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LAG B'OMER in MERON
by Yerachmiel Tilles
MERON is a sleepy mountain village a few miles west of Zefat that
once a year undergoes a remarkable transformation. Each year on Lag
b'Omer, 33 (Lamed=30; Gimmel=3) days after Passover
Day, more than 200,000 Jews of all descriptions converge upon it from all
parts of the country. The highway is closed and traffic rerouted,
as the whole area is covered with tents and vans for miles around.
In Jewish
Law, Lag b'Omer is a cessation of the semi-mourning restrictions between Pesach
and Shavuot, when marriages, haircutting and live music all become permitted.
However, this massive pilgrimage is for an entirely different reason. Lag
b'Omer is the "celebration" day of Rabbi
Shimon bar Yochai, whose burial site is on Mount Meron. Although Lag
b'Omer is the anniversary of his death, in accordance with his express wishes
it is treated as an occasion of great joy. The rejoicing takes many forms (the
reactions “most sublime” to "Jewish Woodstock!" have both been overheard).
At night, many Sephardim recline in huge tents over multi-course dinners and live
music, and during the day, dozens of sheep are kosher-slaughtered, barbecued,
and consumed. Throughout the night and day, hundreds or even thousands of three-year-old
boys, Ashkenazim and Sephardim alike, receive their first haircuts
and peyot.  In
the evening, enormous bonfires are kindled on the roof of the domed building,
in honor of the shining spiritual light Rabbi Shimon brought into the world.
For the entire 24 hours, groups of whirling Chassidim, with fervor unusual even
for them, dance near the fires or in the courtyard below, singing over and over
the infections traditional songs in praise of Rabbi Shimon.
Inside the small
room reserved for men (the main room is used primarily by women-the common wall
is built around and over the burial site) the air reverberates. Individuals
and small groups study Zohar (see below) and recite Psalms, while the dense crowds
continuously flowing into the room struggle to reach the tomb (said one amazed
ASCENT participant upon his emergence: "I was breathing pure Jew!"). A strong
tradition exists that anyone who prays sincerely "at Rabbi Shimon," especially
on Lag b'Omer, will be answered. The steep winding path that leads to the tomb
is tightly lined by booths. Many are manned by representatives of yeshivas
and other worthy causes, and people cheerfully donate b'z'chut ("in the
merit of") Rabbi Shimon. Further away, vendors hawking all sorts of merchandise
dominate the main thoroughfares. I even saw a shell game! All over, people
are camping, picnicking, and partying, and often it seems easy to lose sight of
the original religious nature of the celebration, or even consider it contradicted.
Yet stories are recorded of several Torah authorities who intended to prohibit
attendance due to the "unboundedness" of the celebrating, until Rabbi Shimon appeared
to them in dreams, saying not to dare diminish his day of joy.
 Lag
b'Omer at Meron is a basic component of the Israel experience and the
focal point of one of Ascent's most popularKabbalah
seminars. While some participants may be more "tuned in" than
others, as far as Rabbi Shimon is concerned all Jews are welcome, so long
as the effort is made to be joyful. See you there!
Yerachmiel
Tilles is a founder of Ascent of Safed,
educational coordinator of the Ascent seminars, editor of Ascent
Quarterly and director of this website.
(long) - from the Zohar
(plus, you can save it for Shavuot too!)
Ten + Ten = Ten
Moshe Miller
The Zohar,
one of the earliest and most important Jewish mystical texts,
was written by Rabbi
Shimon bar Yochai and his disciples. The following is an original
translation, in bold face, of a selected text from the Zohar [vol. III,
11b ff.] on the first chapter of the Torah, together with selections
based on major commentaries. The latter have been woven into the text
itself, in plain face within parentheses, in order to provide the reader
with a smooth, comprehensive text without requiring extensive footnotes,
which are used mostly for technical information and sources. — M.M.
("The world was created by means of ten utterances."1
The following section explains the connection between the asarah ma’amorot
[Ten Utterances] in Genesis and the aseret hadibrot [Ten Commandments]
in Exodus 20.) Rabbi Shimon bar Yochai taught: kaf asarah
asarah — (“Each incense bowl weighed ten sanctuary shekels”—lit:) each
bowl ten ten.2 Why (the doubled words) “ten ten?” Once, to allude
to the work of creation, and once to allude to the Torah. There are ten utterances
in the creation of the world, and (corresponding to them) ten utterances
in the Torah (the Ten Commandments). What does this
tell us? That the world was created for the sake of Torah, and as long as the
Jewish people occupy themselves with Torah, the world will continue to exist.
