Page 56 - HaMizrachi #29 Yom HaAtzmaut 2021 USA

GENERAL INTEREST

Rabbi Judah Mischel

Lag BaOmer:

The Light of the Land

e are approaching the great pain of exile and to realize the absolute The Navi (Melachim Alef, 6) refers to
day of Lag BaOmer, the impossibility for its character to fulfill Iyar as the month of ziv, “shining” or
Whilulah, or celebration, of its potential as long as it is oppressed splendor. This word is translated into
the Tanna Rabbi Shimon bar Yochai on foreign soil” (Orot, p.95). Aramaic by the Targum as nitzan, “blos-
(Rashbi), when he revealed the Holy som.” Nitzan itself alludes to the sweet
Sefer haZohar to his closest disciples Rabbi Shimon bar Yochai lived after fragrance of the coming redemption of
before leaving the world. The Zohar is the destruction of the Second Beit our Land and her people:
much more than just the primary text- HaMikdash. When the Temple stood,
book of Jewish mysticism, the secrets Am Yisrael’s relationship with G-d was ... ַ עיִּ ג ִ ה רי ִ מָּז ַ ה ת ֵ ע ץ ֶ ר ָ א ָ ב ּוא ְ רִנ םיִנ ָּ צִּנ ַ ה
of the Torah, and a sefer of inner light an obvious fact. After its destruction, “Blossoms have appeared in the Land;
and deep wisdom. It is a guidebook to G-d’s existence was concealed and the the time for song has arrived…
navigating the world of the soul, and it Shechina was exiled.
allows us to see there is a reality beyond The Gemara relates that Rabbi Shimon The song of the turtledove is heard in
that which we can sense, measure or bar Yochai, the Holy Tanna, said: “See our Land.”
understand. how beloved Israel is to HaKadosh (Shir HaShirim, 2:12)

Hashgacha Pratit (Divine Providence) Baruch Hu, for wherever they went
is clearly revealed in the fact that in into exile, Shechina imahen, the Divine May the merit of Rashbi open our eyes
the month in which we celebrate The Presence went with them. They were to see the great splendor of the Torah,
Zohar and Rabbi Shimon bar Yochai, exiled to Egypt, and Shechina imahen; and awaken us to the urgent need for
we also mark the return of the Jewish they were exiled to Babylon, veShechina redemption. May the joyful songs of Lag
nation to its homeland, and rejoice over imahen. And when Am Yisrael will be BaOmer be heard throughout the uni-
the restoration of sovereignty and the redeemed in the future, the Shechina verse, and may we bask in the holiness
expansion of our borders as meaningful will be redeemed with them…”(Megillah of Eretz Yisrael with the great return of
steps in the unfolding of Jewish destiny 29a). our nation.
and redemption.
In a world darkened by destruction,
Indeed, the secrets of the Torah and the exile and Divine concealment, the Zohar
special days in Iyar can be viewed as a reveals hope and meaning by opening
single idea. As Rav Kook taught, “The our eyes to our true inner life-force and Rabbi Judah Mischel is Executive Director
of Camp HASC, the Hebrew Academy for
secrets of the Torah bring redemption the reality of G-d’s plan and involvement Special Children, Mashpiah of OU-NCSY and
and return Israel to its Land because in everything transpiring in the world. founder of Tzama Nafshi.
the Torah of truth… demands the com- Beneath the surface of world events,
plete soul of the nation. Through this there is an inner reality that is pulsating, A member of the Mizrachi Speakers Bureau
inner Torah, the nation begins to feel the alive, shining with G-d’s light. mizrachi.org/speakers

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