish people and the Torah. Although on Shavuot we feel all of the excitement of the giving of the Torah, the real power, the real connection to the infinite, happens on Lag B'Omer when Kabbala's inner dimensions of the Torah are revealed.