But if the Jewish people abandon Torah, the verse declares, “If not for My Covenant
(the Torah3), I would not have set day and night, and the bounds
of heaven and earth.”4 The Zohar now explains how
the ten utterances parallel the Ten Commandments.
The 1st (commandment,
instructing us to have faith in G-d) states: I am the Lord your G-d...” Regarding
creation, the verse states: “There shall be light, and there was light.”5
From the verse “G-d is my light and salvation, whom shall I fear?”6
we learn that faith in the Holy One, blessed be He, is also called “light.”
(Hence, light and faith in G-d, the first commandment, correspond.) The
2nd states: “You shall have no other gods before Me,” and (the second utterance)
states: “There shall be a firmament between the waters, and it shall divide between
water and water.” “There shall be a firmament,” refers
to the Jewish people who are part of G-d Above,7 for they are attached
to that plane which is called shemayim (Heaven , or firmament).
“Between the waters,” — among the words of Torah (which is called water, as
our Sages explain8) “And it (the Jewish people) shall divide
between water and water” — between G-d, who is called “the Source of Living Water”9
and false deities which are called “broken wells”9 containing
bitter, putrid and stagnant water. (Thus, the division between water and water
is dependent on the Jewish people learning Torah.) The 3rd
states: “Do not take the name of G-d in vain,” and (the third utterance) states:
“The waters below the firmament shall be gathered into one place..” Do not cause
a separation in the unity of the waters (referring to the Shechinah — the
indwelling Divine Presence10) by uttering a false oath. The
4th states: “Remember the Sabbath to keep it holy,” and (the fourth utterance)
states, “The earth shall sprout vegetation..” When does the earth become fertile
and become covered with vegetation? On the Sabbath, when the bride (the Sabbath)
unites with the King (G-d).11 This brings forth vegetation
and blessing for the world. (Every weekday is provided its food by virtue
of the blessing it receives from the Shabbath,12 just as the
manna which came down only during the week, was by virtue of the Sabbath.13)
The 5th states: “Honor your father and mother,” and (the
fifth utterance) states, “There shall be luminaries in the sky ...” This means
that the luminaries are your father and mother — the sun is your father, and the
moon your mother, alluding to the Holy One, blessed be He, your father, as the
verse states. “For the sun and its sheath are G-d, the Lord.”14
(The verse makes an association between G-d — who is the ultimate source of all
“light” in the sense of Divine revelation — and the sun, the source of physical
light.) And the moon refers to Knesset Yisrael (the collective
soul of the Jewish people), as the verse states (regarding Israel),
“Your moon shall never disappear.” 15 (It seems that the
intention here is that our “father and mother” — G-d, and the collective Jewish
soul — are honored by the Torah which the Jewish people learn in this world, as
our Sages explain, “There is no honor other than Torah.”16) The
6th states: “Do not murder,” and (the sixth utterance) states “The waters
shall teem with living creatures.” Do not kill a man, who is also called “a living
creature.”17 And do not be like fish, the larger of which swallows
the smaller. The 7th states: “Do not commit adultery,”
and (the seventh utterance) states, “The earth shall bring forth living
creatures... in their species.” From this we learn that a man should not approach
a woman who is not his soulmate. For this reason the verse, “in their species.”
A woman must not bear children from one who is not her “species” i.e. her soul
mate. The 8th states: “Do not steal,” and (the eight
utterance) states, “I have given you every seedbearing plant on the surface
of the earth.” i.e. that which I have given you, and allowed you to use, is yours.
Do not steal that which belongs to someone else. The 9th
states: “Do not testify as a false witness,” and (the ninth utterance) states,
“We shall make man with Our image, of Our likeness.” Do not testify falsely against
one who bears the Divine image. And if one testifies falsely, it is as if he blasphemed.
The 10th states: “Do not be envious of your neighbor’s wife...”
and (the tenth utterance) states, “It is not good that man is alone. I
will make him a helper to match him.” This refers to each person’s soul-mate who
matches him perfectly. Hence, “Do not be envious of your neighbor’s wife...”
