Sunday, May 29, 2005
Sparks From Israel
The Fires of Lag B’Omer
Lag B’Omer is a night where great bonfires dot the landscape. As I stood next to the largest bonfire I have ever seen it was as if I discovered fire for the first time. Huge streams of fire where rushing up into heaven and disappearing into sparks as they were swallowed by the night. Water also flows in streams downward to the sea, and is swallowed by the sand. The stream of water is constant and water makes up most of our being. Fire is unusual and man-made, but a large fire, has a current and flows like a raging sea upward and then just like the sea, it disappears into the air, as if it was never there.
The first fire they say was made by Adam after Shabbat, and this is one of the reasons we light the Havdalah candle. The ability to make fire is one of the things that distinguish man as Gods emissary here on earth. The soul of man is also like fire and we light yortzeit candles to commemorate the neshama, and invite the spirit to fill the room once again with their light. Our history is made up of great souls that reached for heaven like fire and brought heaven down to us like rain. The temple was destroyed with fire, and they say it will also be rebuilt with fire. But how does one rebuild with fire?
Just as there are currents in the sea that appear to have a form there are currents of time that are real and then swallowed by eternity. But the current of the sea brings something to the shore, as the current of fire brings something to light in the world. The wave of Jews that fill the kever of Rabbi Shimon Bar Yochai is a sea of elbows and arms that lifts you and carries you like a current that you are helpless to fight against. Inside, the current swells in circles as Jews lose their identity and become a bonfire reaching towards heaven in song. Each face is one face and the ‘one’ face has a multitude of variations.
Who was Rabbi Shimon bar Yochai and why does this sea of fire continue to burn and to grow? He was the author of the mystical Zohar. But why was he the man to receive this most mystical book from Hashem’s secret library? Was he a man who sat in a study hall contemplating the universe? It seems that he was, but also much more than that. He was also a rebel, who like his teacher Rabbi Akiva, was not afraid of the authorities, but only of the higher authority of G-d. He, like his teacher, was engaged in the physical battle against the anti-Israel forces and the spiritual battle to bring the Melech Moshiach. He became a legend for evading the forces that tried unsuccessfully to put out his fire.
My friend Yecheskel pointed out that we can see how even a modern day cave dweller has become a legend among his people for humiliated his American captors by constantly eluding them. Shimon Bar Yochai became a legend for the Israelites by eluding the Roman authorities and continuing to fight the revolution of the Moshiach that according to some opinions say succeeded on the 33rd of the Omer, the same day of his yorzeit.
The same commentators say that the 24,000 students of Rabbi Akiva died not by a plague, but in this war similar to the Macabees, who fought against forces a thousand times greater than themselves, and won. Although the victory was short lived, the battle continues, even into our own times.
Meron was not only lit with bright orange fires, but also with bright orange t-shirts, the symbol of Gush Katif. The battle for the Land of Israel is a battle for the soul of Israel, and throughout history, the battle always has had the same odds, a thousand to one. But our ‘One’ cannot be defeated, only refined.
The deepest mysteries of the Zohar are only given to those who build a fire inside for Hashem, His people, and His Land. Without all three, the fire doesn’t reach high enough. When it does, he may be entitled to a library card from Hashem’s secret library. The currents of time have brought the building materials to the shore, and the fire that needs to be kindled is increasing. It is the fire of sacrifice and devotion and love. This is the fire that will be kindled one day soon in the Beit Hamigdash.
The Fires of Lag B’Omer
Lag B’Omer is a night where great bonfires dot the landscape. As I stood next to the largest bonfire I have ever seen it was as if I discovered fire for the first time. Huge streams of fire where rushing up into heaven and disappearing into sparks as they were swallowed by the night. Water also flows in streams downward to the sea, and is swallowed by the sand. The stream of water is constant and water makes up most of our being. Fire is unusual and man-made, but a large fire, has a current and flows like a raging sea upward and then just like the sea, it disappears into the air, as if it was never there.
The first fire they say was made by Adam after Shabbat, and this is one of the reasons we light the Havdalah candle. The ability to make fire is one of the things that distinguish man as Gods emissary here on earth. The soul of man is also like fire and we light yortzeit candles to commemorate the neshama, and invite the spirit to fill the room once again with their light. Our history is made up of great souls that reached for heaven like fire and brought heaven down to us like rain. The temple was destroyed with fire, and they say it will also be rebuilt with fire. But how does one rebuild with fire?
Just as there are currents in the sea that appear to have a form there are currents of time that are real and then swallowed by eternity. But the current of the sea brings something to the shore, as the current of fire brings something to light in the world. The wave of Jews that fill the kever of Rabbi Shimon Bar Yochai is a sea of elbows and arms that lifts you and carries you like a current that you are helpless to fight against. Inside, the current swells in circles as Jews lose their identity and become a bonfire reaching towards heaven in song. Each face is one face and the ‘one’ face has a multitude of variations.
Who was Rabbi Shimon bar Yochai and why does this sea of fire continue to burn and to grow? He was the author of the mystical Zohar. But why was he the man to receive this most mystical book from Hashem’s secret library? Was he a man who sat in a study hall contemplating the universe? It seems that he was, but also much more than that. He was also a rebel, who like his teacher Rabbi Akiva, was not afraid of the authorities, but only of the higher authority of G-d. He, like his teacher, was engaged in the physical battle against the anti-Israel forces and the spiritual battle to bring the Melech Moshiach. He became a legend for evading the forces that tried unsuccessfully to put out his fire.
My friend Yecheskel pointed out that we can see how even a modern day cave dweller has become a legend among his people for humiliated his American captors by constantly eluding them. Shimon Bar Yochai became a legend for the Israelites by eluding the Roman authorities and continuing to fight the revolution of the Moshiach that according to some opinions say succeeded on the 33rd of the Omer, the same day of his yorzeit.
The same commentators say that the 24,000 students of Rabbi Akiva died not by a plague, but in this war similar to the Macabees, who fought against forces a thousand times greater than themselves, and won. Although the victory was short lived, the battle continues, even into our own times.
Meron was not only lit with bright orange fires, but also with bright orange t-shirts, the symbol of Gush Katif. The battle for the Land of Israel is a battle for the soul of Israel, and throughout history, the battle always has had the same odds, a thousand to one. But our ‘One’ cannot be defeated, only refined.
The deepest mysteries of the Zohar are only given to those who build a fire inside for Hashem, His people, and His Land. Without all three, the fire doesn’t reach high enough. When it does, he may be entitled to a library card from Hashem’s secret library. The currents of time have brought the building materials to the shore, and the fire that needs to be kindled is increasing. It is the fire of sacrifice and devotion and love. This is the fire that will be kindled one day soon in the Beit Hamigdash.
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