Lag Ba’Omer - Bringing the Future into the Present

2:34 But in the last year I feel I've had the opportunity to reflect on Lag Ba'omer. And a year later With the passage of time I feel like I have something meaningful to share with you tonight. Because tonight's Lag Ba'omer is a very complicated one. On the one hand, it's Lag BaOmer. Lag BaOmer is a tremendous time of simcha. The other hand, it's the first yard site of the forty-five kadoshim that were nifter on Lag BaOmer. How could we be insensitive? How could we be besimcha the way we were a year ago? The world has changed. Somebody said to me, "They said, 'Look, we've had terrorist attacks on Purim. We don't cancel Purim.' That's true." It's the Lag Baomer. And on the other hand, who could be so callous as to ignore where we were holding a year ago? So to try to develop some sort of hashkafa To develop some language To be Ezra Hashem, inspire some feelings as to how we could appropriately approach this Lag Baomer, and so I'm going to share with you a tirah from my Rebbe Rav Zucker.

3:55 I'm not buying it because I think it's an appropriate Torah to share, and we'll begin with several important questions. First of all, if you've ever experienced a yartzeit How do we typically celebrate a yartzeit? A yartzeit is a sad day. A yartzeit is not a day of simcha. The anniversary of somebody's passing, we don't generally throw a party. It's a time where we reflect. It's a time where we take things seriously. And the passing of Rav Shmuel Yochai on Lag BaOmer is celebrated the exact opposite way. I don't know if you've ever heard about what happens on Meron. It's not only in Meron; it's all over the country. But I don't know if you've ever heard what happens on Meron. On Meron, it's the ultimate expression of simcha. You have the breast lovers dancing on top of the cars. Hasidim, the rebbe's lighting their fires, the Hasidim arm in arm dancing so beautifully.

4:59 Klal Yisrael sits in a tent. On Meron. I don't know if they'll have it this year. I hope they will. But in previous years, there was a tent, a big tent, huge And they would serve drinks and kugels and cholent, everything for free. And all Jews, it didn't matter if you're Svardi or Ashkenazi. If you're a Litvak or you're a Chassid, if you're modern or Tzayni or Charedi, it didn't matter what community or label you attached yourself to. All Yidden sit in this tent, sitting next to each other at the same tables, eating the same food. It's one of the most beautiful things I've ever seen. It's such a night of Simcha. It's the exact opposite from what we would think a Yartzeit should be. So why is it that Roshim Bayochai's Yartzeit is celebrated, as opposed to a day of reflection? That's our first question.

5:51 The second question The Rama in Shulchan Aruch says, why is this such a day of Simcha? Because of the twenty four thousand passing of twenty four thousand Talmidim of Rav Akiva that passed, they finished on this day. Meaning, on Lag BaOmer, there was no more death. So the question is, what's the connection between the fact that Rav Shimon Bar Yochai passed away on Lag BaOmer and that the Hastaalcos of Rav Shimon Bar Yochai was on Lag BaOmer? And the Talmidim of Rav Akiva stopped dying exactly on this day. That's the second question. The third question is a little more complicated. So I'll ask you just to bear with me for a couple of moments. We all know the story of Rav Shemba Yochai But just to repeat it to make sure everyone has the story. Rabbi Yehuda, Rabbi Yosei Aglieli, and Rav Shemba Yochai are sitting around and discussing the Romans.

6:47 Rabbi Yehuda said nice things about the Romans, a friendly posture towards the Romans. Rabbi Yosi Aglieli was silent But Rabbi Shimbo Yochai attacked the Romans and he spoke very disparagingly of them. A former Talmud of Rabbi Shimbo Yochai, unbeknownst to Rashbi A former Talmud of his, a Talmud that had gone astray. His name was Yehuda Ben Gerim. He overheard these disparaging remarks that Roshim Bayochai made about the Romans. And he was Meiser, Roshim Bayochai, to the Roman government. He snitched on him. And he told the Roman authorities what Roshim Bayochai did. As a result, the Roman authorities went after Rabbi Shimon. And he ran away. Eventually, he ran away to a cave with his son. Where he buried himself in the sand And he learned Torah all day. He ate from a carob tree. That miraculously grew nearby. He drank from a stream that miraculously came through that area, and this is how Roshimba Yochai and his son survived for twelve years.

7:55 Before we continue on with the story, we have a question: What was Roshimba Yochai's? I'm going to use a word. Obviously, I don't mean it like this, but what was his obsession with the Romans? Why was he so passionate about being connected to the Romans? Why did that touch him in such a deep place? Why could Rishim Bayochai not just stay quiet? Do his thing? Why does he need to be very frontal about attacking the Romans? The story continues. After twelve years in the cave, Rishim Bayochai and his son Who are living and subsisting on nothing They decide to leave the cave. And what do they see? They see a farmer, and he's tilling the land. This farmer is going and working the land. And Rishim Bar Yochai looks at this farmer and he says Manichin chayelam. He's leaving aside eternal life. Lechaye shav, for just a momentary existence. Meaning, why is he sitting and working when he could be sitting and learning Torah? Torah is eternal, and he's sitting and paying attention just to what he's going to have today.

