Lag BaOmer and Parashat Behar
May 18, 2022
Geri Bloch, High School English Teacher
Shavuot, with its late-night study sessions and slices of creamy cheesecake, is nearly upon us. Though the Omer is a bittersweet time, it is a time for reflection, a time for reconnecting with our inner qualities, and a time to think about social justice. How do we relate to our families, our friends, our neighbors, our communities, and the strangers in our midst? Are we loving and respectful? Or have we become calloused, hard, closing the doors of our hearts? If you signed up to receive the daily notations and brachot for the Omer, you know that each night there is a different set of sefirot, attributes of God: Chesed (lovingkindness), Gevurah (discipline), Tiferet (compassion), Netzach (endurance), Hod (humility), Yesod (bonding), and Malchut (nobility). There are ten sefirot, but these seven, the “lower sefirot,” are the ones on which we must work to prepare ourselves to receive the Torah on Shavuot. Parashat Behar, which falls two days after Lag BaOmer this year, helps us to keep our focus on that preparation.
The parashah begins on Mount Sinai with God’s instructions to Moses about a sabbatical year for the land, that in the seventh year of agricultural production, the land must lie fallow: no sowing of seed or pruning of a vineyard. The land must have a complete rest, but “[people] may eat whatever the land during its sabbath will produce – you, your male and female slaves, the hired and bound laborers who live with you, and your cattle and the beasts in your land may eat all its yield.” In the 50th year, there will be a Jubilee: “It shall be holy to you: you may only eat the growth direct from the field.” God teaches that man must be a steward of the land, but he must also take care of all the people in his community. The parashah continues to discuss how man must offer freedom to his slaves, return land to its original owners, release debts, and in general, deal ethically with those in his kehilah.
Looking at the sefirot, we note that, in essence, Parashat Behar demonstrates how to attain “the image of God” in which each man was created and the holiness God desires by employing the attributes of God to work on our inner qualities. Indeed, Rabbi Jonathan Sacks z”l has said that Parashat Behar is a “revolutionary template for a society of justice, freedom, and human dignity.”
Yet, on the 33rd day of the Omer, on Lag BaOmer, tradition has us stop and celebrate. We are to go out in nature and revel in God’s natural world. We can sing and dance and even have weddings. We can cut our hair and trim our beards. Why is this so?
Jewish history tells us that between Pesach and Shavuot, a plague decimated the students at Rabbi Akiva’s academy “because they did not act respectfully toward each other.” On the 33rd day of the Omer, the plague ceased. Rabbi Akiva lived during the time of the Roman Emperor Hadrian, who closed the Talmudic academies. Akiva was unafraid and continued to teach. Within Rabbi Akiva’s story is that of Rabbi Shimon Bar Yochai, known as Rashbi, who was Rabbi Akiva’s student at the academy in Bnei Brak. Rashbi stayed by Rabbi Akiva’s side until Rabbi Akiva was arrested by the Roman authorities. Akiva was tortured and died a martyr’s death. Rashbi and his son, Elazar ultimately fled from the Romans and lived in a cave for 12 years. They only left the cave when Elijah the Prophet went to the cave and revealed that the Roman government had changed. Rashbi was active after the destruction of the Second Temple in 70 CE; he is credited with writing the Zohar, among other things. It is Rashbi who put his ideas about the mystical underpinnings of Torah into “book” form. While on Lag BaOmer we celebrate the end of the plague that killed Rabbi Akiva’s students, we also celebrate Rashbi’s life and the “revelation of the esoteric soul of Torah.”
This year, we can easily see the link between Parashat Behar and Lag BaOmer. The parashah begins with the ethical treatment of the land and then progresses to the ethical treatment of human beings, regardless of their social status. Rabbi Akiva’s students, from all accounts, had not learned the Torah’s lessons about respecting each other. If the number of those who died is 24,000, that disrespect can obviously afflict more than a few communities. Rashbi is to be celebrated on Lag BaOmer for adding much to Torah study through his use of the sefirot, which adds a spiritual dimension to the concrete rules and regulations set down by God. As we work on our inner selves, let us remember Rabbi Akiva and Rabbi Shimon Bar Yochai. Let each of us bring light into the world through the study of Torah, productive work, and acts of lovingkindness.
Looking at the sefirot, we note that, in essence, Parashat Behar demonstrates how to attain “the image of God” in which each man was created and the holiness God desires by employing the attributes of God to work on our inner qualities. Indeed, Rabbi Jonathan Sacks z”l has said that Parashat Behar is a “revolutionary template for a society of justice, freedom, and human dignity.”
Yet, on the 33rd day of the Omer, on Lag BaOmer, tradition has us stop and celebrate. We are to go out in nature and revel in God’s natural world. We can sing and dance and even have weddings. We can cut our hair and trim our beards. Why is this so?
Jewish history tells us that between Pesach and Shavuot, a plague decimated the students at Rabbi Akiva’s academy “because they did not act respectfully toward each other.” On the 33rd day of the Omer, the plague ceased. Rabbi Akiva lived during the time of the Roman Emperor Hadrian, who closed the Talmudic academies. Akiva was unafraid and continued to teach. Within Rabbi Akiva’s story is that of Rabbi Shimon Bar Yochai, known as Rashbi, who was Rabbi Akiva’s student at the academy in Bnei Brak. Rashbi stayed by Rabbi Akiva’s side until Rabbi Akiva was arrested by the Roman authorities. Akiva was tortured and died a martyr’s death. Rashbi and his son, Elazar ultimately fled from the Romans and lived in a cave for 12 years. They only left the cave when Elijah the Prophet went to the cave and revealed that the Roman government had changed. Rashbi was active after the destruction of the Second Temple in 70 CE; he is credited with writing the Zohar, among other things. It is Rashbi who put his ideas about the mystical underpinnings of Torah into “book” form. While on Lag BaOmer we celebrate the end of the plague that killed Rabbi Akiva’s students, we also celebrate Rashbi’s life and the “revelation of the esoteric soul of Torah.”
This year, we can easily see the link between Parashat Behar and Lag BaOmer. The parashah begins with the ethical treatment of the land and then progresses to the ethical treatment of human beings, regardless of their social status. Rabbi Akiva’s students, from all accounts, had not learned the Torah’s lessons about respecting each other. If the number of those who died is 24,000, that disrespect can obviously afflict more than a few communities. Rashbi is to be celebrated on Lag BaOmer for adding much to Torah study through his use of the sefirot, which adds a spiritual dimension to the concrete rules and regulations set down by God. As we work on our inner selves, let us remember Rabbi Akiva and Rabbi Shimon Bar Yochai. Let each of us bring light into the world through the study of Torah, productive work, and acts of lovingkindness.
Shabbat Shalom