You shall count for yourselves from the day after the Sabbath... seven weeks. (Vayikra 23:15)
Sefiras Ha’Omer is a time of preparation and purification for Matan Torah. It is a time of clarification for every Jew: is he fitting to receive the Torah? This is why the talmidim of Rabbi Akiva died at this time, as they did not treat each other with sufficient respect.
Rabbi Akiva had twelve thousand pairs of talmidim, from Geves to Antifras, and they all died in one period because they did not treat each other respectfully.
This imperfection in the area of bein adam l’chaveiro, in the way they conducted their interpersonal relationships, impinged on their very right to live. דרך ארץ קדמה לתורה – “Proper behavior precedes Torah,” therefore, someone who is lacking in proper behavior toward his fellow Jews is not fitting to come to the time of Matan Torah.
It is likely that at other times of year, too, Rabbi Akiva’s talmidim did not show sufficient respect to one another, and were held responsible for it, but it did not cause their death. In Sefiras Ha’Omer, which is a time of preparation, a time of increasingly intense clarification, their lacking in this area stood out more, and had a greater effect, so much so that they were punished with death.
The more that a time of year is suited to high levels of spirituality, the greater is the responsibility for one’s failures and lackings during that time. When we are preparing to receive the Torah, every person is examined extra carefully if he is fitting for the Torah. This is why the talmidim of Rabbi Akiva died at this time.
Torah Atones
R. Chaim of Volozhin explains that Torah learning has the power to atone for all sins. One who occupies himself with Torah study does not need the korbanos to atone for him because the power of Torah will atone for him and bring forgiveness for all his transgressions.
Occupying oneself with Torah study atones for all the transgressions of the sinning soul.... We can see how great the power of Torah study is from the fact that it purifies the transgressors of the Jewish people when they do teshuvah, even if they were guilty of idolatry.... If a person occupies himself with Torah study for its own sake – even if he previously sullied himself with tremendous sins and transgressions and sunk deep in the mud and filth of the depths of evil, chas v’shalom – by means of Torah learning he can still count on the light of Torah to bring him back to the good.
We find the same idea expressed by Rabbeinu Yonah, who detailed the various categories of atonement for the various types of sins.
He explains that some sins are atoned by means of lashing, some by the death penalty, and some through kares, dying young. The severity of the sin determines its form of atonement.
Rabbeinu Yonah states there in article 16 that if a person is guilty of desecrating Ha she m’s Name, then undergoing suffering is not sufficient to atone for his sin. However, he writes:
He can attain atonement by means of constant Torah study and toiling in Torah, as Chazal say, “ י ל ית ע ן ב ו ר ע ף כ ת ם י א ה ח נ מ ב ח ו ב ז ב – ‘The House of Eli shall not be atoned for by animal offerings and grain offerings.’ By animal offerings and grain offerings they cannot attain atonement, but they may attain atonement by words of Torah.” ...Thus we see that Torah study heals even the most grievous of wounds. Therefore it says מרפא לשון עץ חיים – “The healing of the tongue is the Tree of Life.”
Torah learning transcends the whole system. It is above and beyond the regular spiritual rules. It is the underlying reality of life and of the world, so Torah has the power to atone for all of a person’s sins, even those that korbanos cannot atone.
This is why R. Chaim of Volozhin wrote that a person can, by occupying himself with Torah study, purify his soul from even the deepest and filthiest evil. As Rabbeinu Yonah said, “Torah study heals even the most grievous of wounds.” It even atones for chilul Hashem.
The Superhuman Ben Torah
Ha she m’s world is composed of mineral, vegetable, animal and human. To truly reach the level of “human” it is not enough to just walk around on two legs. A truly “human” being is a Jew who properly learns Torah and carefully keeps mitzvos and perfects his character traits. The whole purpose of man’s creation was for him to perfect his character traits according to Torah and mitzvos, to live his life according to the Torah’s ways. His deeds of chesed and proper performance of mitzvos are the glorious expression of his humanity.
But there is a level even higher than that of “human.” There is the level of the ben Torah. A ben To r a h’ s learning of Torah is different and loftier than that of an ordinary person. His character traits and performance of mitzvos are different. They are not a matter of shape and order; rather, his entire being is attached to Hashem and Torah.
Someone who sacrifices sleep for another look at the sug ya is a ben Torah. Only he whose constancy in Torah learning is not limited to the regular, scheduled study sessions is living in a place above the physical world.
A lot more is expected of a ben Torah when it comes to his behavior toward other people. A ben Torah needs to display kindness and compassion at all times and in every situation. There is no such thing as a person or a type of behavior that he can’t stand. So during the period of preparing and clarifying before Matan Torah, he needs to conduct his interpersonal relations in a loftier way. His bein adam l’chaveiro needs to be on a higher level.
This was the time of year when Rabbi Akiva’s talmidim were held to account for not treating each other with sufficient respect. In order for the world to continue to exist properly, the place of Torah needs to be as it should. Lack of respect for others damages a person’s own right to exist. And when they died, “the world was desolate,” as Chazal say. This indicates that the world cannot exist, there is no life, without bnei To r a h .
It is hard to maintain this high level of connection to Torah, mitzvos and midos tovos, but it is important for us to know the truth. The way to reach the level of ben Torah is in stages. Deveikus to Torah study, or proper devotion to Te fi l a h, working on one’s midos, or on enhancing one’s mitzvah performance. Each person according to what is most relevant to him can connect to the level of being a ben Torah. This is a level that lifts a person above the world, a level that not dependent of one’s scheduled learning periods and is not limited to the days and times of year when yeshivah is in session.
Just as the Torah enables the world to exist, so the ben Torah bears on his shoulders the world’s existence. He is the perfected human being whose deeds keep the world going. This is an unlimited, unending chesed that encompasses the entire world.
