For many years, the peak of this celebration has been held in Meron. Unfortunately, due to the wars in Eretz Yisrael, it seems that the celebrations in Meron will be very limited this year. Nevertheless, it is important to remember that Lag b'Omer is a great day wherever one is.
Someone once described Lag b'Omer in Meron to the Ruzhiner, saying, "Inside it is like Yom Kippur and outside it is like Simchas Torah," and the Ruzhiner praised this description immensely.
In Meron, on Lag b'Omer, no one is getting married, no one was born, yet everyone is extremely happy. People dance for hours – no one knows precisely why. It is a joy beyond nature.
We heard first-hand stories of people who had their yeshuah on Lag b'Omer, even when they weren't in Meron. There is a segulah for those who need a salvation to bear children to say, "If I have a child, I will name him Shimon after Reb Shimon bar Yochai." Generally, people make this promise at Reb Shimon's tzion. Someone who didn't have children for many years told us that he made this promise in Monroe, New York, on Lag b'Omer. A year later, he had a son.
There's a Yid from America who travels annually to Eretz Yisrael for Lag b’Omer. One year, in ג"תשנ, he was imprisoned, rachmana litzlan, and couldn’t go. His son comforted him, "You can’t go to Reb Shimon, but I'm certain that Reb Shimon will come to you." The father didn’t know what his son was talking about. On Lag b’Omer, a fire broke out in prison. The Jewish prisoners took advantage of the fire and danced "Bar Yochai..." The next day, due to the fire, they were released. They saw that although they couldn’t go to Reb Shimon, Reb Shimon came to them.
We received a letter that gives us a glimpse into the miracles that occur on Lag b'Omer, and that one doesn't need to go to Meron to merit miracles. It happened year 5777, in the Orenstein neighborhood of Yerushalayim, at the hadlakah of the Boyaner chasidim. We quote here from the letter:
"My brother was sitting in the car's front seat, next to the driver. They were driving from France to Switzerland. The car fell off a cliff, and the passengers couldn't escape the crushed vehicle. Baruch Hashem, first responders (police, firefighters, and paramedics) arrived and sawed open the side of the car so that they could get out.
"My brother was hospitalized in critical condition in France. When his condition stabilized, he was transferred to a hospital in Switzerland to be near our family.
"For Pesach, he came to visit family members in Eretz Yisrael. They were happy to see him move about, albeit with crutches, because, at first, the doctors predicted that his legs would be amputated.
"My brother remained in Eretz Yisrael for some time, and on Lag b'Omer, the family brought him to the hadlakah in the Batei Orenstein neighborhood in Yerushalayim. The elder chasidim lit the oil, there was a large flame, and people were jumping and dancing יוחי בר שמעון 'ר אלקי התנא לכבוד". My brother stood next to me, supported by me and his crutches. Suddenly, he tells me, 'I am going to throw my crutches into the fire.' I said, 'Chas v'Shalom! Don't do that.' But my brother courageously and mightily threw one of the crutches into the fire. The music stopped because the musicians saw the commotion and understood what was happening. Then, my brother threw the second crutch into the fire and began walking unassisted. To this day, he can walk on his own. This is the miracle that happened to him on Lag b'Omer." Once again, this miracle occurred in Yerushalayim, at Reb Shimon's celebration, and not in Meron. Reb Shimon's merit and his hilulah are wherever you are in the world.
Someone told me that he was in Meron with his son as a preparation for his son's bar mitzvah. He wanted to learn with his son the portions of Zohar that discuss bar mitzvah, but he didn't know where it was written. So instead, he began saying Tehillim. Then his son tapped him on his arm and said, "Look at this. I just saw this, and it looks interesting." It was a sefer quoting the Zohar on bar mitzvah. The father said that he realized that when one wants to study Reb Shimon's lessons, Hashem helps him do so.
In ט"תשע, I received a letter from someone unable to be in Meron due to a family member’s illness. "On Shabbos, I sang Bar Yochai together with Klal Yisrael, and on Lag b'Omer, I remembered what I read in Be'er HaParashah (Torah Wellsprings), that in Reb Shimon's merit, salvations can come from the distance. So, I sat near a window, imagined I was in Meron, and said the fourth and fifth sefer of Tehillim. Soon after Lag b'Omer, I spoke with an asken, who recommended another doctor. I told him that we had already visited many experts and doctors, but we would try once more. The doctor came up with a new plan and baruch Hashem, the situation is improving, and the healing is underway. I am certain things turned around in the merit of the Tehillim we said on Lag b'Omer."
Chazal (Kiddushin 40.) say, מצוה לעשות אדם חשב עשאה כאילו הכתוב עליו מעלה עשאה ולא ונאנס, "If a person wanted to do a mitzvah, but circumstances prevented him from doing it, the pasuk gives him credit as if he performed the mitzvah." The same can be said about going to Meron on Lag b'Omer. If a person wants to go, but circumstances prevent him from getting there, it will be considered as if he was there.
Reb Asher Zelig Margolis zt'l writes in his sefer, "If someone can't go to Meron on Lag b'Omer, or someone lives in chutz l'aretz, he should study the sefer י"רשב מאמרי (a collection of lessons from Reb Shimon bar Yochai) and should be happy with Reb Shimon's hillulah, and he will also have a salvation."
Indeed, the Meor Einayim (Shabbos) tells us that learning the lessons of a tzaddik is the same as being at his grave.
Some have the custom on Lag b'Omer to study with a minyan the praises of Reb Shimon bar Yochai. Reb Shimon said (Gittin 67) מדותי שנו, "Study my divrei Torah." Reb Asher Zelig Margolis writes that Reb Shimon is the only Tana who said explicitly that he wants people to study his divrei Torah. This is because Reb Shimon can bring salvation, protection, and blessings to Bnei Yisrael in all generations, so he encourages us to study his divrei Torah. In this merit, he can help Bnei Yisrael.
