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    The document discusses the history and traditions surrounding Lag Ba'Omer. It explores various explanations for why Lag Ba'Omer is celebrated, such as it marking the end of a plague where Rabbi Akiva's students died, or as the anniversary of Rabbi Shimon bar Yochai's death. The document also notes debates around celebrating this day and objections to certain customs associated with Lag Ba'Omer.

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    The document discusses the history and traditions surrounding Lag Ba'Omer. It explores various explanations for why Lag Ba'Omer is celebrated, such as it marking the end of a plague where Rabbi Akiva's students died, or as the anniversary of Rabbi Shimon bar Yochai's death. The document also notes debates around celebrating this day and objections to certain customs associated with Lag Ba'Omer.

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    The document discusses the history and traditions surrounding Lag Ba'Omer. It explores various explanations for why Lag Ba'Omer is celebrated, such as it marking the end of a plague where Rabbi Akiva's students died, or as the anniversary of Rabbi Shimon bar Yochai's death. The document also notes debates around celebrating this day and objections to certain customs associated with Lag Ba'Omer.

    Copyright:

    Attribution Non-Commercial (BY-NC)
    Download as DOC, PDF, TXT or read online from Scribd
    Download as doc, pdf, or txt
    133 views7 pages

    Lag Ba'Omer: For Technical Information Regarding Use of This Document, Press CTRL and

    Uploaded by

    outdash2
    The document discusses the history and traditions surrounding Lag Ba'Omer. It explores various explanations for why Lag Ba'Omer is celebrated, such as it marking the end of a plague where Rabbi Akiva's students died, or as the anniversary of Rabbi Shimon bar Yochai's death. The document also notes debates around celebrating this day and objections to certain customs associated with Lag Ba'Omer.

