Since elementary and high school, when we celebrated Lag B’Omer by going on field trips or having special activities, I’ve learned more about the spiritual significance of the day.
I listened to this shiur by Rav Ahron Lopiansky shlit”a, Rosh Yeshiva of Yeshiva of Greater Washington, about five years ago, and it still inspires me.
Here are some notes on the shiur:
The Torah that Rabbi Shimon Bar Yochai taught to his talmidim on Lag B’Omer (the Zohar) contained an incredible depth that Rabbi Shimon had learned from his Rebbe, Rabbi Akiva.
The Torah of Rabbi Akiva was rooted in the sphere which is only relevant to thought, not to speech — the world of silence. Words are finite, so they are limiting. The richest and deepest world of Torah lies beyond words. It can’t be discussed or described, only understood. Rabbi Akiva’s Torah had to be shared in some way so that it wouldn’t be lost, but it couldn’t ever be fully shared with words. Its completeness can only exist in machshava (thought). The only way to access the deepest level of Torah learning is to learn with the desire to reach greater and greater understanding.
Sometimes in our own lives, we experience moments of revelation that bring us to intense feelings of connection to Hashem. The most powerful way to capture those feelings and make them a part of ourselves is to allow them to continue living in the world of machshava by curbing our instinct to share them through dibur (speech). Rav Lopiansky says that every Jew should have an area of avodas Hashem which is their private space with Hashem, where the relationship is so deep, it is beyond words.
Lag B’Omer is a day to reflect on this idea and to daven for inspiration and passion in our avodas Hashem.
Stunning. Wow.