The Omer is a time of semi-mourning, when weddings and other celebrations are forbidden, and as a sign of grief, observant Jews do not cut their hair. Anthropologists say that many peoples have similar periods of restraint in the early spring to symbolize their concerns about the growth of their crops. But the most often cited explanation for the Jewish practice comes from the Talmud, which tells us that during this season a plague killed thousands of Rabbi Akiva‘s students because they did not treat one another respectfully. The mourning behavior is presumably in memory of those students and their severe punishment.
According to a medieval tradition, the plague ceased on Lag B’omer, the 33rd day of the Omer. (The Hebrew letters lamed and gimel which make up the acronym “Lag” have the combined numerical value of 33.) As a result, Lag B’omer became a happy day, interrupting the sadness of the Omer period for 24 hours.
Rabbi Akiva and the Bar Kochba Rebellion
The Talmudic explanation makes most sense when put into historical context. The outstanding sage Rabbi Akiva became an ardent supporter of Simeon bar Koseva, known as Bar Kochba, who in 132 C.E. led a ferocious but unsuccessful revolt against Roman rule in Judea. Akiva not only pinned his hopes on a political victory over Rome but believed Bar Kochba to be the long-awaited Messiah. Many of his students joined him in backing the revolt and were killed along with thousands of Judeans when it failed. The Talmudic rabbis, still suffering under Roman rule and cautious about referring openly to past rebellions, may have been hinting at those deaths when they spoke of a plague among Akiva’s students. Possibly, also, Lag B’omer marked a respite from battle, or a momentary victory.
A completely different reason for the holiday concerns one of Rabbi Akiva’s few disciples who survived the Bar Kochba revolt, Rabbi Simeon bar Yohai. He is said to have died on Lag B’omer.
Rabbi Simeon continued to defy the Roman rulers even after Bar Kochba’s defeat, and was forced to flee for his life and spend years in solitary hiding. Legend places him and his son Eleazar in a cave for 12 years, where a miraculous well and carob tree sustained them while they spent their days studying and praying. When they finally emerged, Simeon denigrated all practical occupations, insisting that people engage only in the study of Torah . For this God confined the two to their cave for another year, accusing Simeon of destroying the world with his rigid asceticism.
But Rabbi Simeon’s otherworldliness resonated with mystics in his own time and later, so much so that tradition ascribes to him the Zohar, the key work of the Kabbalah (although critical scholars attribute it to the 13th-century Spanish kabbalist Moses de Leon). And in Israel, on Lag B’omer, people flock to the site of his tomb in the village of Meron in the Galilee, near Safed, where they light bonfires and sing kabbalistic hymns. Hasidic Jews follow the custom of bringing their 3-year-old sons to Meron to have their hair cut for the first time. (The custom of not cutting the child’s hair until his third birthday, when it is done in a ceremony called an upsheren, is probably an extension of the law that forbids picking the fruits of a newly planted tree during its first three years.)
אמרו שנים עשר אלף זוגים תלמידים היו לו לרבי עקיבא מגבת עד אנטיפרס וכולן מתו בפרק אחד מפני שלא נהגו כבוד זה לזה והיה העולם שמם עד שבא ר"ע אצל רבותינו שבדרום ושנאה להם ר"מ ור' יהודה ור' יוסי ורבי שמעון ורבי אלעזר בן שמוע והם הם העמידו תורה אותה שעה תנא כולם מתו מפסח ועד עצרת אמר רב חמא בר אבא ואיתימא ר' חייא בר אבין כולם מתו מיתה רעה מאי היא א"ר נחמן אסכרה
They said by way of example that Rabbi Akiva had twelve thousand pairs of students in an area of land that stretched from Gevat to Antipatris in Judea, and they all died in one period of time, because they did not treat each other with respect. And the world was desolate of Torah until Rabbi Akiva came to our Rabbis in the South and taught his Torah to them. This second group of disciples consisted of Rabbi Meir, Rabbi Yehuda, Rabbi Yosei, Rabbi Shimon, and Rabbi Elazar ben Shamua. And these are the very ones who upheld the study of Torah at that time. Although Rabbi Akiva’s earlier students did not survive, his later disciples were able to transmit the Torah to future generations. With regard to the twelve thousand pairs of Rabbi Akiva’s students, the Gemara adds: It is taught that all of them died in the period from Passover until Shavuot. Rav Ḥama bar Abba said, and some say it was Rabbi Ḥiyya bar Avin: They all died a bad death. The Gemara inquires: What is it that is called a bad death? Rav Naḥman said: Diphtheria.