These are the ten utterances of creation, which parallel the
Ten Commandments. Therefore the verse (quoted originally) states, “Each
bowl weighed ten,” for they weigh the same. and by virtue of this the world survives
and maintains equilibrium.... 1. Avot 5:1
2. Numbers 7:86
3. Or Yakar
4. Yeremiah 33:25, Rashi
5. Note
that this passage in the Zohar does not regard the first word in the Torah, bereishit,
as the first utterance, as explained previously. (Zohar 1:39b) Perhaps this is
according to the view that the verse, “I am the Lord your G-d,” also expresses
belief in G-d Himself, which is not a commandment, but precedes all commandments.
Nevertheless, in the light of other passages in the Zohar this seems unlikely.
6. Psalms 27:1
7. Job 31:2.
8. Bava Kama 17a
9. Jeremiah 2:13
10. See Chagiga 14b regarding the advice of R. Akiva to the
Sages who entered the Pardes: Do not say, “Water, water.” (i.e. cause a separation
between the waters); Pardes Rimonim s.v. shayish
11.
Technically, this refers to the yichud (unification) of malchut and
zair anpin - Commentaries
12. Zohar vol.II,p 88a
13. Zohar ibid
14. Psalms 84:12.
The Names used in this verse are Havayeh, the Tetragrammaton, denoting
the transcendent revalation of G-d as He is in Himself, and Elokim, G-d
as He is within creation.
15. Isaiah 60:20
16. Avot 6:3; Zohar vol.III, p. 81b.
17.Genesis
2:7 Excerpted from a pioneering English translation,
from the original Aramaic, of selected passages in the Zohar, together
with commentary, by Rabbi Moshe Leib Miller, an occasional guest teacher at Ascent
and currently a Rosh Yeshiva in Michigan.
Some Laws and Customs -
 "FIRST
HAIRCUT & PEYOT SHAPING" ceremonies for three year old boys are
the highlight of Lag b'Omer at Meron for many families and spectators,
as everyone gathers to help snip. Actually, everywhere in the world,
Jewish boys born between Pesach and Lag b’Omer receive their first haircut
and peyot on Lag b’Omer. Upon reaching the age of 3 (i.e., completing
three years and beginning the "holy fourth"-see Lev. 19:23-25), a Jewish
child begins to receive his or her official training in mitzvot.
The first mitzvah for a three year old boy is (Lev. 19:27) "Do not cut
off the hair on the side of your head." Four centuries ago, Rabbi
Yitzchak Luria, the great Kabbalist, camped at Meron with his family
in order to "make peyot" for his son on Lag b'Omer "in the presence of"
Rabbi Shimon bar Yochai. Since then, especially in modern-day Israel,
it has been a strong custom to administer the "first sheering" (comparable
to the mitzvah of the First Fleece Offering-see Deut. 18:4) at Meron,
and ideally on Lag b'Omer - birth date and custom permitting.
STUDYING THE ZOHAR AND OTHER TEACHINGS OF
RABBI SHIMON BAR YOCHAI
Rabbi Shimon Bar Yochai, one of the most important
sages in Jewish history, lived over 1800 years ago. Teachings in his name
abound throughout the Mishnah, Gemorrah, and Midrashim, while the Zohar, the primary
source text of Kabbalah, is built around Rabbi Shimon's revelations to his inner
circle of disciples. During the hours before his passing, on Lag b'Omer,
he disclosed the "most sublime" secrets of Torah (see quote below), in order to
ensure that the day would always be an occasion for great joy, untouched by sadness
because of the Omer period and mourning for him. The seminal importance
of the Zohar in Jewish thought and the annual pilgrimage to Meron are testimonies
to his success.
Praises of Rabbi Shimon Bar Yochai TALMUD:
Every woman who gives birth to a son should pray that he grows up to be like
Rabbi Shimon bar Yochai. Bar Yochai is accustomed to miracles (happening for
him). MIDRASH:
Throughout his lifetime, a rainbow (which signifies that
the world deserves punishment) was never seen. ZOHAR:
"In a single bond
I am bound with G-d, united with Him, aflame,..." During a severe drought,
a delegation came and requested him to pray for rain. He started to lecture
on the verse "Hinei mah tov..." ("How good and pleasant when brothers sit together..."
- Ps. 133). Immediately, rain began to fall. "This day (his last--Lag
b'Omer) I have revealed holy secrets never before revealed...I see that G-d
and all the righteous in Heaven agree to this...and all of them are rejoicing
in my (time of) joy." "With this book (Zohar) of yours, the Jewish People
will be redeemed from exile with mercy." Chag Samayach - Have a joyous holiday!The
ASCENT staff
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