English translation — ל"ג בעומר

Regarding the joy on the day of Lag BaOmer,

several reasons are brought, and among them:

A.

a)

The students of Rabbi Akiva

(who "died from Passover until Shavuot"¹)

"ceased dying"².

b)

It is the hillula of Rashbi³

— the yahrtzeit of Rashbi⁴

(that he said that one should rejoice on the day of his histalkus⁵).

All matters of Torah are exact.

One must say,

that there is a connection in content and matter between the two aforementioned events,

in addition to this that Rashbi is a student of Rebbe Akiva.

One must understand: What is the connection between that which the students of R. Akiva "ceased from dying" to the hillula of Rashbi?

And at first glance,

On the contrary — it is a thing and its opposite: Rashbi was indeed one of the five students of R. Akiva who remained alive and "they established the Torah"⁶.

That is to say,

that the joy from this that the students of R. Akiva ceased from dying emphasizes how Lag BaOmer is a

Day that Rashbi,

and the other students

(and the later ones)

d.r.a.k.,

remain alive — the opposite of histalkus

(of Rashbi)

And it can be said the explanation in this: On the day of the histalkus of a tzaddik come together "all his deeds and his Torah and his service which he served all the days of his life"<sup>7</sup>,

which these

(his deeds etc.)

are <b>his true </b>life<sup>8</sup>,

it is understandable,

that on the day of histalkus<sup>9</sup>

he reaches his perfection<sup>10</sup>,

and this shines in revelation.

And since the avodah of Rashbi was the opposite of the

(the 24,000 talmidim of R' Akiva s)

died<sup>11</sup>,

it is an avodah that brings to "<b>Pesach</b> of death"

(as follows)

— therefore his hillula

(when the perfection of his avodah shines in revelation)

is on the day of "Pesach" — Lag BaOmer<sup>12</sup>.

One must however understand: Since of the five talmidim of R' Akiva it is specifically

The passing of Rashbi was on Lag BaOmer,

one must say that the matter of "he ceased from death" has a special connection to him,

more than to the other four students —

With what is Rashbi distinguished in the matter of <b>this</b> from the other four students of Rebbe Akiva?

2.

And it can be said, after prefacing the explanation in the statement of Chazal¹³

that the twenty-four thousand students of Rabbi Akiva "did not treat each other with respect."

For at first glance it is perplexing:

Rabbi Akiva is, after all, the author of the statement that "Love your fellow as yourself — this is a great principle in the Torah"¹⁴.

Now how can it be,

that his students — whom the Torah of truth calls <b>the students of Ra'ak</b> — should not treat each other with respect?

Is one of the explanations in the¹⁵

: Each of the students of Rebbe Akiva had his way how he understood the Torah of his master¹⁶

and according to this served the Most High

(By one the main thing was — love of God,

by a second — fear of God,

etc.

; was each one so taken up¹⁷

with his manner of study and service,

until that by each of them it was established that the one who does not follow after that path,

is lacking to him

in completeness.

And since they were students of R. Akiva who was "boiling" in the matter of "and you shall love your fellow as yourself",

each one of them was not satisfied with his own ascent from strength to strength,

but he endeavored to influence all his friends that they too should serve the Most High specifically in his way.

And when the other students did not accept the way

(being taken up with <b>their</b> way of service)

— then "they did not show respect to one another": being men of truth

(not, heaven forbid, "one thing in the mouth and another in the heart"¹⁸),

there could not be a proper feeling of respect from one to the other,

since in his opinion, the other lacked in <b>completeness</b> of his service to the Blessed One.

3.

Since they were <b>students of </b>R' Akiva,

it is understandable,

that this order of service of the students of R' Akiva — to be so strongly immersed each one in his manner of service,

until not giving any place that another path could also have completeness — has a root in the service of R' Akiva himself.

And one can explain the reasoning in this: Rabbi Akiva was <b>all his days </b>in desire and in the matter of self-sacrifice.

As the Gemara¹⁹

says,

that R' Akiva said <b>to his students</b>: "<b>All my days </b>I was <b>troubled </b>..

When will it come into my hand and I will fulfill it."

Self-sacrifice is a matter that takes the person &lt;b&gt;entirely&lt;/b&gt;.

When

One stands in self-sacrifice,

there remains nothing in his soul etc. that should not be taken up by the self-sacrifice.

And this was also the order of service of the twenty-four thousand students of Rabbi Akiva:

They received from Rabbi Akiva this desire for self-sacrifice,

and consequently every matter of service of G-d by them was with self-sacrifice,

occupied and permeated their entire existence.

They were so devoted to the matter with all heart and soul,

until that it was

(at that time)

no place for another matter.

4.

Nevertheless,

not looking at the greatness of the elevation of their service,

it was not according to the intention in its completeness.

