Rabbi YY Jacobson
LAG B’OMER – AN AUSPICIOUS DAY
The AriZal taught that it is a Mitzvah to rejoice on Lag B’Omer, because the RASHBY called his Yahrzeit a Hillula -- a celebration.
==== Merkaz Anash. Sefer Hasichos 5704 P124. For the Mitteler Rebbe, Lag B’Omer was one of the outstanding festivals. He would go out to the field with the Chassidim. He would not wash for bread, but would say lechayim on mashke, though this was forbidden to him for health reasons. The Chassidim present would witness many mofsim, most of which were blessings for couples who wanted to have children. People would wait the entire year for Lag B’omer.
==== Hayom Yom Iyar 18.
UFARATZTA
One of the greatest gifts of the Jewish people was that they did not allow the humiliation and persecution they endured by mighty nations to define their inner identity, dignity and destiny. Like fearless lions, they left Auschwitz and the next day they went to rebuild Jerusalem. We know of many a people or culture who endured savage and suffering, and as a result, they could never rehabilitate themselves emotionally. They remained eternal victims of their oppressors. And even after they were set free, it was merely an external freedom, but their inner sense of identity and liberty has been obliterated. Where did the Jewish people glean the strength to emerge from every disaster with the courage and confidence to rebuild and prosper?
After the Nazi invaded Klausenberg, Romania, they began to celebrate the defeat of the Jews in their usual sadistic fashion. They gathered the Jews into a circle in the center of town, and then paraded their Rebbe, Rabbi Yekusial Yehuda Halberstam (19051994), into the center.
The Klausenberger Rebbe was later taken to Aushwitz, where his wife and 11 children perished. He survived the war and came to America, where he remarried, had more children, and built a grand Chassidic movement. He also built the beautiful Laniado hospital in Netanya, Israel.
The SS guards began taunting and teasing the Klausenberger Rebbe, pulling his beard and pushing him around. The vile soldiers trained their guns on him as the commander began to speak. "Tell us Rabbi," sneered the officer, "do you really believe that you are the Chosen People?" The soldiers guarding the crowd howled in laughter. But the Rebbe did not. In a serene voice, he answered loud and clear, "Most certainly."
The officer became enraged. He lifted his rifle above his head and sent it crashing on the head of the Rebbe. The Rebbe fell to the ground. There was rage in the officer's voice. "Do you still think you are the Chosen People?" he yelled.
Once again, the Rebbe nodded his head and said, "yes, we are." The officer became infuriated. He kicked the rebbe in the chin and repeated. "You stupid Jew, you lie here on the ground, beaten and humiliated, in a puddle of blood. What makes you think that you are the Chosen People?"
With his mouth gushing blood, the Rebbe replied. "As long as we are not the ones kicking, beating and murdering innocent people, we are the chosen people."
Rise Up
Many of us have experienced loss, abuse, and grief in our lives. There are individuals who from a very young age have been given the message that they are worthless and that their lives amount to nothing. For years they struggle to regain the inner confidence to create a great life for themselves. Comes the Torah and teaches us, that after you experienced turbulence in your life, after you endured a “tochachah,” make sure that you do not allow those experiences and messages to make you doubt your value. You may have been challenged, but let the fighter in you still remain.
True Dignity
It also works the other way around. The true value and dignity of a person emerges in moments of pain and despair. The real quality of people, their depth and majesty emerge after a painful experience.
When Rabbi Yoel Teitelbaum, the Satmar Rav (d. 1979), visited Israel, a Hungarian Jew came and asked him for a blessing before his departure back to the US. This Jew expressed the fear that after the Satmar Rav returned to America, there would be no one worthy to ask for a blessing. His Rebbe told him: "Go to any Jew that has a number tattooed on his arm and ask him for a blessing. When such a person is available, you do not need me to give you a blessing."
