Rebbi Shimon bar Yochai immersed in the סתרי תורה. There are two figures to whom the Jewish people go en masse – Rebbi Shimon bar Yochai and Rachel Imeinu. Why is it about these two? The answer to this can help understand the meaning of Lag BaOmer and the pilgrimage to Meiron. How do we […]

Why did the 24,000 students of Rebbi Akiva specifically stop dying on Lag BaOmer? Why do we recite Tehillim 67 after counting the Omer? Why is the verse “יודוך עמים אלקים יודוך אלקים כולם” repeated? Why is the number five associated with gratitude? (Rav Yosef Engel brings nine examples) What is the connection between Lag […]

The Tur writes that we celebrate Lag BaOmer because that is the day the students of Rebbe Akiva stopped dying. Why is that a reason to celebrate – they stopped dying because there were none left! Why don’t we make a shehechiyanu on Sefirat HaOmer? Why does the Torah mention Shabbos and the Omer in […]

A generation will arise and live … Hundreds of thousands of people. Countless buses. It’s Lag B’omer. And seemingly endless throngs of every kind of Jew in the world make their way to Meron. Why? The Soul of Torah P’nimiut haTorah, the inner dimension of Torah, is, as it’s name implies, the soul of the […]

Rebbi Shimon Bar Yochai: The difference between the man who entered the cave and the man who left the cave. Delivered at the OU Israel Center, May 3rd, 2018 (18 Iyyar 5778)

The Maharal explains the connection between Sefirat HaOmer, the preparation for Matan Torah and Shavuot and the sin of Rebbe Akiva’s students. Throughout the Mishna and Gemara Rebbe Akiva is always portrayed as an optimist. What was it that enabled him to be an optimist? It was his deep Ahavat Hashem. This optimism is what […]

Rebbi Akiva’s students represented the continuation of the Torah after the churban. Since they were not fully qualified because of their behavior, the Torah transmitted through them to all future generations would have been imperfect. This is why they passed away prior to the holiday of Matan Torah. The connection between the joy of Tu […]

The Rambam emphasizes that if you didn’t say the bracha on Sefirat HaOmer you don’t need to repeat sefirah with a bracha. Rav Moshe Shapiro asks in אפיקי מים: Of course – a bracha is never מעכב? The Machzor Vitry rules that if you counted without a bracha you can repeat sefirah with a bracha. […]

ויבאו בני ישראל בתוך הים ביבשה והמים להם חומה מימינם ומשמאלם” – שמות יד:כב” ובני ישראל הלכו ביבשה בתוך הים והמים להם חמה מימינם ומשמאלם” – שמות יד:כט” Why does the Torah virtually repeat the pasuk with minor differences? Did they go into the sea which then turned into dry land or did they walk […]