The service of self-sacrifice alone brings a person to "ratzo" — wanting to "go out" from the world and go out to the Above with soul-consuming longing; and therefore,

although that for <b>them</b> it is a very great elevation — service through self-sacrifice — it is not according to the completeness of the intention,

because the supernal intention is that the self-sacrifice,

"ratzo",

should come down and <b>further</b> bring to "shov",

draw down Divinity <b>below</b>²⁰.

Which this is accomplished specifically through an ordered service,

service according to reason and understanding.

And it can be said that this is also the explanation

(the inner one)

of Chazal¹³

"And all of them died ..

because they did not treat each other with respect &lt;b&gt;and the world was desolate&lt;/b&gt;": since their service was in a manner of self-sacrifice and ratzo,

was the &lt;b&gt;world&lt;/b&gt;,

the world below,

was "&lt;b&gt;desolate&lt;/b&gt;" — not a dwelling place "&lt;b&gt;dwell&lt;/b&gt; there a man" but rather in the manner of a &lt;b&gt;desert&lt;/b&gt; of holiness²¹,

there was no drawing down of Divinity in a manner of essence in permanence &lt;b&gt;below&lt;/b&gt;.

And this was the accomplishment of the five students who "they &lt;b&gt;established the Torah&lt;/b&gt;" — the service of "shuv"²².

— Certainly was also by <b>the </b>students,

students of R. Akiva,

was the self-sacrifice.

By them it was however <b>on the contrary </b>— in the manner <b>in perfection </b>as it was by R. Akiva their teacher,

that his "ratzo" was in a manner of "<b>entered in peace </b>

(and consequently it brought to)

<b>and went out in peace</b>"²³

: his self-sacrifice and ratzo was <b>ab initio</b>,

when "entered

(in a manner of)

in peace" — in a way that this should bring him later to "went out in peace" "return"; his desire to attach himself to the Supreme with a longing of the soul without any limitation,

brought him to an addition of vitality until perfection — in the service of drawing down Divinity <b>below</b>.

5.

And one may say in the way of a hint,

that this is the reason why Lag BaOmer is on the day of the 18th of Iyar:

It is known the saying of our Rabbis, the Nesieinu²⁴

regarding Chai Elul,

that this is the day that "gives a vitality" in the avodah of Elul.

And similarly one can say regarding our matter,

that Chai Iyar

(Lag BaOmer)

"gives a vitality" in the avodah of the month of Iyar.

The explanation in this: regarding the months Nissan and Iyar it is known²⁵,

that Nissan — the first month — is opposite the attribute of Chesed,

and Iyar — the second month — is opposite the attribute of Gevurah.

That this is one of the explanations in the connection of the passing of the students of Rabbi Akiva with the days of the Omer

(whose essence is in the month of Iyar&lt;sup&gt;26&lt;/sup&gt;)

— because the service of Iyar is in the aspect of gevurah,

elevation from below to above,

ratzo.

Comes Lag BaOmer and "gives a &lt;b&gt;life&lt;/b&gt;" into this service,

that the ratzo and elevation should not be in a manner that brings to "death" and "a desolate world",

but on the contrary — it brings a &lt;b&gt;life&lt;/b&gt;

(life)

into &lt;b&gt;the&lt;/b&gt; service,

that it should bring to the service of shuv&lt;sup&gt;27&lt;/sup&gt;

(enters in peace and)

departs in peace".

6.

And this manner of avodah is found <b>openly</b> by Rashbi²⁸

The thirteen years that he was in the cave,

he was indeed in seclusion from the world,

until that several practical mitzvos he did not have the possibility to fulfill,

he fulfilled them only in spiritual matters²⁹.

Which this is a matter of "ratzo";

But this very thing brought him&lt;sup&gt;30&lt;/sup&gt;,

that when going out from Meron,

his order of avodah was not hitbodedut and withdrawal from settlement of the world,

but on the contrary — "Wherever R. Elazar would strike, R. Shimon would heal"&lt;sup&gt;31&lt;/sup&gt;

— he brought a healing to &lt;b&gt;the world&lt;/b&gt;,

and even more: "He said, 'There is a matter that needs to be fixed'"&lt;sup&gt;32&lt;/sup&gt;

— he &lt;b&gt;sought&lt;/b&gt; what he could rectify &lt;b&gt;in&lt;/b&gt; the world.

Because by Rashbi — who said "My middot are terumot of terumot of the middot of R. Akiva"&lt;sup&gt;33&lt;/sup&gt;

— was revealed the perfection of the manner of avodah of R. Akiva his teacher,

of "He entered in peace and went out in peace";

His entering and his being in the cave

(Ratzo)

brought about the "Shuv" — correction and settlement of the world.

And similarly in his study of Torah³⁴

: Before his being in the cave "<b>Mekashei</b>³²

Rashbi <b>U'Mefarek</b> Lei Rapa"bi and "Trisar Pirukei",

after the cave "Mekashei Rapa"bi U'Mefarek Lei Rashbi" and "Esrim V'Arba'ah Pirukei" — double for Tushiyah.

Erev Lag BaOmer,

5740)