9:10 And because Roshimba Yochai looked at the field, Chazal tell us that the field went up in flames. Na'akadosh Baruch Hu said to Roshimba Yochai, 'For this, you came out of the cave to destroy my world.' Rashbi and his son went back into the cave for another year. Neneli O Anavi came and told them, "It's okay. You can leave now." And when they left the cave A different story happened. They saw a man, and he was carrying hadasim. What are hadasim in English? Myrtle branches. They said to this man, "Why are you carrying these myrtle branches? Why are you carrying these adasim?" He said, "What do you mean?" I'm carrying them to bring home for Shabbos. So they said to him, 'But why are you carrying two myrtle branches? Why are you carrying two adasim?' He said, "What do you mean?" One is for zocher and one is for shomer.

9:58 And after that, Rishim Bar Yochai said, We can go back into the world. And so we have another question: Why does Rishim Bar Yochai burn up a field after twelve years and say manich and chay oil and the chayishol? You're leaving aside the eternal life just for a momentary reward of working in this world. What bothered Roshim by Yochai so much about that, and what changed after another year? Now Roshim by Yochai comes out and he sees this Jew and he's walking with these hadasim, and because it's zacher and shomer, and he goes, now we could go out into the world. Those are our questions for tonight. One last question, but this question really leads into the answer. Zayra Kadosh says We know that there are different psukim in the Torah, and each pasuk relates to a different person. What's the pasuk of Rav Shimon Bar Yochai?

10:51 Zayra Kadosh says, "What's the pasuk of Rav Shimon Bar Yochai? So the pasuk says, 'Yerei kol zuchurcha as peneha adon Hashem.' This is the pasuk that tells us that a Jew is obligated to go up. Three times a year to the Beis Hamikdash. We all know there's a halacha called Shalish Regalim. On Pesach, on Shavuos, and on Sukkot, a Jew makes a pilgrimage in ascent to Har Habayis. From this pasuk. So our last question before we get to the answer is: What is the connection between Rishim Bayochai and Shalish Regalim? What's the connection between those two concepts? So I'll share with you an idea. It is one of the most fundamental ideas in all of Yiddishkeit. The idea goes as follows: Life cannot die. It's impossible. Life cannot die. Just like salt cannot go bad. Salt is a preservative. Salt cannot spoil. The definition of salt is that it cannot spoil.

12:04 If you have salt that spoils, what do you know about it? It's not salt. If life could die Then it wouldn't be life. Life doesn't die. Any more than salt goes bad. Life doesn't die. It's the nature of life. So you'll say, "What do you mean? People die all the time." We make a fundamental mistake. There's a difference between life and alive. Life is the condition of the soul. Life cannot die. The body borrows life from the soul. And because the body borrows life from the soul, it has a new state, and this new state is called alive. Alive is not the same thing as life. Do you understand this idea? I'll say it again. Make sure everybody gets it. Life does not die. If it dies, it's not life. But there is a thing called alive. Our body is alive. It's animated by the life of the soul.

13:15 So the body can die. That's called when you go from being alive to being dead. But life itself cannot die. In fact, the only reason there's a notion of death in the world is because Adam and Chilah sinned. Had Adam and Chilah not sinned, what would have happened? The life that the body gives—I'm sorry—the life that the soul gives to the body would never cease. Death is a cosmic accident. And Judaism is the sustained fight against the notion of death. We are not machshiv death. We mourn when somebody passes. But we don't believe that a bad thing has happened. We feel a sense of loss. But they, the soul, continue to be fine. How do you know that the soul continues to be fine, girls? This is a very deep idea. You have to stick with me on this, because life cannot die. So of course, just because the body is dead, the soul continues on. How could it be anything but? The soul goes from our world to a place called Olam HaNeshamos.

14:24 And in Olam Anishamos, it awaits. Either there'll be a rebirth, or ultimately there'll be Tzias Amesim. But the soul remains what it always has been—life itself. So just because the body has died doesn't mean anything fundamental has changed to the soul. In the Beis Hamikdash The Beis Hamikdash is a reflection. This is a very deep concept, girls. The Beis Hamikdash is a reflection of Eilam Haba. The Beis Hamikdash is a reflection of what will one day be. Now we live in a world of death because Adam Harishon sinned. But when Mashiach comes and there is a tikkun for everything that Adam Harishon did, there is a rectification of everything that Adam Harishon did. There will be no more death. And so the Beis Hamikdash is a place where death does not exist. And I'll show you this in a couple of ways. This is what Rezucker said.