Questions:
In most times, the idea of 24,000 people dying of a disease between Passover and Shavuot seems unlikely. And yet, in the US, we've had more than double that number of deaths in the US.
How does this moment in history inform the way we read the Talmudic text?
How can we read, "They did not treat each other with respect"? Can we read this in a way other than God was punishing them?
How does this Talmudic text teach us about our own time?
(א) נוֹהֲגִים שֶׁלֹּא לִשָּׂא אִשָּׁה בֵּין פֶּסַח לַעֲצֶרֶת עַד ל''ג לָעֹמֶר, מִפְּנֵי שֶׁבְּאוֹתוֹ זְמַן מֵתוּ תַּלְמִידֵי רַבִּי עֲקִיבָא; אֲבָל לְאָרֵס וּלְקַדֵּשׁ, שַׁפִּיר דָּמִי, וְנִשּׂוּאִין נָמֵי, מִי שֶׁקָּפַץ וְכָנַס אֵין עוֹנְשִׁין אוֹתוֹ. הַגָּה: מִיהוּ מִלַּ''ג בָּעֹמֶר וָאֵילָךְ הַכֹּל שָׁרֵי (אַבּוּדַרְהַם וּבֵית יוֹסֵף וּמִנְהָגִים).
(ב) נוֹהֲגִים שֶׁלֹּא לְהִסְתַּפֵּר עַד ל''ג לָעֹמֶר, שֶׁאוֹמְרִים שֶׁאָז פָּסְקוּ מִלָּמוּת, וְאֵין לְהִסְתַּפֵּר עַד יוֹם ל''ד בַּבֹּקֶר אֶלָּא אִם כֵּן חָל יוֹם ל''ג עֶרֶב שַׁבָּת שֶׁאָז מִסְתַּפְּרִין בּוֹ מִפְּנֵי כְּבוֹד הַשַּׁבָּת. הַגָּה: וּבִמְדִינוֹת אֵלּוּ אֵין נוֹהֲגִין כִּדְבָרָיו, אֶלָּא מִסְתַּפְּרִין בְּיוֹם ל''ג וּמַרְבִּים בּוֹ קְצָת שִׂמְחָה וְאֵין אוֹמְרִים בּוֹ תַּחֲנוּן (מַהֲרִי''ל וּמִנְהָגִים). וְאֵין לְהִסְתַּפֵּר עַד ל''ג בְּעַצְמוֹ וְלֹא מִבָּעֶרֶב (מַהֲרִי''ל). מִיהוּ אִם חָל בְּיוֹם רִאשׁוֹן, נוֹהֲגִין לְהִסְתַּפֵּר בְּיוֹם ו' לִכְבוֹד שַׁבָּת (מַהֲרִי''וּ). מִי שֶׁהוּא בַּעַל בְּרִית אוֹ מָל בְּנוֹ, מֻתָּר לְהִסְתַּפֵּר בַּסְּפִירָה לִכְבוֹד הַמִּילָה. (הַגָּהוֹת מִנְהָגִים).
(1) It is customary not to get married between Pesach and Shavuot, until Lag BaOmer (the 33rd day), because during that time, the students of Rabbi Akiva died. But to get engaged is allowed. And if someone does marry, we do not punish them. And after Lag Ba'Omer onwards, all this is permitted.
(2) It is customary not to cut one's hair until Lag BaOmer, because that is when the students stopped dying. One should not cut one's hair until the 34th day, in the morning, unless the 33rd day falls on Friday, in which case one may cut one's hair then, to honor the Sabbath. GLOSS: But in these countries, we do not follow the custom he advocates; rather, we cut our hair from the day of the 33rd, and we rejoice a bit, and we do not say Tachanun. And one should only cut one's hair on the 33rd day itself, but not on the night before. However, if the 33rd falls on Sunday, our custom is to cut our hair on the Friday before to honor the Sabbath. Someone who is celebrating a brit milah may to cut their hair during the sefirah (counting) in honor of the circumcision.
What do you think about this text in relation to current events?