Dear TBZ community:
I am heartbroken as I follow the news coming from Israel, about the stampede at Har Meron during the Lag Ba’Omer celebration which left, as of now, 45 dead and hundreds injured. I pray for the families of those who have lost loved ones and for those who will need healing. A day of celebration, marking the end of a mourning period, has itself become a day of mourning.
Today is Lag Ba’Omer, the 33rd (lamed=30, gimmel=3) day of Counting the Omer. Lag Ba’Omer (לַ״ג בָּעוֹמֶר) marks the hillula (celebration of the anniversary of the death) of Rabbi Shimon bar Yochai, and the day on which he revealed the Zohar. Lag Ba’Omer is also the day that marks the end of the plague that killed Rabbi Akiva's 24,000 disciples. Lag Ba’Omer also became a celebration of the victory of Bar Kochba’s revolt against the Roman Empire. You can learn more about Lag Ba’Omer here, and here.
Lag Ba’Omer is an oasis of relief, hope and celebration. In the midst of our current-day plague, Lag Ba’Omer represents the liminal moment in which we find ourselves. We hold the relief and the hope, the joy and the excitement (together with anxiety and fear as well!!) for what seems to be the beginning of the end of this pandemic for us. But at the same time, our joy is not pure because we also hold the loss from this past year, the trauma which has touched each of us differently. I imagine Rabbi Akiva’s experience was not very different. Holding a celebration with the intention that no more of his students should die, that the plague was over, while also recognizing the devastation of what had been. We learn in Yevamot 62b that Rabbi Akiva taught new students so they could continue and carry forward the teachings of Torah:
והיה העולם שמם עד שבא ר"ע אצל רבותינו שבדרום ושנאה להם ר"מ ור' יהודה ור' יוסי ורבי שמעון ורבי אלעזר בן שמוע והם הם העמידו תורה אותה שעה
And the world was desolate of Torah until Rabbi Akiva came to our Rabbis in the South and taught his Torah to them. This second group of disciples consisted of Rabbi Meir, Rabbi Yehuda, Rabbi Yosei, Rabbi Shimon, and Rabbi Elazar ben Shamua. And these are the very ones who upheld the study of Torah at that time. Although Rabbi Akiva’s earlier students did not survive, his later disciples were able to transmit the Torah to future generations.
“There is tremendous hope and resilience…., in which he [R’ Akiva] starts over again with five new students, but if we are to honor that hope, we must acknowledge the crushing feelings of despair and futility that this hope shines through”.
How do we hold both? The hope and the resilience, the brightness of this moment, when we begin to live anew together with the despair, sadness and the loss of what we have gone through, as individuals and collectively as a society.
And I begin to write about this in the past tense, I recognize that not everyone, nor every country is feeling the relief, as vaccine roll out continues and CDC guidelines permit us to begin to re-establish some normalcy. I follow the news of my beloved South America and India, and many other places in the world, and I know they are still in the midst of the horrors of this plague.
Last night, TBZ hosted an evening entitled: “Continuing Together: Staying Connected Through the Fatigue.” Marji Sokoll, M.Ed., the Director of the Betty Ann Greenbaum Miller Center for Jewish Healing and the Director of Spirituality and Aging at Jewish Family & Children’s Service and I joined in a conversation for this liminal moment and shared teachings and strategies that can inspire and empower many of us during this time. I invite you to watch this event in the video below or in this link..
I can’t end without again recognizing the sadness of the tragedy at Mount Meron, especially in the context of what Lag Ba’Omer symbolizes. A holiday that marks the end of a tragedy, the victory of a rebellion, and the revelation of the Zohar, this year brings another tragedy, more death and more pain. A time meant to mark a transition
מִיָּגוֹן לְשִׂמְחָה וּמֵאֵבֶל לְיוֹם טוֹב
from grief and mourning to festive joy has now turned festive joy into mourning
משמחה ליגון, מיום טוב לאבל
May this Shabbat bring renewal and blessings to all of you and your loved ones.
May we find strength, courage, and patience, and open our hearts with generosity.
May all those who are ill find healing of body and spirit
May we have a joyful and restful Shabbat!
Shabbat Shalom
