25th day of the Omer! Parsha and Lag B'omer

 

Song to start:  resisim? https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aq09lA_BdnA

Aleinu.  https://www.sefaria.org/Siddur_Ashkenaz%2C_Weekday%2C_Shacharit%2C_Concluding_Prayers%2C_Alenu?lang=bi

Matkon Yomi:  Healthy Frerro Rocher: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R_gxSxZaXGk

Something Jews do you have probably never seen before. And a whole lot of them do this. 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UjBpfR7U_d0

at 3:20

ttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6ahhKUgxdDE

1:50

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CcyKThU-iBg

11:07

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Talmud Bavli, Yebamot 61b:  Rabbi Yishmael said “If you studied Torah in your youth, study Torah in your old age [as well], as you do not know which of them will endure, the early or the latter.” Rabbi Akiva says “If you had students in your youth, obtain students for yourself in your old age [as well], as you do not know which of them will endure, the early or the latter.”

Rabbi Akiva once had twelve thousand students, from Akko in the north to Antipatris in the south,  and they all died in one short time period. Why? Because they were stingy in helping one another, and did not treat each another with respect. Later in life, he had seven last students:

1.     The genous Rabbi Meir, a Jew by Choice who took the best from all his teachers and was chosen by the brillaint scholar Beruriah as a husband;

2.    Rabbi Yehuda son of Ilai, known for living modestly and having great self control;

3.    the hard-working  Rabbi Yossi ben Halafta, who was thoughtful and hated long debate;

4.    passionate Rabbi Shimon Bar Yochai, logical when it came to Jewish law, but a mystic when it came to legend and midrash;

5.    Rabbi Elazar ben Shamua, who was generous with his wealth and taught many generations of students;

6.    Rabbi Yoḥanan HaSandlar, who made shoes and rulings in Jewish law with equal skill and determination;

7.    and Rabbi Eliezer ben Yaakov, who cared for the disabled and knew details of the Temple few others knew.  

Akiva said to them: “My sons, the previous students died only 

because they were miserly toward one another. See to it that you 

do not act in accordance with their actions.” They arose and 

filled the entire Land of Israel with knowledge of Torah.

With regard to those twelve thousand of Rabbi Akiva’s students, we find: It is taught that all of them died in the period from Passover until Shavuot. Rav Ḥama bar Abba said (and some say it was Rabbi Ḥiyya bar Avin), “They all died a horrid death.” The sages asked “What do you mean, they died a horrid death?” Rav Naḥman said “They died from Askarah.”

Note for students: Later legends state that the Askara pandemic came to an end on Lag B’omer.    Askara,  literally meaning “choking,”  indicates either Diphtheria or Croup,  both of which attack the respiratory system and produce horrible coughs and other terrible effects on the body.  5 to 10 precent of cases become fatal.  Today we have a vaccine that prevents Diphtheria, but in the time of Akiva, it would have spread rapidly by coughing and by contact, and easily devastated a community of students.  

 

Talmud Bavli Shabbat 33a: Rabbi Yehuda son of Ilai,  Rabbi Yossi Ben Halafta, and Rabbi Shimon Bar Yochai were discussing, and Yehuda Ben-Gerim sat beside them. Rabbi Yehuda opened and said: “How amazing are the actions of this nation, the Romans, as they established marketplaces, established bridges, and established bathhouses!” Rabbi Yossi was silent. Rabbi Shimon ben Yocḥai responded and said: “Everything that they established, they established only for their own purposes. They established marketplaces to have a place for selling female slaves; bathhouses, to pamper themselves; and bridges, to collect taxes from all who pass over them.” 

 

Yehuda Ben Gerim went and related their statements to his household, and those statements continued to spread until they were heard by the officials of the Emperor. The Romans ruled and said: “Yehuda, who elevated the Roman regime, shall be elevated and appointed as head of the Sages, the first among he speakers in every place. Yossi, who remained silent, shall be exiled from his home in Judea as punishment, and sent to the city of Tzippori in the Galilee. And Shimon, who denounced us, shall be killed.”

 

 Rabbi Shimon bar Yoḥai and his son, Rabbi Elazar, went and hid in the study hall. Every day Rabbi Shimon’s wife would bring them bread and a jug of water and they would eat. When the search for Rabbi Shimon intensified, Rabbi Shimon said to his son: “I am worried about your mother.  She could be interrogated  easily.  We should leave,  and then the authorities will  not torture her so that  she reveals our whereabouts.” They went and they hid in a cave that miraculously had  a carob tree was for food  as well as a spring of water. They would remove their outer clothes and sit covered in sand up to their necks. They would study Torah all day in that manner. At the time of prayer, they would dress and pray, and they would again remove their outer clothes afterward so that they would not become tattered. They sat in the cave for twelve years.

 

Elijah the Prophet came and stood at the entrance to the cave and said: “Who will inform bar Yoḥai that the emperor died and his decree has been cancelled?” They emerged from the cave, and saw people who were plowing and sowing. Rabbi Shimon bar Yoḥai said “These people abandon eternal life of Torah study and engage in business just to make money!” Every place that Rabbi Shimon and his son Rabbi Elazar directed their eyes was immediately scorched. A Divine Voice emerged and said to them “Did you emerge from the cave in order to destroy My world? Go back to your cave!” They again went and sat there for twelve months. A Divine Voice emerged and said to them: “Let’s try this again- come out from your cave.”

They emerged as the sun was setting on Shabbat eve. They saw an elderly man who was running home at sunset, holding two bundles of fragrant myrtle branches for perfuming the home. They said to him: “Why do you have these?” He said to them: “In honor of Shabbat.” They said to him “isn’t one enough?” . He answered them: “One is corresponding to: “ Zachor et Yom Ha-shabbat Lekodsho- Remember the Shabbat day, to keep it holy” (Exodus 20:8), and one is corresponding to: “Shamor et Yom Ha-shabbat Lekodsho- Guard the Shabbat day, to keep it holy” (Deuteronomy 5:12).” Rabbi Shimon said to his son: “See how beloved the mitzvot are to Israel!” Their minds were put at ease.