36 | APRIL 29 • 2021 

T

he occasion of Lag 
b’Omer, which is cus-
tomarily celebrated as 
a quasi-holiday, is shrouded 
in mystery. Unlike every other 
special occasion on the Jewish 
calendar, regard-
ing Lag b’Omer, 
we have precious 
little information 
about what it is 
we are celebrating.
The Gemara 
in Maseches 
Yevamos (62b) 
tells that Rabbi Akiva had 24,000 
students who all died from a 
dreadful disease during a single 
period — the weeks after Pesach. 
They perished, the Gemara 
says, because they did not treat 
each other respectfully. The 
Gemara adds that their death 
left the world bereft of Torah 
scholarship, until Rabbi Akiva 
approached five outstanding 
scholars and taught them, there-
by ensuring the perpetuation of 
our sacred scholarly tradition. 
We commemorate the death 
of Rabbi Akiva’s students by 
observing certain mourning 
practices during the weeks 
after Pesach, the period when 
they perished. The Shulchan 
Aruch (O.C. 493:2) writes that 
the mourning practices end on 

Lag b’Omer, because accord-
ing to tradition, the plague 
ended on this day. The Rama 
(16th-century Rabbi Moses 
Isserles of Krakow, Poland) 
adds that Lag b’Omer is 
observed as a minor holiday.
The Peri Chadash (by Rav 
Chizkiya Da Silva, Italy-
Jerusalem, 1659-1698) asks why 
the end of the plague is cause 
for celebration. The plague 
ended only once there were 
no students left to die. Why is 
this something to celebrate? 
The Peri Chadash there-
fore shifts the focus from the 
plague to its aftermath — 
Rabbi Akiva’s rebuilding Torah 
scholarship after this calamity. 
According to the Peri Chadash,
on Lag b’Omer we celebrate 
the fact that Rabbi Akiva 
assured the future of Torah 
after losing 24,000 students.

ALTERNATIVE VIEWS
Another explanation is that 
Lag b’Omer marks the yahrtz-
eit of Rashbi (second-century 
Rabbi Shimon bar Yochai). 
This is based on an account 
written by Rav Chaim Vital
(1543-1620) describing a 
pilgrimage made by his men-
tor, the Arizal (Rav Yitzchak 
Luria, 1534-1572), to Rashbi’s 

gravesite on Mount Meiron 
in the Upper Galilee on Lag 
b’Omer. Rav Chaim Vital 
writes that the Arizal referred 
to Lag b’Omer on that occa-
sion as תמשםוי — “the day he 
died.” Many understood this 
to mean that Lag b’Omer is 
Rashbi’s yahrtzeit. 
Others, however, disagree. 
In an early manuscript of Rav 
Chaim Vital’s account, this text 
reads, י"בשר'מש םויב. And in a 
different manuscript, the word 
'מש appears as 'חמש. It seems 
clear that the intended phrase 
is י"בשרתחמש — “the joy of 
Rashbi,” and the letter ת was 
omitted to save space.
Accordingly, the Chida (Rav 
Chaim Yosef David Azulai, 
1724-1806) writes (in Mar’is 
Ayin, likutim, 7:8) that the the-
ory that Lag b’Omer marks the 
yahrtzeit of Rashbi stems from 
a mistaken reading of a manu-
script. The Chida explains that 
י"בשרתחמש refers to the fact 
that on Lag b’Omer, Rashbi and 
his four peers began learning 
with Rabbi Akiva, thus setting 
into motion the renewal of 
Torah scholarship. Similar to the 
Peri Chadash’s understanding, 
the Chida writes that this was 
Rashbi’s joyous day because it 
was then that he began studying 

under Rabbi Akiva.
According to this under-
standing, there is only one 
reason for the Lag b’Omer 
celebration — the end of the 
plague and the subsequent 
rebuilding of Torah.

THE JOY OF FREEDOM
But there might also be a
different explanation of 
י"בשרתחמש. 
The Aruch Ha’shulchan (O.C. 
493:7) by Rav Yechiel Michel 
Epstein of Nevarduk, Belarus, 
1829-1908, interestingly 
enough, writes in discussing 
the Lag b’Omer celebration: 
“They say that he [Rashbi] 
passed away on this day, and 
also that he left the cave on this 
day.” As the Gemara (Shabbos 
33b) tells, Rashbi and his son 
were forced to flee from the 
Roman authorities, and they 
hid for 12 years in a cave. 
Without citing any source, 
the Aruch Ha’shulchan brings 
a tradition that it was on Lag 
b’Omer when they discovered 
that it was safe to leave. 
This, then, might be the 
meaning of י"בשרתחמש — 
that this was a day of immense 
joy, when he was finally free to 
leave the cave and resume his 
work disseminating Torah.
For over a year, we have 
found ourselves in a “cave” of 
sorts, limiting our excursions 
from our homes, in order 
to protect ourselves from a 
dangerous illness. Like Rashbi 
and his son, we have lived in a 
state of confinement.
We hope and pray that G-d 
will watch over and guard all 
of us just as He watched over 
Rabbi Shimon bar Yochai 
and his son, and that we will 
soon celebrate our “departure” 
from this isolation and come 
together in friendship, joy and 
love, amen. 

Rabbi Dov Loketch is a rabbi at 
Agudas Yisrael Mogen Avraham 
synagogue in Southfield.

Rabbi Dov 
Loketch

SPIRIT

The Mystery of 
Lag b’Omer

Adults and children 
in Tel Aviv joyously 
celebrate amid Lag 
b’Omer bonfires.

