Living Torah Archives

The Lag B’omer rallies and parades outside 770 drew thousands of Jews from all walks of life and backgrounds. The gatherings attest to the fact that despite all our differences in language and culture, there is a single unifying force that keeps all Jews together as one family. But what is that glue that binds us together, and how do we maintain it throughout the rest of the year as well?

When the Jews were redeemed from Egypt, they eagerly counted down the days until the giving of the Torah at Mount Sinai. Today as well, we count the days and weeks from Passover as we gear up to receive the Torah anew on Shavuos.

May the merit of Rabbi Shimon whose Yahrtzeit we celebrate on Lag B’Omer bring you success.

The stories related in the Torah are more than historical events. They offer guidance and direction for the way we live our lives. When we find ourselves in a year of hakhel, it’s not enough to merely recall how it was marked in the Holy Temple, we must search for ways to make it relevant in our lives, today.

On Lag B’omer, Rabbi Shimon ben Yochai proclaimed: “This is the day of my rejoicing!” What was it that made Rabbi Shimon so joyful?

Rabbi Avraham HaLevi, a disciple of the Arizal, had the custom of reciting Nachem, a prayer of mourning for Jerusalem, every single day.

A collage of interactions about Lag B’omer and Rabbi Shimon Bar Yochai.

Rabbi Elazar son of Rabbi Shimon ben Yochai taught: “G-d promises the Jewish people in exile: ‘I shall never reject them or abhor them to break My covenant with them.’ This is like a man whose bride lives in a leather tanners’ market, where everything reeks. Were she not there, he would never have entered. But because she is there, it smells to him like a spice market, the most beautiful scent in the world.”

On Lag B’omer, Rabbi Shimon ben Yochai proclaimed: “This is the day of my rejoicing!” He also requested every Jew to share in his joy, so his own delight is increased when he sees many Jews rejoicing together.

Vintage footage of the 1957 Lag B’omer Parade in front of 770.

An address at the 1967 Lag BaOmer Parade, less than a week before the Six-Day War. G-d is protecting your brothers and sisters in the Holy Land, but you have the unique privilege to help them . . .

The Talmud tells us that 24,000 students of Rabbi Akiva died because “they did not treat one another with respect.” But the plague ended on Lag BaOmer, which means they had remedied their actions and began to treat each other with the appropriate level of esteem.

The Rebbe participates in an early Lag B’omer Parade.