Lag BaOmer Insights

Not from the hands, not from the head, not from the heart, but from the spark within is a Jew ignited.

Rabbi Akiva taught that “Love your fellow as yourself” is a “cardinal principle in the Torah.” How was it that that Rabbi Akiva’s disciples, of all people, were deficient in this area?

There comes a point at which the external resources we've come to rely on are suddenly ineffectual, and the only place to turn is inward, to ourselves

Rabbi Shimon bar Yochai and the essence of Jewish mysticism

If only I could be locked away in a cell with no distractions and no excuses, can you imagine how much I would accomplish?

To explain our world without examining its inner depth is as shallow as explaining the workings of a computer by describing the images viewed on its monitor...

Is death a reason to mourn, or to celebrate the life of the deceased? That depends on the nature of the person’s life . . .

The night their father left town, his sons reminisced about their shared childhood, and the messages stressed in their home...

They wallowed in sand, subsisting only on carobs and water. They exit after thirteen years. What is the first thing on Rabbi Shimon’s agenda?

Can you find a competent electrician willing to do a job for, say, three candies an hour? How about a spiritual person willing to serve G‑d for material reward?

Is your job a method of providing youself with the necessities of life, or has it become its own purpose?

It’s my favorite oxymoron: If one indeed lives in the future, it’s not the future anymore, is it? And if one only thinks he’s living in the future, then he's not really living there, is he?

In order to conquer and affect the world around us we must first move inwards...

What were they thinking when they invented Lag BaOmer parades?

We count the Omer in anticipation of the giving of the Torah on Shavuot. But on Lag BaOmer we celebrate the life of R’ Shimon bar Yochai, who revealed the esoteric dimension of Torah.

She gestured to a pile of documents and photographs she had prepared for our meeting, pulling out an old newspaper.“Look, that’s me in the front row, soon after the liberation of Bergen-Belsen,” she said in a shaky voice.

Rain was our enemy. It meant no tree climbing, no kickball, and no raiding my mother's garden for the ripe strawberries she had not yet discovered. It meant, in short, no real fun for an entire day...

Explore the customs associated with Lag BaOmer, a day of mysticism, bonfires, and celebration!

Lag BaOmer is a holiday I didn’t know much about growing up. I’m not even sure if I celebrated it until the year I came to Israel to study at the age of 21.

Anyone who has tried to work through a character flaw will concede that it is very difficult. And even if there seems to be a shift today, how can I know that tomorrow won’t bring back the same old demon?

The earliest mention of this custom is found in a letter written by Rabbi Ovadia of Bertinoro (c. 1445–c. 1515), known for his classic commentary on the Mishnah.