During the Omer, we remember the tragedy of the plague that struck down 24,000 students of Rabbi Akiva, one of the greatest sages of the Talmud. Rabbi Akiva was already an old man, but he had the courage to start again from the beginning. Lag Ba’omer is the day he restarted his yeshiva with just five students, and it was those five students who rekindled the fire of Torah and restored it to the Jewish people.
On Lag Ba’omer, the mourning of the Omer is put on hold as we celebrate Rabbi Akiva’s heroism, tenacity and strength in the face of adversity.
This power to rebound from a setback is learned from God Himself. The Talmud teaches that the mitzvah to “walk in the ways of God” means to emulate Him, specifically in terms of His compassion and kindness. Rav Yosef Dov Soloveitchik says that this includes the mitzvah of creation itself. Just as God created the world, we are also called upon to create the world; to nurture flourishing families and societies, to build institutions and infrastructure and make medical and technological advances that move the world forward.
Rav Soloveitchik refers to a Midrash which says that before this world was created, there were many other worlds that God created and subsequently destroyed, and then rebuilt again. From this Midrash, says Rav Soloveitchik, we learn that there is not only a mitzvah to create, but also a mitzvah to re-create after a period of destruction; to rebuild after setbacks. We do so on a personal level and we do so on a national level, drawing on God’s own example…
There are times when the road ahead is unclear, when we start to lose our way, when the difficulties we face as individuals, as communities and as humanity seem insurmountable.
Lag Ba’omer teaches us the great power we have to bounce back, to rebuild in the face of calamity, to create the world anew.
Rabbi Akiva did it then. We can do it now.
And Rabbi Ḥama, son of Rabbi Ḥanina, says: What is the meaning of that which is written: “After the Eternal your God shall you walk, and God shall you fear, and God's commandments shall you keep, and unto God's voice shall you hearken, and God shall you serve, and unto God shall you cleave” (Deuteronomy 13:5)? But is it actually possible for a person to follow the Divine Presence? But hasn’t it already been stated: “For the Eternal your God is a devouring fire” (Deuteronomy 4:24), and one cannot approach fire. He explains: Rather, one should follow the attributes of the Holy One, Blessed be God. Just as God clothes the naked, as it is written: “And the Eternal God made for Adam and for his wife garments of skin, and clothed them” (Genesis 3:21), so too, should you clothe the naked. Just as the Holy One, Blessed be God, visits the sick, as it is written, “And the Eternal appeared unto him by the terebinths of Mamre” (Genesis 18:1), so too, should you visit the sick. Just as the Holy One, Blessed be God, consoles mourners, as it is written: “And it came to pass after the death of Abraham, that God blessed Isaac his son” (Genesis 25:11), so too, should you console mourners. Just as the Holy One, Blessed be God, buried the dead, as it is written: “And he was buried in the valley in the land of Moab” (Deuteronomy 34:6), so too, should you bury the dead.
(ז) אָמַר רַבִּי יְהוּדָה בַּר סִימוֹן, יְהִי עֶרֶב אֵין כְּתִיב כָּאן, אֶלָּא וַיְהִי עֶרֶב, מִכָּאן שֶׁהָיָה סֵדֶר זְמַנִּים קֹדֶם לָכֵן. אָמַר רַבִּי אַבָּהוּ מְלַמֵּד שֶׁהָיָה בּוֹרֵא עוֹלָמוֹת וּמַחֲרִיבָן, עַד שֶׁבָּרָא אֶת אֵלּוּ, אָמַר דֵּין הַנְיָן לִי, יַתְהוֹן לָא הַנְיָן לִי. אָמַר רַבִּי פִּנְחָס טַעְמֵיהּ דְּרַבִּי אַבָּהוּ (בראשית א, לא): וַיַּרְא אֱלֹקִים אֶת כָּל אֲשֶׁר עָשָׂה וְהִנֵּה טוֹב מְאֹד, דֵּין הַנְיָין לִי יַתְהוֹן לָא הַנְיָין לִי.
(7) Rabbi Yehuda bar Simon said: “It will be evening” is not written here, but rather, “it was evening” – from here we learn that there had been an order to time even beforehand. Rabbi Abahu said: This teaches that God continuously created worlds and destroyed them, until God created the current one, and said: ‘This one pleases Me, those did not please Me.’ Rabbi Pinḥas said: The source for Rabbi Abahu is: “God saw everything that God had made, and behold, it was very good” (Genesis 1:31) – this pleases Me, those did not please Me.
...I am not sentimental
about old men mumbling the Hebrew by rote
with no more feeling than one says gesundheit.
But the discipline of blessings is to taste
each moment, the bitter, the sour, the sweet
and the salty, and be glad for what does not
hurt. The art is in compressing attention
to each little and big blossom of the tree
of life, to let the tongue sing each fruit,
its savor, its aroma and its use.
Attention is love, what we must give
children, mothers, fathers, pets,
our friends, the news, the woes of others.
What we want to change we curse and then
pick up a tool. Bless whatever you can
with eyes and hands and tongue. If you
can't bless it, get ready to make it new.