The Torah Light Brings us to our Purpose
These words alone are enough to instill great joy into the soul of a Yid as he contemplates the idea that the great light of this day helps me to this day to attain warmth and meaning in Yiddishkeit!
Furthermore, we know that on every Yom Tov the aura of the events of the original day are reawakened and aroused once again—as we say הזה, בזמן ההם בימים in those days at this time. This means that on the day of Lag BaOmer new insights and illuminations in Torah gush forth for every single Yid, even the simplest ones among us. If our eyes would truly be open, our greatest desire in the world would be to rid ourselves of negative habits. The reason we find it difficult to overcome challenges is because we’re lacking the light of Torah: When we’re gifted this great light, then we find the way forward!
So often, we see people who really struggled spiritually—and then the Ribbono shel Olam helped that they extricated themselves from that cycle. What happened? Nothing major happened. They simply received light which illuminated the proper path for them.
How New Compositions Are Made
Let us take as an example the idea of new musical compositions. We all know that there are a limited number of musical notes—and they have been known to humanity for thousands of years, and there have been brilliant composers over the centuries.
How then is it possible, in our generation, for new composers to come up with beautiful new compositions? These notes weren’t exactly a secret until this moment... How did this person come up with such a chiddush that has never been heard before?
Revealing the Hidden
The answer is that a niggun must be revealed. Ask any composer and they will tell you that these compositions are a gift from above that is sent to them. They themselves can’t really explain how it happens. An honest and ehrliche composer will tell you the truth; “The song came to me... I can’t really explain how...”
This song existed in the world, but the Ribbono shel Olam must illuminate in order for it to be revealed. Every song has a message, and it is the Ribbono shel Olam who illuminates and reveals this message to the person who will introduce it to the world.
A Little Bit of Light
The same applies to the light of Torah. Every Yid must access the inner light of Torah, and he must cry and plead for it. He must nullify himself and connect himself to the Ribbono shel Olam and to tzaddikim—and then the light will be revealed to him. When the light is revealed, even the most difficult challenges become resolved without needing to turn over the world. The Ribbono shel Olam makes miracles so that the circumstances may remain the same—and yet everything is resolved.
Sometimes, people go through challenges, and they decide: “You know what? I need to move to another city... I will change my affiliation to another kehillah...” erroneously thinking that this is how they will escape their problems. While there’s certainly a concept of משנה מקום משנה מזל, one who changes his place changes his fortune, some people think that if they want a yeshu’ah they must be completely reborn, to completely overhaul everything about their lives. This is simply untrue. All we need is a little bit of light, and everything will be resolved right where you are, with the very same circumstances that you currently have.
Transformed into Blessing
For example, one person must commute to work an hour and twenty minutes every day. This drains him, and he feels like this ruins his entire day. For five years he has been pleading with the Ribbono shel Olam to give him a new job. “If my parnassah would be near my home, I would be able to learn more... I would see my children more,” he says. “I appreciate my job, but the commute is so long!”
But one day, the Ribbono shel Olam revealed the light. He began to listen to shiurim on the way, and in one instant, this became the highlight of his day! He feels that the entire spiritual salvation in his life is derived from the time that he spends on the road due to the distance of his workplace. This brought about a complete change in his life—all because of this travel time. He spent five years davening to Hashem to change his job, but the Aibishter showed him that he didn’t really need to change anything at all. Leave things just as they are—just add some light.
On Lag BaOmer We’re Granted the Gift of Light
This is just one of countless examples of the way the light of Torah suddenly becomes revealed for a person, and with that comes illumination and salvation right where the person is.
The exalted day of Lag BaOmer is auspicious for this very illumination. On this day, the wellsprings of revelation and illumination are revealed. It’s a day of blessing, when a shefa of the light of Torah comes down to every Yid. This alone is the greatest reason and cause for celebration and joy: We’ve received the greatest gift! The Ribbono shel Olam gifted us with light our lives. I may not see it clearly yet—but don’t all gifts come in layers of wrapping which take time to unravel?
When a Yid truly believes this, it brings him tremendous joy.
May the Ribbono shel Olam grant us the proper keilim and vessels to accept the light and the blessings of this exalted day which is so filled with illumination.
