A Lesson for Lag B'Omer
On the Second night of Passover we began the counting of the Omer which will conclude with the great festival of Shavuot. These days of counting are no mere perfunctory act, but have a rich inner life which bring together the Jewish relationship with wider culture and also offers an important lesson to the Jewish people as to the proper approach to Torah. The days of the counting of the Omer are regarding by our tradition as days of mourning. Weddings do not traditionally take place and there is a special solemnity to this period. Some people believe that the sense of mourning has its origins in the larger cultural milieu. The days that lead to the harvest of the first fruits was a fearful time for every farming community so dependent on agriculture. The fact this period of fear and trembling was transferred to the Jewish community should not be a great surprise. What is noteworthy is how the Jewish community reinterpreted this challenging period. While Jewish customs during this period often mirrored the larger society, the reasons that they gave for their actions was quite different. It all hinges on the 33rd day of the counting of the Omer.Lag B'Omer which will be celebrated on Monday.
In the time of Rabbi Akiba the Talmud records a great plague consumed the lives of thousands of his students. According to tradition the plague began on the first of the Omer and ended on the 33rd day. Hence, the sense of celebration and the general lifting of the period of mourning for that one day. This is why weddings are performed on that day across the Jewish world. According to some Jewish scholars the plague that the Talmud spoke of was a euphemism for the Bar Kochba Rebellion a revolution that Rabbi Akiba helped to foment. However, the tradition has a very different way of understanding those dark days and offers us a lesson about Torah which has lasting significance.
According to the Talmud, the reason for the plague had nothing to do with the war and everything to do with the relationship between the students. According to the text, they did not respect each other. They did not respect the interpretations of one another, and as a result there were great divisions among them. As a result not only were they destroyed, but the Torah that they taught was lost forever.
Respect for one another in the Jewish community is no less relevant today as it was in Rabbi Akiba's time. The plague reminds us that the study of Torah must be understand as a collaborative exercise. We are all part of the revelation and therefore have equal roles in the dialogue with the text. This is why the Rabbis developed the notion of Hevruta study where two (2) or more students sit together and learn a text. Today's Jewish world is so divided, and the lack of respect between the different approach so pronounced one wonders how comfortable Rabbi Akibas students would have felt in 2014?
What a blessing it would be if Jews around the world took a few minutes on Lag B'Omer and reflected on the sorry state of respect in the Jewish world and the grave consequences when it is left un-addressed. As we go forward to Shavuot and the opportunity to stand a one people at Sinai. Let us be reminded that God's voice is not the only one that we should be listening to as we receive the Torah. Rather, we should also be listening to the voices of those around us receiving the Torah at the same time. It is only when we open ourselves to the full spectrum of Jewish voices that the full revelation can be heard.
Shabbat Shalom,
Rabbi Michael Siegel
Senior Rabbi
