Lag Ba'Omer

LAG BA-OMER AND THE "SEFIRAT HA-OMER JEW"

by Rav Asher Meir

THE HOLY FIRES OF RAV SHIMON BAR YOCHAI

      The  gemara in Shabbat relates how Rav  Shimon   bar
Yochai disturbed the Roman authorities, and was compelled to go into hiding in a cave, accompanied by his son and closest  student, Rav Elazar.  A carob tree and a   spring miraculously  appeared  to provide  them  with   food  and water.  The gemara continues:

They  stayed  twelve years in the cave.  Then  Eliyahu
came  and  stood at the opening of the cave, and  said
"Who will let Bar Yochai know the Caesar has died  and
his  decrees  are nullified?"  They went out  [of  the cave] and saw people who were plowing and sowing.  

He [Rav   Shimon]  said,  "These  people  are   neglecting
eternal  life and occupying themselves with  transient
life?!"    Every  place  they  gazed  was   immediately
burned  up.   A Bat Kol [heavenly voice]  declared  to
them,  "Did you go out to destroy My world?!  Go  back
to  your cave!"  They went back in and lingered twelve
months,  saying,  "The wicked are judged  in  Gehinnom
for  twelve months."  Then a Bat Kol declared, "Go out
of your cave."  (Shabbat 33b)

      Another  famous story, regarding  the  end   of  Rav
Shimon's life, is related in the Zohar:

[When  Rav  Shimon died], all that day, the  fire  did
not  desist from the house, and no one approached  it,
since  they  could  not as the fire  was  all  around.
(Zohar Ha'azinu, Idra Zuta, volume III page 296b)

      According to tradition, the day that Rav Shimon bar
Yochai  passed  away was Lag Ba-omer, the  eighteenth  of
Iyar.   Even though the death of such a great sage  is  a
sad event, there is also joy surrounding the fact that he
attained  his  final reward (as the Zohar explains),  and
the fact that he revealed many deep secrets of the Torah
to  his  students  on  his dying  day.   The  fire   which
surrounded  the  house, preventing any but  Rav  Shimon's
closest students from approaching, serves as a basis  for
the custom of lighting bonfires on Lag Ba-omer.

      The  fire  surrounding  the  house   as  Rav  Shimon
departed  this world seems in an eerie way to recall  the
firey  glance of Rav Shimon as he departed his  cave  the
first time - the same firey gaze which aroused the ire of
the  Almighty  and condemned Rav Shimon and  his  son  to
another  year of isolation and privation in  their  cave.
Just  like  the  earlier fire, the fire  surrounding  the
house  threatened to consume anyone who was  not  totally
devoted  to Torah study, "like Rav Shimon bar Yochai  and
his  colleagues, whose Torah was their entire livelihood"
(and  therefore  exempted them  from  regular  prayers  -
Shabbat 11a, Shulchan Arukh OC 106:2).  Could it be  that
Rav  Shimon  and  Rav  Elazar failed to  internalize  the
message of the Bat Kol?

      A  parallel question regarding Rav Shimon's zeal to
devote  all of the Jewish People's strength to the  study
of  Torah, seems to arise from an interesting passage  in
Berakhot  (35b).   There we find a  dispute  between  Rav
Shimon bar Yochai and Rav Yishmael.  Rav Yishmael asserts that  the   tidings of Keriat Shema, "and you will  gather your  grain  and   grapes and oil," is  a  blessing.   But
according  to Rav Shimon, it is at best a mixed blessing.
If  we were REALLY doing God's will, we would not have to
disturb  our Torah study even to gather in the bounty  of
the land of Israel!

      The passage concludes: "Many acted according to Rav
Yishmael [by dividing their time between Torah study  and
earning  a  livelihood] and were successful;  many  acted
according   to   Rav   Shimon   bar    Yochai   and   were
unsuccessful."  Since the approach of exclusive  devotion
to  study seems to be rejected by the gemara, we can ask:
how  can the gemara exempt "Rav Shimon bar Yochai and his colleagues"   from prayer, on the basis that  their  utter
devotion  to  study  places them on a higher  level  than
other scholars?

THE "SHTEI HA-LECHEM JEW" AND THE "OMER JEW"

      A  careful  look at the meaning of  the   mitzva  of
counting  omer will give us a hint about the  meaning  of
Lag  Ba-omer.   Why indeed do we need to count  the  days
from Pesach to Shavuot?

      In the Torah, the counting of the omer is primarily
not  the  count from Pesach to Shavuot, but the  counting
from  the bringing of the omer of barley - hence the name
-  to the offering of the shtei ha-lechem - the two wheat
loaves  brought at Shavuot.  What is the significance  of
this countdown?

     The bringing of the omer is in many ways parallel to
the  separation  of  teruma.  Like teruma,  the  omer   is
called  "reishit"  -  the first  (Vayikra  23:10).    Like
teruma,  in  which even one kernel makes the entire  silo
permissible,  the  tiny amount of omer makes  permissible
the  entire  year's  crop,  which  until  that  time    is
forbidden  as  "chadash."   And  teruma  is   also  called
"avoda"  -  like  omer  which is a true  Temple   offering
(Pesachim 72b).

