[Avodah] Lag B'omer Am Yisroel Chai

[Micha Berger via Avodah]

On Fri, May 12, 2017 at 12:33:14PM -0400, Cantor Wolberg wrote:
: The 33rd day of the Omer is a minor holiday commemorating a break in
: the plague.

The common translation of askaria is some kind of lung disease.

However, the only explanation of the gemara that predates the late
acharonim is R' Achai Gaon's -- that the word is sicarii. Meaning,
they were killed by Roman dagger- or shortsword-men. Tying the deaths
of the omer to the Bar Kokhva rebellion.

(The sicarii of the events of Tish'ah beAv were Jewish dagger
bearers. Same word, different people.)

If I may add, which emphasizes the connection to shelo nahagu kavod zeh
lazeh. The galus was started by sin'as chinam; it couldn't be ended by
people who still hadn't mastered showing another kavod.

(A scary thought about our own hopes...)


: This day is observed as a day of rejoicing because on this day, the
: students of Rabbi Akiva did not die.

Actually, it's not a day of mourning because they didn't die.

It's observed as a day of rejoicing because qabbalistically inclined
communities -- Chassidim, and Sepharadim post-Chida and Ben Ish Hai --
find a lot of significance in R Chaim Vital (in the name of the Ari)
writes in Peri Eitz Chaim that it's yom simchas Rashbi. And then
a copying error turned that into "yom shemeis Rashbi", by dropping
the ches. However, it could well be two phrasings of the same idea.
Or perhaps it's the day Rashbi left the cave the 2nd time, or....

For Litvaks, Yekkes, and other communities, Lag baOmer as a holiday is
a new thing.

Also, as per other iterations, Lag baOmer at Meron appears to have
originally been Shemu'el haNavi's yahrzeit (Mag beOmer? Yom Y-m) at Nabi
Samwel, and only moved when Arabs going to Nabi Samwel (from Tzefat)
dangerous.

:-)BBii!
-Micha

-- 
Micha Berger             Today is the 31st day, which is
micha at aishdas.org        4 weeks and 3 days in/toward the omer.
http://www.aishdas.org   Tifferes sheb'Hod: What level of submission
Fax: (270) 514-1507                      results in harmony and balance?