Posts
Rabbi Akiva was the most revered Rabbi of his day, whose insights and brilliant decisions fill the Mishnah and Gemara. Why did his Rabbinic students die? Because, the Talmud teaches, "they did not show proper respect to one another." [Talmud Bavli Tractate Yevamot:62:2] However, Lag B'Omer is a day of celebration because on that day Rabbi Akiva's Rabbinic students ceased to die.
Why does the death of Rabbi Akiva's Rabbinic students merit thirty-two days of mourning, when greater tragedies in Jewish history , such as the destruction of both Temples, massacres of the Crusades, the Spanish Inquisition, the Chmelnitski pogroms and the Holocaust — are marked by a single day of mourning? In terms of numbers, they far overshadow the deaths of Rabbi Akiva's Rabbinic students. Why are the Rabbinic students given so much more weight?
What are the sages trying to teach us?
If Rabbi Akiva's Rabbinic students did such cruelty to each other that they were divinely punished, why should we mourn then for 32 days? Why should we be celebrating Lag B'omer at all? At the most, why not have one holiday commemorating their deaths, since the Talmud says when they died, "the world became spiritually desolate"?
What else in is play here?
Historically, the Romans destroyed the Temple in 70 CE. And not unlike today, Jews were divided into factions and fractions. They fought each other, many times bitterly, each wanting the loyalty of the Jewish people, each saying they knew the ''truth.'' By 135 CE Jews seemed to be united under one authority, Rabbi Akiva.
One of Rabbi Akiva's students was Rabbi Shimon Bar Yochai, the author of the Zohar, the book of Splendor of the Kabbalah.
What connection has all of this to Lag B'Omer? And more so, why aren't they discussed in the Talmud openly, with just hints?
While the Talmud is a text started in 586 BCE in Babylon it was finally out in writing circa 500 CE. It was continually added to, and when the Romans controlled our people, it was written under Roman censorship. Political matters could only be alluded to.
When the Second Temple was destroyed Jerusalem and the 'land' lay in ruin. The Arch of Titus next to the Colosseum shows our gold menorah being carried off by Romans. Coins were minted inscribed with Judea Capta — "Judea is fallen." The Romans considered us a footnote in history at the point in time.
However a Jewish military leader, Bar Kosiba, raised 400,000 men to fight the Romans. While many rabbis opposed a war with Rome, Rabbi Akiva supported Bar Kosiba. The Talmud tells us that Bar Kosiba asked each recruit cut off a finger to show he was brave. The rabbis said this was non-Jewish self-mutilation. Bar Kosiba then required each recruit to uproot a young tree while riding a horse.
As mentioned above, the date was circa 135 CE. Many felt that Rome was ripe to crumble. 20% of the population were Jews spread throughout out their Empire. Romans were leaving paganism, not worshipping their Emperor as a god, and joining the Jewish sect of what was to become Christianity, or Judaism in its original form.
Again, if you remember from our classes, the Talmudic rabbis believed in a Messiah, while the priests of Hebrewism did not. Hebrewism and the priests and their Temple were now gone. Avika believed that Bar Kosiba was the Jewish Messiah and renamed him Bar Kochba ,Son of the Star , in fulfilling the prophecy, "A star will go forth from Jacob."(Num. 24:7). Avika felt that Kochba would lead a revolt that would spread throughout the Empire, have all Jews join, along with Christians and others, and Judea would be restored as a Jewish land. [Talmud Yerushalmi Tractate Ta'anit 4:15]
He believed that this would then usher in an era of world peace and the Messianic age.
Bar Kochba's army had many victories. The rebellion lasted for six years. Many non-Jews joined Bar Kochba's army . His army became larger than the Roman one in Judea. Emperor Hadrian recruited his best troops from England and Gaul. Rome was truly threatened .
On Lag B'Omer, Bar Kochba's army re conquered Jerusalem. Independence was restored for four years.
There were two Roman legions in the country when the uprising began. There was one in Jerusalem and one near Megiddo. These were destroyed by Bar Kochba. Roman Jordan, Syria and Egypt sent reinforcements but these were decimated. Egypt's Legion 22, disappeared from military units published in Rome because it was so badly beaten at Lachish .
Julius Severus was sent to Judea from Wales. Severus imported legions from Britain, Switzerland, Austria, Hungary and Bulgaria. The Romans Armies were hurt so severely that Severus omitted the required phrase , "I and my army are well," in his report to the Roman Senate.
