Fire and Fervor
There’s an age-old minhag of lighting a bonfire l’kavod Rabbi Shimon bar Yochai, and chassidim and pious Yidden from throughout generations exhibited great fervor at the fire in honor of Rashbi—being awakened to teshuvah, to the Ribono shel Olam, and to Torah through this event of rejoicing around the fire.
A great aspect of lighting the fire is the one of simchah—as this is a day of great joy at the Torah that was revealed on this day. Lighting this fire expresses our innermost desire to connect with the essence of the day. Let us try to connect with the significance of the fire—and how it is uniquely connected with the essence of the hillula of Rabbi Shimon bar Yochai.
What Fire Does
We all know that the Ribbono shel Olam created the world with four yesodos, properties; earth, air, water, and fire. The most spiritual among these properties is the yesod of אש—which cannot be felt and constantly dances upward, to the heavens. Different than every other creation in the world which is drawn downward by gravity, fire goes upward, different than all other creations.
A person, who is comprised of all four yesodos, has tendencies and proclivities in all directions. His afar/earth component pulls him downward toward laziness and complacency, and each one of the yesodos has its effect on the person.
When the “fire” component within a person is activated in a positive form, the person will be drawn upward, to spiritual pursuits. He’ll desire to be connected to higher things...
Wanting What We See
To help us understand this, let us take the tendencies of lust and jealousy inside a person. These are generally aroused once we have set eyes on something we want. That is, when a person has an innate desire for things, he has a connection to those things, and then sees something that very thing by someone else, his inner desire and lust is aroused for those things. He had always wanted to become a Rosh Yeshiva, and now he sees that his friend attained the title, and so forth. Seeing this awakened his inner desire that he had long harbored.
Sometimes we see a person becoming very upset and agitated... What happened? He saw a friend or neighbor attain success in a certain area which he had always wanted—and this drives him crazy with envy.
Igniting Desire
On a great and exalted day such as Lag BaOmer, the inner fire and desire for holiness and elevation is much more easily awakened—and this is what we illustrate with the bonfires that we light.
One must know that the very השתוקקות, yearning for kedushah and elevation is an act of supreme avodas Hashem. It’s not merely an emotion that passed through him—it is a true yearning and crying out of our neshamah to be closer to the Ribbono shel Olam. This yearning and awakening and כיסופים brings a person to daven to the Ribbono shel Olam, singing to Him, and crying out to Him to show him the way, to draw our hearts to know Him and His truth. Through this great avodah of השתוקקות, the Ribbono shel Olam reciprocates by granting us light and illumination—bringing a person to kedushah and דשמיא סעייתא to the person.
Opening the Gates
This time of awakening and השתוקקות is higher even than tefillah—and is an auspicious time for the acceptance of tefillah. It is a true רצון, עת as the Zohar HaKadosh reveals that the joy of the day results in פתיחין, תרעין the opening of the gates in Shamayim. The tzaddikim have likened this day—which always falls on the same day of the week as Purim—to the exalted day of Purim, of which we’re told לו, נותנים יד הפושט כל anyone who stretches out his hand will be granted his desire.
All of this is due to the great joy that permeates the Heavens on this day—and when a Yid comes with desires and yearnings for רוחניות, he will be answered and granted in the merit of the auspiciousness of the day.
Contracting the Light
But there’s yet another element to the fire on this day.
We know that there’s a great difference between the written Torah and the oral Torah. We’re prohibited from transcribing the Torah sheb’al peh, if not for the determination of Chazal that תורתך, הפרו לה' לעשות עת when it’s time to do for Hashem—that Torah shouldn’t be forgotten—we may even violate the Torah. It is not להיכתב, ניתן given to writing.
When we write down the words of Torah sheb’al peh, we’re in essence contracting its light. There is great and lofty meaning in the words of the Torah, and by committing it to writing, we limit its meaning to what it says on the page. Those familiar with the lofty secrets of this Torah are disappointed—because they know that there’s so much more behind the words. In fact, the Ritva (Gittin 60) tells us that this is the reason why it must not be written down—because Torah sheb’al peh cannot be contracted.
It Didn’t Capture the Essence
Imagine that a person was an extremely close talmid of an exalted tzaddik, and following the passing of the tzaddik, a biography was written about him. He reads the book, and it reminds him of some pleasant memories... but he puts it down, he’s disappointed. It didn’t capture the essence...it contracted the light of the tzaddik.
The Gemara (Arvei Pesachim) tells us that the words in Shir HaShirim...
