Dvar Torah for Lag B'Omer

Based on Likutey Halakhot, Hekhsher Keilim 4:4

The 33rd day of the Omer-count (LaG B'Omer), which this year is Monday night and Tuesday, is the anniversary of Rebbe Shimon bar Yochai's passing. Rather than being a day of mourning, as one might think, it is a day of great joy. Reb Noson addresses this point in the following (long) selection from his Likutey Halakhot:

"Lag B'Omer is an aspect of 'greater are tzaddikim [saints] in their death than in their life.' The great tzaddik toils his entire life to bring the Jewish people back to their Father in Heaven. However, Satan incites the Jewish people to sin, especially in this period of history, at the end of this excruciatingly long exile. He causes them to sin more and more.

"But the tzaddik maintains his position at the battlefront. He keeps on perfecting himself, rising from level to level. The more he recognizes God's greatness, the more he channels into the world God's kindness and compassion. This enables the tzaddik to set aright even the greatest faults that people have and damage they have done.

"The reason why the tzaddik's perception of God's greatness allows him to perform such acts of kindness and compassion, is because God's greatness and His kindness are identical. As is known from Kabbalah, when the word "greatness" is used in reference to God, it refers to His compassion and kindness.

"But because of our many sins, Satan is so powerful and so overpowering that the tzaddik must reach a level - an awareness of God - that is simply impossible to reach while he is alive! Therefore, he must pass on and rise to the necessary level, all the while struggling on our behalf until he completes the job he started when he was alive, no matter what.

"This is the aspect of the verse, 'The tzaddik is gone, but no one takes notice! Men of kindness are gathered [to their eternal home], and no one understands why. It is because of evil' (Isaiah 57:1). The main reason the tzaddik dies is because of the sins of the generation. People are so destructive that it is impossible to correct their souls without passing away. However, in death the tzaddik can correct the soul of any individual who undertakes to follow his instruction, the teachings he left behind in his works and in his kosher students. Even though his students are on a much lower spiritual level than he, nonetheless his 'upper spirit' shines through them. [Editor's note - The Holy Zohar (1:59b) teaches that each tzaddik has an 'upper spirit' and a 'lower spirit.'] In particular, the light of the 'upper spirit' that appeared in the world at the time of the tzaddik's passing never ceases to shine.

"This is the reason for the great rejoicing on the anniversary of Rebbe Shimon bar Yochai's passing. At first blush it seems more appropriate to cry bitterly on such a day, in fact it is customary to rejoice greatly. We rejoice because of the holy teachings - the Holy Zohar by means of which we will leave this exile (Zohar 3:124b) - that he left behind. The main reason for our continued existence is the merit of the tzaddikim that have passed on. As the Holy Zohar teaches, 'If not for the prayers that the departed tzaddikim offer on behalf of the living, the world would not exist' (ibid. 70b).

"Even Moshe Rabbeinu (Moses our Teacher), when he prayed to save the Jewish people, invoked the merit of the Patriarchs (Exodus 32:13). A critical element in the Exodus from Egypt was the presence of the skeleton of Yosef HaTzaddik (ibid. 13:19; see Sotah 13a). At the end of the exile the forces of Evil are going all out - Pharaoh is stubbornly refusing to free us (Exodus 13:15) - such that it is impossible to overcome them without the strength of the tzaddikim who have passed on, who penetrate further into the Infinity, effecting salvation that they could not when they were alive. Now, at the end of this excruciatingly long and bitter exile, we have none to rely on, save Our Father in Heaven, and the merit and strength of the genuine tzaddikim who have passed away."

As the song says:

He knew all the secrets
his words bear fruit
he prevented many a disaster
bar Yoachai, our master.

May we be worthy of properly studying and understanding his teachings.Amen!

agutn Shabbos!
Shabbat Shalom!