Today we celebrate Lag Ba'Omer - the 33rd day of the Omer. Among other things, this day marks the anniversary of the passing of the great Talmudic Sage and Kabbalist Rabbi Shimon Bar Yochai. Rabbi Shimon lived under Roman oppression in the 2nd century. He is famous for both his great Halachic and Talmudic scholarship,p as well as revealing esoteric and mystical learning with the teachings of the Zohar.

 

Just last week on the RCNSW trip to Israel, after visiting the north of Israel, we stopped off at the resting place of Rabbi Shimon in Meiron to recite the afternoon prayers (Mincha). It was special to be there, especially a few days before Lag Ba’omer.

 

But it was more than that. Reflecting on the life of this great Tzaddik, I discovered that the connection is happening today in the land of Israel.

 

Rabbi Shimon did not have an easy life. Under the Roman regime, he was forced to flee and hide in a cave with his son, Rabbi Elazar, for thirteen years. During this time,e all he had for sustenance was water from a stream and carobs from a nearby tree. Yet when he came out of the cave, he was neither bitter nor broken. On the contrary, he had utilised the time in hiding to delve very deeply into Torah learning, and his level of scholarship was even greater than before. In addition, when he emerged, he immediately began looking for ways to lead, inspire and help others. How did he do this? For Rabbi Shimon, his life was not about his physical comfort, but rather it was about his values, purpose and meaning.

 

When Rabbi Shimon was in the cave, he lost physical comfort, but he never lost his purpose. He lost his physical freedom, but he never lost his inner values. He had very poor living conditions but very strong ideals. In his mind, if G-d had placed him in such restrictive circumstances, notwithstanding the pain, he could still live with purpose. 

 

In this recent trip to Israel, I witnessed something so similar. The people there live with a constant paradox. There is pain, tragedy, and sacrifice that they feel every day. Yet they live with a profound sense of purpose to rebuild, to preserve the holy land and to maintain the Jewish spirit. The result is not a depressed nation. Rather, we saw resilience, strengthening of faith, hope, conviction and determination.

 

As one speaker put it – We are broken, but unbreakable.

 

We need to learn this lesson every day. With all our comforts, we still can never control our physical circumstances and environments. But we can control our values. We can choose to stay calm or lose our temper. We can choose whether to be cruel or kind, or whether to do a mitzvah or not. 

 

With a focus on values, we can give any situation meaning and purpose with happiness and positivity.

 

Wishing you a good Shabbos!

 

~Rabbi Michoel Gourarie

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