LIVING WITH MOSHIACH, Parshat Behar, 5755 B"H LIVING WITH MOSHIACH Weekly Digest About Moshiach PARSHAT BEHAR Iyar 19, 5755 May 19, 1995 * Published Weekly By Lubavitch Shluchim Conferences On The Moshiach Campaign, Committee For The Blind * * * 5755 "Year of Hakhel" ********************************************* * TO RECEIVE THIS PUBLICATION VIA INTERNET: * * E-Mail: yys@dorsai.org * * FOR CHABAD-LUBAVITCH IN CYBERSPACE: * * E-Mail: info@chabad.org * ********************************************* THIS PUBLICATION IS DEDICATED TO THE REBBE, RABBI MENACHEM M. SCHNEERSON OF LUBAVITCH "I BELIEVE WITH COMPLETE FAITH IN THE ARRIVAL OF THE MOSHIACH. AND THOUGH HE MAY TARRY, I SHALL WAIT EACH DAY, ANTICIPATING HIS ARRIVAL." Maimonides, Principles of the Faith, No. 12 ********************* * TABLE OF CONTENTS * ********************* Introduction The Weekly Torah Portion The Rebbe's Prophecy Lag B'Omer Respect And Affection **************** * INTRODUCTION * **************** We are pleased to present, to the visually impaired and the blind, the 25th issue of our weekly publication, Living with Moshiach. * In this week's issue we focus on Lag B'Omer, the 18th of Iyar. * Our sincere appreciation to L'Chaim weekly publication, published by the Lubavitch Youth Organization, for allowing us to use their material. Also, many thanks to our copy editor, Reb Mordechai Staiman, for his tireless efforts. * It is our fervent hope that our learning about Moshiach and the Redemption will hasten the coming of Moshiach, NOW! Rabbi Yosef Y. Shagalov Administrator Committee for the Blind E-Mail: yys@dorsai.org 14 Iyar, 5755, Year of Hakhel Brooklyn, New York *************************************** * THE WEEKLY TORAH PORTION * * Adapted from the Works of the Rebbe * *************************************** Parshat Behar This week's Torah portion, Behar, contains the mitzvah of Shemita, the commandment to allow the holy land of Israel to lie fallow every seventh year. "When you come into the land which I give you . . . six years shall you sow your field . . . but in the seventh year there shall be a Sabbath of rest for the land, a Sabbath for the L-rd: your field you shall not sow, and your vineyard you shall not prune." As reward for this mitzvah, G-d promises to provide the Jewish people with sustenance in overwhelming abundance, more than enough to compensate for their cessation of labor for an entire year. "And if you should say, 'What will we eat in the seventh year? For behold, we are not permitted to sow, and we cannot gather in our harvest,' then will I command My blessing to you in the sixth year, and it will bring forth a harvest for three years." During the sixth year, sufficient crops will be harvested to last throughout the sixth, seventh, and even eighth year of the cycle. Symbolically, the sixth year of the Shemita cycle alludes to the six thousand years of the world's existence; the seventh year alludes to the Messianic Era. The service of the Jewish people throughout the first six thousand years has served to ready the world for the ultimate Sabbath of the seventh millennium, when peace and tranquillity will reign triumphant. We find ourselves now at the end of the six thousand year period. "What will we eat during the seventh year?" we ask. How can our lowly generation, which is on an infinitely lower spiritual level than that of our forefathers, possibly bring about the Final Redemption? G-d reassures us that we need not worry: "I will command My blessing to you in the sixth year," we are promised. G-d has endowed our generation with special strengths and abilities, for despite our spiritual poverty, we have a merit previous generations did not--that extra measure of self-sacrifice necessary for preserving the spark of Jewishness throughout the darkness of the exile. This special power has been granted precisely to our generation, the last generation of exile and the first of Redemption, in order to prepare the world and sow the seeds of the great revelation of G-dliness about to begin. When Moshiach comes, speedily in our day, G-d's promise to "bring forth a harvest for three years" will find ultimate fulfillment in the three distinct phases of the Final Redemption millennium itself: the Messianic Era, the Resurrection of the Dead, and the seventh millennium itself. ************************ * THE REBBE'S PROPHECY * ************************ The Rebbe, Rabbi Menachem M. Schneerson of Lubavitch, issued a call that "THE TIME OF OUR REDEMPTION HAS ARRIVED!" and "MOSHIACH IS ON HIS WAY!" The Rebbe stressed that he is saying this AS A PROPHECY, and asks us all to prepare ourselves for the Redemption, through increasing acts of goodness and kindness. LET US ALL HEED THE REBBE'S CALL. ********************************************* * IN LOVING MEMORY OF MY DEAR GRANDPARENTS, * * * * Reb Shmuel Pesach Ben Reb Yaakov Dovid * * Passed away on 3 Tishrei, 5755 * * * * Mrs. Fraidel Chedvah Bas Reb Zev Wolf * * Passed away on 4 Adar II, 5755 * * Pais * ********************************************* ************** * LAG B'OMER * ************** Thursday, Iyar 18, May 18, is Lag B'Omer. Lag B'Omer is the 33rd (lamed-gimel, hence lag in Hebrew) day of the Omer period (between Passover and Shavuot), is the anniversary of the passing --yahrtzeit--of Rabbi Shimon Bar Yochai, (commonly known by the acronym of his name, Rashbi), author of the Zohar. Rabbi Shimon Bar Yochai lived in the 2nd century b.c.e. He openly criticized the Roman government and was forced to go into hiding. He and his son hid in a cave and immersed themselves in Torah. Emerging after 13 years he founded an academy