Song to start:
resisim? https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aq09lA_BdnA
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
.
So 500,000 Jews who dress like no Jews I know, singing
songs I don’t understand, all visiting
this place I’ve never heard of for a guy I’ve never heard of, on for a holiday
I’ve never heard of? Do I have that
right?
Yes.
Why were they there? What is this?
They were there because it was lag b‘omer.
What the Heck is that?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CKP9VCblE54
So that’s the Lag.
That sounds pretty reasonable. But
why meron?
Rabbi Shimon Bar Yochai, aka Rasbhi is buried there.
Along with Hillel and Shamai.
So what?
Rashbi wrote the Zohar ! (No he didn’t but many people
believe he did).
yeah, great. So what’s the Zohar? And what does that have to do with
lag B'omer
The Zohar is 13th
century multi-volume that is mostly mystical (anti-
rationalist) commentary on the Torah. It’s written by Moshe De Leon, a spanish Mystic (d. 1305),but
who claimed he got it from Rashbi.
It’s a huge influence on Hasidic Judaism and Jewish customs around the
world.
Who is Rasbhi? That french commentator?
No, that's Rashi- Rabbi Shlomo Yitzhaki, 10th century France. Rashbi was Rabbi Shimon Bar Yochai, 2nd Century Israel. He became a major teacher in a curcial time in Jewish history. To understand more about this point in time, we need to learn two
stories. One is Rabbi Akiba’s
students. The other is about Rashbi.
========================================
Okay, we get the stories.
What does that have to do with the videos?
Chasidic men celebrating lag beomer on mt. Meron. Or outside
of new York. Hundreds of thousands of them here, half a million on various sites on the
moutain in Israel
So Rashbi wrote this big mystical book. (No, he didn’t
really.) But Why visit a grave of someone who is not a family member? Yeuuch.
Intercessors. People to help get your prayers to God. It’s a Chassidic thing, the rest of Jews
almost everywhen and everywhen don’t agree with the idea that your prayers need
help getting to God. Plus, they say he asked people to be happy on His
yahrtziet, which is on… take a guess…
lag beomer
So why go to
Meron? people can be happy anywhere.
Yeah, but here’s buried up there. So there is where the Chassidim go!
What was with the guy in the gold robe and the thousands
of dudes in black.?
That’s the Hasidic Jewish community- the men at least. The leader of the community, their Rebbe (Hebrew for my master or my
rabbi), gets to dress up special.
What the heck are Hassidim anyway?
That’s a whole month of classes. But Let’s see what you know about this part
of the Jewish world which is as
different from our Jewish community we are from
the Ethiopian Jewish community!
1. True or False?
Hasidim rarely wear bright colors as adults, and women never wear red.
2.
True or False? In virtually all Hasidic communities,
kids are allowed zero or very limited access to the Internet.
3.
True or False? They all observe Shabbat very strictly,
but not all keep kosher.
4.
True or False? Hasidim go to their rabbis for advice
not just on Judaism but on every part of their lives.
5.
True or False? Hasidim are very superstitious around
cats, and will often avoid going near cats, even lions at the zoo.
6.
True or False? You can tell which group a Hasidic man
belongs to by his hat and other garments.
7.
True or False? Hassidic Jews marry on the older side
for Americans, usually after reaching
33.
8.
True or False? Hassidic Jews use a siddur similar to
ours, but without English.
9.
True or False? Most Hasidic men will refuse to sit
next to a woman outside their family if on a bus, train or plane.
10.
True or False? There are works of Hasidic thought that
share deep insights into human nature.
The Medium
answer: They started out 350 years ago in Poland. These were
difficult times for the poor, often illiterate jews of Poland and
Russia. Having faced pogroms, attacks, false messiahs and other
tragedies, they were yearning for something better, hoping the true
messiah would arrive. The first Chasidic teachers were Faith healers,
charismatic preachers, and amulet makers who traveled around, often
called tzadikim or Rebbes. These
teachers were accepting of Jews who could not read or did not have time for
study, and taught serving God with Joy is paramount. They taught
niggunim, wordless melodies the illiterate could master, and made them part of
their services.
In
time, the Chasidic teachers founded courts, where Chasidim
surrounded their “rebbe,” in towns in Poland like Karlin, Skvira,
Lyubavitchi, Belz, Sanz, and Chelm. Their
numbers grew and each group became known by their town of origin [Lyubavitchi =Lubavtich].
In some places Chasidism became the dominant form of Judaism, while in
other areas of Europe, Jewish leaders pushed back against the changes Chasdim
made. Only the threat of modernity, allowing Jews to abandon Judaism and
join European society, brought the Chasidim and their opponents together
to create the first movements of Orthodox Judaism.
As the
Holocaust approached, some Chasidic Rebbes fled to the USA, and an equally
small number made aliyah to Palestine. The remaining
Chasidic rebbes in Europe refused to urge their followers to flee,
yet many fled at the last moment at the urging of their followers,
surviving the Holocaust while most of their followers were wiped out.
Many were able to restart their courts and communities in Israel or the USA
with a few survivors after the Holocaust.
Today, most Chasidim live in insular communities, maintaining their own businesses,
culture, and modest modes of dress, often having large families (eight or more
children is common). While they have great command of the foundational texts of
Judaism (Torah, Midrash, Talmud), their schools barely teach secular
subjects to their children, often not even basic math and science as required
by US or Israeli law.
They usually speak Yiddish as their first language- as a
result of their educational system, some Chasidic men in America are unable to communicate in English. Chasidim in Israel refuse to serve in the IDF but expect government support when
they do not work and choose to study Torah full-time. Many Chasidic women work
while the men spend their days in Yeshiva studying.
Chasidic
services can contain beautiful music and joyous dance, but men and
women are separated in synagogue and in almost all areas of life. Most chasidim do
not own TVs or attend sports events or movies. Some do great works of
kindness for other Jews, such as Satmar Chasidim who often stock kosher food
and other Jewish needs at major hospitals ( such as shabbat candles, siddurim). Others
like Chabad offer many free services as a way to have all Jews follow their
version of Judaism.
Who is not a
Chasid? Sephardic jews form Iraq, Morocco, Iran, Spain, etc.,
Ethiopian Jews, as well as Jews from Western Europe and the
Baltics.
So why the bonfires?
Because people like to set stuff on fire, and the Chasdim
made it into these huge deals (WOMEN NOT ALLOWED- they have to go somewhere
separate on the mountain, if at all.)
What? Not allowed?
Why not?
Ask an Ultra-Orthodox rabbi. We don’t separate by gender
at AES.
Aren't you named after this place?
No, I’m named after my grandmother. In America, my name is weird and nobody else
has it. In Israel, it’s like being named
“Dakota”
*******************************************************************
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.