     Now, one of the things which characterizes teruma is
that  it  must be brought from the best part of the  crop
(see  Mishna Terumot 2:4).  We would likewise expect that
the  omer,  which  makes ALL grains of the  wheat  family
permissible, should come from the choicest grain - namely
wheat.   But  this is not so - actually, the  omer  comes
from  barley, which is generally animal food and  (except
for  the  offering of the sota and the  omer  itself)  is
never  permitted for Temple offerings!  What can we learn
from this commandment?

      There are many fine punctilious Jews whom we  could
characterize as "shtei ha-lechem" Jews.  Every aspect  of
God's service must always be "le-khatchila," in the  best
possible  way. Any other kind of service has no value  in
their  eyes.  According to this approach, we would  never
dare bring mere barley as a Temple offering.

      Yet  what can we do - "first" means not only "best"
but  also the temporal first, and barley just happens  to
ripen months before wheat.  In commanding the bringing of
the  omer, the Torah seems to be telling us: Don't  be  a
"shtei  ha-lechem Jew."  Of course, God's service demands
the   best,  but  the  best  is  determined  in   practice
according to what is possible and practical.  If the only
grain  available at Pesach is barley, then by  all  means
bring barley to the altar!

      But does this mean that we should be "omer Jews"   -
settling  for  second best, reconciling  ourselves  to  a
bedi'avad  situation?   The Torah  rejects  this  extreme
also.   We  ARE  allowed, and even  commanded,  to   bring
barley  -  on  the  condition that we  IMMEDIATELY  begin
counting the days towards the time when we will  be  able
to  fulfill the mitzva of bringing the new grain crop  to
the  Temple in its fullest glory - the "first fruits"  of
the  wheat  crop  represented by the two  loaves.   God's
forbearance  towards us should never  be  an  excuse  for
indolence.

THE "SHAVUOT JEW" AND THE "PESACH JEW"

       Of   course,  the  offerings   stand  in  a  direct
relationship  to  the  holidays themselves:  Pesach,  the
holiday of redemption, and Shavuot, the holiday of Torah.
The  "shtei  ha-lechem Jew" also tends to be  a   "Shavuot
Jew"  -  he  sees the relationship of God to  the  Jewish
people only through the prism of the giving of the Torah.

Our connection to God is mediated through the performance of  the commandments, which we received at Mount Sinai on Shavuot.   Judaism conceived in any other   terms  has  no value in his eyes.

      Yet,  the Torah gives us another holiday -   Pesach,
commemorating  our redemption from Egypt  solely  on  the
basis  of our family identity - the fact that we are  the
progeny of the Patriarchs, to whom God promised the  land
of  Israel.  Were not the Jews at the time of the  Exodus
almost  indistinguishable from their Egyptian  neighbors,
sunken  in  forty-nine gates of impurity?  Even  so,  God
saved them amidst wonders and signs!

      Does  this then mean that we should become   "Pesach
Jews"  -  seeing the special nature of the Jewish  people
solely  in  terms of our national identity, our Israelite
birthright, without regard to keeping the Torah?   Again,
the Torah rejects this extreme too.  God DID save us from
Egypt  despite  our  lowly  spiritual  status  -  on   the
condition  that we IMMEDIATELY start counting  the  days,
climbing  the  ladder, towards the PROPER status  of  the
Jewish people - the receiving and the performance of  the
Torah!

WHAT DID THE BAT KOL TEACH RAV SHIMON?

      Now,  we  can  better understand  what   Rav  Shimon
learned  from  the Bat Kol.  As they left the  cave,  Rav
Shimon  bar  Yochai  and  his son  were  "Shavuot   Jews."
Anything  less  than total devotion to  Torah  study  was
unacceptable  to them - to the extent that even  innocent
activities  like  plowing and sowing  seemed  to  them  a
horrible neglect of God's service.  They were rebuked for
this, and went back into the cave.

      Yet,  Rav Shimon bar Yochai and Rav Elazar did   not
make   the  mistake  of  becoming  "Pesach   Jews."   They
internalized  the  message of the Bat Kol  and  became  -
"Sefirat  Ha-omer Jews!"  There IS a place  for  ordinary
Jews,  engaging  in  the study and performance  of  Torah
according  to  their  mundane  level.   But  these    Jews
themselves  draw  spiritual sustenance from  their  inner
connection  to  the supremely righteous, to  whose  level
they can compare themselves and aspire.

      Therefore, the fire surrounding Rav Shimon's  house
WAS  appropriate: not everybody has to be totally devoted
to  Torah  study, but there is a need for the fire  which
delineates those chosen few who are able to maintain this
level.   And  the  gemara's ruling  regarding  prayer   IS
appropriate: MANY acted according to Rav Shimon and  were unsuccessful,  but there need to be a FEW  who  act  this way,  who  will   achieve great spiritual heights  through
their utter devotion to Torah.

      How  appropriate  it is that the   "hilula"  of  Rav
Shimon bar Yochai comes during the period of the counting
of  the omer!  This period symbolizes that our mandate to
perform the commandments and to maintain our identity  as
God's  special people according to what is  possible  and
practical  is made acceptable by our striving for  ascent
and our connection to those stubborn few who are able  to
conceive  of our connection to Torah and to the Holy  One
in rarefied, idealized terms.

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