Living Torah Archives

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?

Celebration of Lag B’omer, 5744, as captured by the lens of Sholom Ber Goldstein.

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.

An address to children at the 1984 Lag B’omer parade “You shall love your fellow as yourself.” We see this commandment expressed here today through the great number of Jewish children who have gathered together. Although you come from different walks of life, you all sit together today, showing esteem for one another, and resolving together to grow in Torah and Mitzvos.

Lag B’omer celebrates the Yahrzeit of Rabbi Shimon Bar Yochai, and is a time to draw inspiration from his life’s work. Rabbi Shimon’s Torah study was so great that it was his “occupation,” a level unattained even by his greatest peers. But how, then, is a young child to attempt to emulate him?

Exile is a state when the world does not fully endorse the truth. Throughout history, Jews have risen above many attempts to discredit and hinder their devotion to G-d, and so must we do.