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    of 7

    Lag Ba'Omer

    By Rabbi Joshua Flug

    For technical information regarding use of


    .this document, press ctrl and click here
    I. Introduction- The day of Lag Ba'Omer is not mentioned in Talmudic literature. Yet, it is
    celebrated to some extent by almost all Jews. This shiur outline will show some of the
    history and sources relating to Lag Ba'Omer. Here are links to two articles that you
    might find helpful:
    a. Article in Yeshurun.
    b. Article in Ishei Mo'ed.
    II. Lag Ba'Omer as the end of the mourning period
    a. The death of the students of R. Akiva is recorded in the Gemara. {}
    b. R. Yitzchak Ibn Shuib (Student of the Rashba) in his second answer- Cites a Midrash
    that they died until "p'ros haAtzeres." This means fifteen days before Shavuos (see
    Bechoros 58b), which is on the 34th day of the Omer. On the 34th day, one can cease
    aveilus in the morning based on the concept of miktzas hayom k'kulo. {}
    i. Rabbeinu Yerucham (1290-1350) also writes that the students stopped dying
    on the 34th. {}
    c. R. Ya'akov ben Asher (1269-1343) quotes an opinion that they stopped dying on Lag
    B'Omer and not on the 34th. Therefore, there are those who cease aveilus on Lag
    B'Omer. {}
    i. Maharil (c. 1365-1427) suggests that the students died throughout the Omer.
    However, they did not die on the days that Tachanun is not recited: Seven
    days of Shabbos, the last seven days of Pesach, two days of Rosh Chodesh
    Iyyar and one day of Rosh Chodesh Sivan. If you calculate the rest of the
    days, you end up with 32 days. {}
    d. It is hard to pin a holiday on a historical event whose date is questioned.
    Furthermore, the cessation of the death of the students may be a reason to stop
    mourning but not a day of celebration. We also don't find anyone celebrating the 34th
    of the omer even though many Rishonim state that the cessation was on that day.
    Yet, R. Menachem Meiri (1249-1306) writes that they stopped dying on the 33rd day
    of the omer and therefore, we don't allow fasts on that day. {}
    III. Other Reason to Celebrate Lag Ba'Omer
    a. R. Ya'akov Emden (1697-1776) writes that Lag Ba'Omer is a day that is total din
    (perhaps because it is ‫ )הוד שבהוד‬and just as when a beis din votes unanimously to
    convict someone of a capital crime, he is exonerated, so too, when we experience
    total din, it is a cause for simcha. {}
    b. R. Moshe Sofer (1762-1839) suggests that just as we enumerate the middos going up,
    we also do so going down. Therefore, Lag Ba'Omer is ‫ הוד שבהוד‬on the middos going
    up and ‫ תפארת שבתפארת‬going down. The day with the opposite features is the second
    day of Iyar which is also the other bookend of the absolute period of mourning (i.e.
    everyone mourns between the second of Iyar and Lag Ba'Omer). {}
    c. R. Chaim Y.D. Azulai (Chida 1724-1807) suggests that Lag Ba'Omer is the day that
    Rabbi Akiva gave simcha to his five main talmidim who continued his legacy. We
    are celebrating a critical juncture in the continuity of the mesorah. {}
    d. Avraham Ye'ari wrote a sefer called ‫ מסעות ארץ ישראל‬which is a collection of journals
    from people who travelled throughout Eretz Yisrael. In one of the journals, R. Moshe
    Basula writes that in1523 he visited Meron on Pesach Sheni and stayed there for two
    days. {}
    i. Although Lag Ba'Omer is the third day after Pesach Sheni, it is possible that it
    was traditional to travel up north for a few days and Lag Ba'Omer was
    established as a day of celebration in conjunction with the fact that it was the
    first day that aveilus wasn't applicable.
    IV. Lag Ba'Omer as the Hilula of R. Shimon Bar Yochai
    a. The Zohar mentions that after R. Shimon Bar Yochai died, they went to visit his
    grave and made a "Hilula." {&}
    b. R. Chaim Vital (1543-1620) writes that the Arizal (1534-1572) once went to visit the
    grave of R. Shimon bar Yochai on Lag Ba'Omer. {}
    i. R. Chaim Vital notes that this visitation occurred before the Arizal's
    transformation, i.e. before he moved to Tzfas in 1569.
    ii. R. Chaim Vital also notes that it has already been commonplace for people to
    visit the grave on Lag Ba'Omer and celebrate. This means that the tradition
    shifted from Pesach Sheni to Lag Ba'Omer over the course of fifty years (see
    the comment from ‫)מסעות ארץ ישראל‬.
    iii. R. Chaim Vital also notes that R. Avraham HaLevi would recite Nachem at
    the kever of R. Shimon on Lag Ba'Omer and then R. Shimon came to him in a
    dream saying that he will be punished for mourning on a day of simcha. His
    son died less than a month later.
    c. Chemdas Yamim is the earliest sefer to go on record saying that R. Shimon's yahrtzeit
    is Lag Ba'Omer. {}
    i. It is important to note the background to the sefer Chemdas Yamim. It was
    written anonymously and in its early years, many people, including R.
    Ya'akov Emden believed that the author was either Nasan Ha'Azasi (the
    disciple of Shabtai Tzvi) or some other Sabbathean. Many rabbinic
    authorities as well as scholars accepted the premise that Chemdas Yamim is of
    Sabbathean origin. Avraham Ye'ari wrote a book called Ta'alumas Sefer,
    where he spends the introduction trying to vindicate Chemdas Yamim from
    any concern of Sabbatheanism.
    d. R. Tzvi Elimelech of Dinov (Bnei Yissachar 1783-1841) writes that Lag Ba'Omer is
    seventeen days before Shavuos. Seventeen is ‫ טו"ב‬and so Lag Ba'Omer represents the
    ‫ טוב‬of the Torah, meaning the hidden Torah which was revealed to us by R. Shimon
    bar Yochai. He suggests that not only did R. Shimon die on Lag Ba'Omer, he was
    also born then. {}
    V. Objections to the Celebration of the Hilula
    a. Chasam Sofer questions whether it is permissible to establish a new holiday that is
    not based on any type of miracle. {}
    i. He states in one of his derashos that what the Zohar calls a Hilula does not
    refer to what people should do but what happened in the heavens. The death
    of R. Shimon is a cause for mourning, but the heavens can celebrate the fact
    that R. Shimon has joined them. {}
    b. R. Yosef Shaul Nathanson (1808-1875) also objects to the celebration on similar
    grounds. He notes that the proper response on a yahrtzeit is to fast, not celebrate. He
    also questions the practice of making bonfires to burn clothing as it seems like it is
    bal tashchis. {}
    i. R. Yosef R. Chazan (1741-1820) also objects to burning objects in honor of R.
    Shimon and considers it bal tashchis. {}
    ii. The practice of burning clothing in a bonfire is defended in a kuntrus titled
    K'vod Melachim. It was authored by R. Shmuel Heller (c. 1803-1884), the
    chief rabbi of Tzefas.
    ‫‪ .7‬סידור יעב"ץ סדר חדש אייר‬ ‫‪ .1‬יבמות סב‪:‬‬

    ‫‪ .8‬שו"ת חתם סופר יו"ד ס' רלג‬

    ‫‪ .2‬דרשות ר"י אבן שועיב מא ע"ד‬

    ‫‪ .9‬טוב עין ס' יח לאו"ח תצג‬

    ‫‪ .3‬רבינו ירוחם ד‪:‬ד )מד ע"ד(‬

    ‫מסעות ארץ ישראל עמ' ‪155‬‬ ‫‪.10‬‬

    ‫‪ .4‬טור או"ח ס' תצג‬

    ‫‪ .5‬מהרי"ל דיני הימים בין פסח לשבועות ס' ז‬

    ‫זוהר האזינו אדרא זוטא‬ ‫‪.11‬‬

    ‫‪ .6‬בית הבחירה יבמות סב‪.‬‬


    ‫בני יששכר מאמרי חדש אייר ס' ג‬ ‫‪.15‬‬ ‫פירוש הסולם שם‬ ‫‪.12‬‬

    ‫שער הכוונות ענין ל"ג לעומר‬ ‫‪.13‬‬

    ‫שו"ת חתם סופר יו"ד ס' רלג‬ ‫‪.16‬‬

    ‫דרשות חתם סופר ח"ב עמ' ‪780‬‬ ‫‪.17‬‬

    ‫חמדת ימים חלק ג' ליל ל"ג בעומר‬ ‫‪.14‬‬

    ‫שואל ומשיב מהדורה ה' ס' לט‬ ‫‪.18‬‬


    ‫חקרי לב מהדו"ת יו"ד ס' יא‬ ‫‪.19‬‬

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