1.
Before Rabbi Shimon bar Yochai was his great teacher Rabbi Akiva ben Yosef. At a certain moment in history, the Oral Law, both the revealed part of the Torah, along with Torat haSod, the Secret Torah, passed through him. Of the four sages who entered the PARDES, the secret orchard (unio-mysticism), Rabbi Akiva was the only one who entered in peace and left in peace.
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Rabbi Akiva is directly connected to Lag BaOmer because he was the main ideologist of the Bar Kokhba revolt that broke out in 132 CE. He saw in Bar Kokhba – also known as Simon bar Koseba – the "Messiah," and he marked the Halacha for future generations, stating that the Messiah is not a mystic or a performer of miracles, but a political leader anointed with oil to lead the people to independence and liberation from the yoke of Roman rule.
2.
The mourning customs during the counting of the Omer are not mentioned in the Talmud or during the era of the Geonim (the presidents of the Babylonian Talmudic academies). They entered Jewish tradition about a thousand years ago in response to the devastating destruction of Jewish communities during the First Crusade in 4856 (1096), as the major pogroms occurred during the days of the Omer. In addition, the Talmud notes that during the period of the Omer thousands of Rabbi Akiva's disciples died "because they did not act respectfully toward one another."
The Talmud was likely using coded language to convey that the disciples participated in military guerrilla actions. Rabbi Moshe Zvi Neriah explained that during times of war, "respect is not observed" within the regular social hierarchy; what takes precedence is the military command hierarchy. The rebellion was considered a "commanded war" (milchemet mitzvah) and Rabbi Akiva sent his disciples to fight for our independence, and in that war, they died a heroic death.
3.
The flames rising from the bonfires on Lag BaOmer are the flames of rebellion ignited by Rabbi Akiva, Bar Kokhba, and his fight for the independence of the People of Israel in their land. The rebellion initially succeeded, to the extent that a complete Roman legion was wiped out, and Bar Kokhba declared independence in parts of the Land of Israel. The Romans sent additional legions and reinforcements, and in 135 CE, they ruthlessly crushed the rebellion. The destruction of the Land during this period was even greater than in 70 CE. Rabbi Akiva himself was captured, executed, and with him, the backbone of the leadership of the nation. The anger of Emperor Hadrian was so great that he ordered the erasure of the name "Judea" from the records and replaced it with "Syria-Palaestina." He believed that within a generation or two, the Jews would forget their land and cease striving for independence.
4.
It was against this above-described historical backdrop that Rabbi Shimon bar Yochai fled to a cave. Zion was in mourning, sovereignty was lost, and the national idea fell into slumber. It was time for introspection and revitalization of the spirit. When the national body disintegrates, the spirit becomes the prerogative of the select few who delve into the esoteric layers of ancient texts, seeking profound interpretations for the harsh reality, for existence in personal and national exile. Now, from the ruins, emerged blossoms of daring, internal thought, which engaged in dialogue not only with philosophy and theology but even with mythology, in a different path from the study of the known texts.
While the institutions of the Jewish kingdom collapsed externally, internally the institutions of the divine kingdom were formed, and it was in these institutions that the Jewish people sheltered during this period of slumber. The Jewish people functioned as a "dead-alive" body: a hybrid unknown in history; a people without a land, scattered among thousands of communities worldwide; their lives were organized from birth to death through Hebrew law and Halacha, and their rituals preserved the hope that one day they would return to Zion. Amid the depths of this reality, a select few focused on dreams of personal and national redemption. Thus, they hoped, the spirit would be redeemed and resurrected.
5.
It is impossible to describe the modern era in our history – the Haskalah movement (the Jewish Enlightenment), Zionism, and the establishment of the state – without the constant engagement with the inner spiritual realm, the profound layers of Hebrew, the mythology of Halacha, the dreams of sovereignty, and the wanderings of the mystics, the spiritual nomads who forged a path out of worlds that seemed formless and idolatrous at the same time. To this, we must add attitudes towards "messianism," which at times was viewed with reverence and at times with fear of the irrational. Even the rebellion against religion – including the secular revolution – utilized daring modes of thought that were developed in that hidden realm of religious thinking.
On Lag BaOmer, we too ignite this inner fire, and both – the fires of independence and political sovereignty, together with the fires of creation of the outer and internal spirit – warm our hopes.
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