The holiness of Lag
BaOmer
Transcribed
and translated from previous recordings of
HaRav
Eliezer Berland Shlit”a
On the yahrtzeit of Rebbe Shimon Bar Yochai fire comes down from Heaven. 33
days after the Seder night, after Pesach, we merit a tremendous, awesome
occurrence; the revelation of the Shechina (Divine Providence), fiery
revelation. All of the mountains surrounding the gravesite of Rashbi are ablaze.
When the Kohen Gadol would enter the Holy of Holies on Yom Kippur, even the Angels
and Seraphim would flee, they would get burnt from the fire [of holiness]. Likewise,
in the case of Rebbe Shimon Bar Yochai, who is the aspect of chesed I’la’ah (Supreme
Chessed), the aspect of the Kohen Gadol of all the generations from who’s fire all
the angels burn. No sooner would Rebbe Shimon open his mouth to speak words of
Torah than he would become surrounded with fire. Everything around him would
suddenly be set with fire (as is told in the Idra). If while he was alive
everything around him was burning with fire, you can only imagine how fierce
the fire around him has become since his passing, as it says, “Greater are the
righteous after they pass away than they were in their lifetime.”
Lag BaOmer is literally Yom Kippur; it is a day when all of our sins are
forgiven. It is truly like “Kol Nidrei”. Everything is forgiven. All the
judgments become sweetened, the highest and most glorious chassadim are
revealed on this day. On Lag BaOmer one can draw down all of the “mochin”,
all of the healing and salvations for the entire year. On this day every illnesses
can be healed; there is no type of healing that cannot be drawn down on this
day. This day can heal every type of Cancer. All who are barren can merit
having children, all who are single can merit finding their match. This is the
day of hataras nedarim, [lit. nullification of vows], everything is mitigated and everything is forgiven, all of the sins the
person has committed, the millions of aveiras that the person has done
from the day he was born until this holy day. Even the sins from all previous
generations are forgiven.
A person travels for three hours to Meron, gets pushed in the crowds
suffering between the thousands upon thousands of people; through this his sins
are all forgiven! All of his pgamei habris (flaws of the covenant), all
the sins he did throughout his entire life are now forgiven. This is the
meaning of what it says: “Chadi Rebbe Shimon”: Rebbe Shimon is delighted
when he sees hundreds of thousands of people, all of Am Yisrael, traveling to
his gravesite. Every year more and more people go. Truthfully, no one has any
idea what’s going on here, no one can understand it – the meaning behind this
trip to Meron. People don’t know why they are going, don’t know what they are
celebrating on Lag BaOmer, however “even though he doesn’t see his mazal sees”.
The whole country is celebrating and no one knows exactly why.
People must realize that the Tzaddik is the root of all souls, he is the “even
shtiyah” (the foundation rock from which the world was created); he is the
root of everyone, of every single soul. Every neshama is a tiny spark of the
Tzaddik. The spark of Rebbe Shimon can be found within every Jew; the soul of
Rashbi is found in every Jew. It is a neshama that includes all of Am Yisrael,
surrounds the entire world, embraces all of the worlds and all of the sefiros.
That is why everyone goes up to the gravesite of Rebbe Shimon, in order to be
included within the neshama that includes all of Am Yisrael.
Traveling to Rashbi must be done with messirus nefesh (self-sacrifice).
Rebbe Shimon calls to us: “Come to me, just travel for two-three hours and you’re
already with me!” All of the abundance in the world, all the blessings
in the world, prayer, Torah, holiness, everything a person needs, he can get it
all, just come! Travel! You must first travel! The Tzaddik is chai v’kayam
(alive and well). You are not traveling to see a human being! So travel with
fear and awe! When you travel by car or by bus for two to three hours, make
your journey with holy awe, with sefarim to learn from, with prayer and
hisbodedus. Don’t act silly, joke around and talk nonsense. Travel leShem
Shamayim (for the sake of Heaven) in order to be purified and become holy. Then
Rebbe Shimon will be able to draw down for you endless salvations, endless
holiness and purity. He can give you a new soul; nothing is limited for him. He
has no limitations and can give you everything you need and everything you
think. Whatever you want he’ll give you, just make sure you go with sincerity, with
a true sense of awe and holiness.
The “Beis Aharon” says that the highest level of all of the verses in
Psalms is “Tzamaa lecha nafshi, kamhah lecha besari” – my soul thirsts for You,
my flesh yearns for You. This means that even the body, the flesh, turns into soul.
Even the flesh ceases to feel materialism or earthly desires. It burns out of abundant
love for Hashem. This level of “my flesh yearns for you” can be attained
through Rebbe Shimon, through the fire of Rashbi, the fire that burns all
around him day and night, for RAShBi is the letters of “Besari” (flesh). When a
person comes to Rebbe Shimon with sincere intentions, dances whenever they are
dancing, he merits that his whole body (flesh), and all of his worldly desires
and connections burn away and he reaches the highest level of “My flesh yearns
for You.”
Whoever merits on Lag BaOmer traveling with sincerity to Rebbe Shimon Bar
Yochay, whoever weeps on Lag BaOmer (with repentance and joy), whoever dances
with sincerity on Lag BaOmer – doesn’t just stand off to the side daydreaming,
but rather dances wholeheartedly and believes that Rebbe Shimon is ‘chai v’kayam’
(alive and well)… He shouldn’t just travel because of peer pressure or just
because others are going, but because he truly believes that Rebbe Shimon is
alive. He should pray with great passion, dance with passion and not just stand
about on the side while everyone else is dancing, as the Rambam says that
whoever sees that everyone is dancing but he just stands on the side is a
complete fool and apikorus (heretic), for he does not believe in the power of
the Tzaddikim, he does not believe in the power of dancing. He doesn’t believe
that the Tzaddikim can mitaber (enter and indwell) in him, for on his
Yahrtzeit, Rebbe Shimon needs to come down even lower and enter the bodies of
all those that come to him. Through this he nullifies all of the harsh decrees.
So whoever goes to Rebbe Shimon with sincerity, with his head in the holy books,
in Tehillim, in Gemaras, etc. keeping himself together and strengthening his
heart, truly yearning for Rebbe Shimon – he will merit that Rebbe Shimon will
plant himself inside of him and through that he will merit all of the
salvations. And through this may we all merit the complete redemption, speedily
in our days, amen.
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