But Bar Kochba lost the support of Rabbi Akiva and backing of the rabbis. What had happened? Bar Kochba had accused his cousin, Rabbi Elazar, of revealing the secret entrances of the fortress-city of Betar to the Romans. Bar Kochba murdered him. Rabbi Akiva realized that Bar Kochba no longer possessed qualities that a Messiah should have.
Bar Kochba and his army were destroyed defending the fortress city of Betar. Dio Cassius states deaths of 580,000 Jews by Romans. Other Jews died of hunger and disease. Historians believe that the Jews lost a third of their population.
''For the survivors, the failure of the Bar Kochba uprising marked the great divide between the hope for national independence and dispersal in the Diaspora. The trauma of the fall of Betar coming after the fall of Jerusalem effected deep changes in the Jewish people.'' states Rabbi Stolper.
Rabbi Akiva then hoped his 24000 rabbinic students would become the real "army" of the Jews. He hoped the would bring Torah to the entire world. He hoped Torah would overcoming anguish, suffering and Rome. Akiva hoped his students would be a moral and spiritual army. He hope they would usher in an era of justice and peace.
But the Talmud tells us that, "Rabbi Akiva's students didn't show proper respect one for the other." They were killed by a plague which ended on Lag B'Omer.
Why?
The Talmud says on that Lag B'Omer Shimon Bar Yochai emerged from his cave which he hid in to avoid both the Romans and his cruel fellow rabbinic disciples of Rabbi Akiva, and began to teach the Zohar, the book of Kabbalah, the Jewish means of obtaining spirituality and connection with the God-head. Lag b'omer is celebrated with much joy at the grave of Bar Yochai in Meron in the north of Israel and Ellen and I have had the blessing to be there. It is near Safad.
The whole point of Judaism as Rabbi Akiva was to come to learn and to teach is : "love your fellow as you love yourself." While Rabbi Hillel said similar 200 years before, each of us has to learn to believe this for ourselves. One does not reach God by warring with people over land, nor by fighting with one's fellow Jews over which sect knows the correct path to follow. One does not reach God by showing rabbis or Torah or Talmud scholars disrespect because we may disagree with certain points. God despises this behavior and so should we. Judaism is NOT place- bound. Wherever we commit a holy act, and we should be doing them all day long, that land is just a holy to us, as where Solomon's Temple stood. This is why one of God's Holy names is Maqom, the Place. God lives wherever we let Him in to our hearts. He doesn't live in some Holy of Holies as our ancient Hebrew ancestors thought.
The Torah was given at Sinai at a moment when there was total Jewish unity. The Torah states, "va'yichan Yisrael neged hahar," the Israelites encamped opposite Mount Sinai. Va'yichan is stated in the singular, which commentator, Rashi, defines as meaning that Israel encamped opposite the mountain "as one man with one heart," in a state of total and perfect unity. Torah can only prosper and accomplish its goals when the Jewish people are united.
We just cannot any longer afford to point fingers and say, 'he is not a rabbi,' or 'he is not a Jew.' Each rabbi is expected to promote his own scholarship while at the same time advancing and respecting the scholarship of others. Each rabbi must make an effort to bring out the best in his colleagues, not to denigrate or downplay them.
This is the spiritual teaching of the holiday of Lag b'Omer.
Ending on a good note so you can enjoy the holiday: Medrash Koheles Rabbah 11:10 quotes Rabbi Akiva "'I had 24,000 disciples from Geves to Antiperes, all of whom died during my lifetime [between Pesach and Shavuot]. In the end, I had seven disciples, Rabbi Yehuda Bar Ilai, Rabbi Nechemiah, Rabbi Meir, Rabbi Yosi Ben Chalafta, Rabbi Shimon Bar Yochai, Rabbi Eliezer the son of Rabbi Yosi HaGalili and Rabbi Yochanan HaSandlar. The earlier disciples died because they envied the Torah accomplishments of their colleagues. You the later disciples must not repeat their error.' Immediately, they succeeded in filling all of Eretz Yisrael with Torah.''
Shalom. Happy Lag B'Omer and Shabbat Shalom this evening,
Rabbi Arthur Segal
Hebrew College, Newton Centre, MA, USA
via shamash org on-line class
credits:
Rav P. Stolper
The SPIRITUALRENEWAL mailing list is hosted by Shamash: The Jewish Network, a service of Hebrew College, which offers online courses and an online MA in Jewish Studies.
To unsubscribe email SPIRITUALRENEWAL-unsubscribe-request@SHAMASH.ORG
For other options go to: http://listserv.SHAMASH.ORG/
Get trade secrets for amazing burgers. Watch "Cooking with Tyler Florence" on AOL Food.