in the Gallilee. His esoteric teachings were recorded by his disciples in the Zohar, the most fundamental work of Kabbalah. On his yahrzeit on Lag B'Omer, tens of thousands gather at his tomb in Meron, in northern Gallilee. * Before his death, Rabbi Shimon Bar Yochai instructed his students to rejoice on the day of his yahrtzeit. The Holy Ari, Rabbi Yitzchak Luria--one of the greatest scholars in the mystical aspects of the Torah--taught the great virtue of rejoicing on that day, and later the Baal Shem Tov and his followers strengthened the custom of rejoicing on the yahrtzeit. * According to tradition, rainbows (a symbol of G-d's promise to never send another flood), were not seen while Rabbi Shimon Bar Yochai was alive because his merit alone was enough to protect the world against the calamity of a flood. Since "rainbow" and "bow" are both called keshet in Hebrew, the custom developed for children to play with bows and arrows. ***************************************** * RESPECT AND AFFECTION * * Translated from a Letter of the Rebbe * ***************************************** 13 Iyar, 5730 (1970) The story of Lag B'Omer, as related in the Talmud, is well known. Our Sages tell us that the disciples of Rabbi Akiva were stricken by a plague because they were not respectful toward one another. But on the 33rd day of the Sefirah - Lag B'Omer - the plague stopped. The story of Rabbi Akiva's students contains a lesson for every one of us. The Talmud testifies that the students who died in the plague were "disciples of Rabbi Akiva." It is clear that they were worthy of this title, which implies that they were dedicated to Torah and mitzvot with devotion, diligence and self-sacrifice, as their teacher, Rabbi Akiva, had taught them. It follows that their lack of respect for one another could not have been due to trivial matters, but was motivated by the high level of their spiritual standing as "disciples of Rabbi Akiva." The explanation of their conduct is to be found in the saying of our Sages, that people generally have different opinions and different personalities. Each individual has, therefore, his own approach in serving G-d, studying the Torah and observing the mitzvot. For example, one person may do it primarily out of love of G-d; another person may do it primarily out of fear of G-d; a third may do it primarily out of a sense of complete obedience and submission to the Will of G-d; and so forth, though in actual practice, all of them, of course, fully and meticulously observe the Torah and mitzvot in their daily lives. Being disciples of Rabbi Akiva, they were surely "men of truth," who served G-d with the utmost sincerity and devotion, which permeated their whole beings. Thus, it seemed to each one of them that his particular approach was the right one, and any one who had not attained his level was lacking in perfection. Moreover, being disciples of Rabbi Akiva, who taught, "You shall love your fellow Jew as yourself; this is the great principle of the Torah," they were not content personally to advance from strength to strength in their own way of serving G-d, but they wished also to share this with their friends and tried to influence them to follow their path. Seeing that the others were reluctant to accept their particular approach, they could not respect them to the degree that was to be expected of the disciples of Rabbi Akiva. In the light of the above, we can see that the story of Lag B'Omer in the Talmud teaches us what should be the correct conduct of each and every one of us, and the instruction is threefold: a) Serving G-d, studying the Torah and observing the mitzvot, both the mitzvot between one individual and another, and the mitzvot between an individual and G-d, must be performed with true inspiration and vitality, which permeate the whole of the person and his daily conduct. b) The above includes, of course, the great mitzvah of "Love your fellow Jew as yourself," which must also be fulfilled with the utmost vitality and in the fullest measure. c) Together with the above, a person must look kindly and most respectfully upon every Jew, who differs only in the manner of worship, whether it is out of love, or out of reverence, etc. A further instruction from the above is that even if one meets a Jew who has not yet attained the proper level of Divine service, the approach must still be that of respect and affection, in accordance with the teaching of our Sages, "Judge every person favorably." Let the great Sage, Rabbi Shimon Bar Yochai, who considered Lag B'Omer his day of personal joy, be an example and inspiration to all of us. For Rabbi Shimon said that he was prepared to give up all his merits in order to save the world from judgment. In other words, he was prepared to give himself completely to a person who has no merits of his own, whom he never met, and who may be at the other end of the world. How much more so should one be ready to give of himself for the benefit of near and dear ones and all his friends. May G-d bless each one of you that you live and act in accordance with the spirit of Lag B'Omer and that you do so with the utmost measure of true ahavat Yisrael (love of a fellow Jew), with joy and gladness of heart, to hasten the realization of the words of the Lag B'Omer week's Torah portion, "I will break the bars of your yoke (in exile) and make you go upright"--in fulfillment of the true and complete Redemption through Moshiach. ========================================================== = End of Text: Living With Moshiach, Parshat Behar, 5755 = ===========================================================