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From
<a href="http://tinyurl.com/d7b583" eudora="autourl">
http://tinyurl.com/d7b583</a><br><br>
<font size=3>Last year in a set of courageous newspaper interviews, Rav
Avraham Kosman revealed his research demonstrating that Rabbi Shimon
Bar-Yo<u>H</u>ai [RaShB"I] did not actually die on 18 Iyyar, the
33rd day of S'firath haOmer (counting of the Omer, See Lev.
23:15-16).<br><br>
The <a href="http://www.shofar.net/site/ARDetile.asp?id=8159">article</a>
in the <a href="http://www.shofar.net/">Shofar</a> newspaper is in
Hebrew, so I will give you the highlights:<br><br>
<br>
1. One of the bases for believing that RaShB"I died on "Lag
b'Omer" comes from a manuscript of
<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hayyim_ben_Joseph_Vital">Rabbi
Hayim Vital</a>. Rabbi Vital ZTz"L, talmid muvhaq of
<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Isaac_Luria">Rabbi Yitzhaq Luria
ZTz"L</a>, the
<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Isaac_Luria">AR"I</a>,
supposedly mentions this date as the day of death of RaShB"I. Yet,
an examination of the original reveals the abbreviation
"shin-mem" for "shemeth" haRaShB"I (died), to be
a scribal error. The original reads "sim<u>h</u>ath"
haRaShB"I (happiness, festive day).<br><br>
2. Leading Qabbalist of modern times,
<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ben_Ish_Chai">Rabbi Yosef
</a><u>H</u><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ben_Ish_Chai">ayim
meBagdad,</a> the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ben_Ish_Chai">Ben
Ish
</a><u>H</u><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ben_Ish_Chai">ai</a>,
confirms this notion that RaShB"I did not die on this
date,...<br><br>
3. ...as does
<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chaim_Joseph_David_Azulai">Rabbi
</a><u>H</u>
<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chaim_Joseph_David_Azulai">ayim
Yosef David Azulai ZTz"L</a>, the
<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chaim_Joseph_David_Azulai">
"</a><u>H</u>
<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chaim_Joseph_David_Azulai">
ID"A."</a> <br><br>
4. And, even if this were the anniversary of death of RaShB"I, the
<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Moses_Sofer"><u>H</a></u>
<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Moses_Sofer">atham Sofer</a> was
very much against the idea of celebrating on such a day. "Do we
celebrate on Moshe Rabbeinu's anniversary of death?"<br><br>
5. A little known event also occurred on this date in the year 4123 (363
CE). The Byzantine emperor of the time had granted permission for Jews to
rebuild the Temple and to re-institute the sacrificial service. Yet the
night they were to lay the foundation, Jerusalem was hit by an
earthquake, a day of sorrow. <br><br>
<Snip><br><br>
Unfortunately, "Lag b'Omer" is not the only manifestation of
confused priorities amongst the Jewish People. <br><br>
See the above URL for the entire article. YL<br><br>
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