15:20 Very special vort. Chazal tell us to Yerushalayim and Machos that Nefuah and Chachma Prophecy and wisdom were asked What should be done with someone who doesn't have irah? What should be done with the sinner? And you know what they said? Kill him. He didn't have irah. He deserves to die. When asked, Hakadosh Baruch Hu, what should we do with the sinner? Hakadosh Baruch Hu said Bring a carbon. You know what that means, girls. When you think deeply about it, here's a person who did Naverah And they come to the base of Mikdash. If Chochma and Nefuah were there, what would Chochma have, Nefuah said? This person is holding in the realm of death. They've removed themselves from the source of life. Like think about it like an outlet. If you have something that's plugged into an outlet, it's on. What happens if you remove it from the outlet? It's off. When we do an avera, what have we done? What is chachma saying? What is nevuah saying? What does prophecy say? What does wisdom say? You unplugged yourself. If you unplugged yourself from the rebbeinu shelohem, so now you're removed from life itself. Memalei, you should die.

16:40 But in the bais hamikdash, girls, is there a notion of death? Because the base of Mikdash reflects the reality of Laasid Lava, what will one day be an Olam Habah, there is no death, and so what is the person able to do? He's able to bring a carbon and plug themselves back into the outlet. And that's how they stay alive. Which means that every single time we did an Avera and we went to the base of Mikdash, in a sense, what were we experiencing? Tchiasa Mason. I know we don't always think of it like that, but that's the truth. Every time we go into the Beis Hamikdash, we go into that place of tshuva. We're experiencing a tchias amesim. We're coming back from the dead. This is a very important concept. In the Beis Hamikdash, there's no such thing as death. That's why the Gemara says that a woman never miscarried in the Beis Hamikdash, because in the Beis Hamikdash, there's no such thing as death. That's why the lechem uponim never went stale in the Beis Hamikdash, because time does not go by in that way that it draws the life out of something.

17:38 That's why the Kohanim, the very first halacha in Parshas Emor. What does it say? Emor ve'amarta lahazer gadolim ala ketanim. What do the Tati Kohanim have to teach their little Kinderloch? You're not allowed to become tamei meis. Why isn't a Cohen allowed to become tamei meis? Because a Cohen spends all of his time in the Beis Hamikdash. There's no notion of death in the Beis Hamikdash. About the Beis Hamikdash, it says misos kol ha'aretz. The greatest simcha in the world is the Beis Hamikdash, and listen why? Because where does sadness come from? Sadness comes from death. Any time you're sad, think about it a little bit. Where's that sadness coming from? I'll give you an example. I'll give you a not such an obvious example. Obviously, if you lose somebody, we all understand that's a tremendous source of sadness, and it comes from death. In a couple of weeks, you're going to finish Toma Devora, and on the night that you leave, or in those last couple of days, there'll be plenty of tears. It's like a river of tears runs through Toma Devora.

18:49 I talk. I remember my daughters, and when they were in eighth grade, they talked about "Will you cry on the last day of eighth grade?" It's like a It's like a rite of passage, and some of my daughters were like absolutely not! I will be stoic. I will not shed a tear. One of those girls came home and she said, "I don't know what happened. I was crying like a baby all day." Some of those girls, Baruch Hashem, those Berg daughters, like I'm going to be crying like a baby. They're so happy to experience their emotions. The variety of our children. Why are you sad on the last day of school? Why are you going to be sad on the last day of seminary? It's a type of death. There's a finality to it. I don't mean it literally. For those of you that just went around, what did he just say?

19:39 But it's true. Any time we end something, is there not a notion That's the end of it? That's why, by the way, there's a grieving process when people break up. It's a very uncomfortable grieving process. It's like a period of mourning. We even use that lash. I was dating him for almost three months. I thought we were gonna get engaged. I don't know what happened. It's like she goes into avails. I mean that seriously. And it's appropriate. Why? Because something has died and it needs to be paid attention to. There's a relationship that is no longer. That means there's a loss of a co-rememberer. We were together on a journey, and the only people that could remember that journey together were me and you. Now you're no longer on that journey with me anymore. And so, who will remember these things with me? That's why when you are in a relationship, you know you do. You go. You remember that time.

20:32 It's a very beautiful thing to say to somebody. You remember that time. It's a privilege to have friends like that. It's a privilege to be in a relationship like that. In my family, we used to go to Cape Cod, Massachusetts, every summer. And we did our family things every single summer in Cape Cod, Massachusetts. Baruch Hashem, we all live here in Eretz Yisrael today. But you know what we do when we get together and we like to have a family get-together. Remember that time we went to this water park. Remember that time we went to this beach. I didn't only do princess things there. Remember that time mom got so upset at us. Remember that time we went to the Cape Cod potato chip factory. That's a true story. It's a Cape Cod potato chip factory in Cape Cod. It's the best, right? Can I tell you salt and vinegar? Pasha, can I tell you?

21:23 Can I tell you a real thing? The Cape Cod Potato Chip Factory has a tour that you can take. The tour You have to do it. The tour is from here to there. That's the whole tour. You're walking through. There's a glass window on one side, where all the machines are, and you just walk through. At the end, you get a free bag of chips. A mini bag of chips. But listen. They don't count how many times you go through the tour. But the tour is six seconds. So me and my brothers went in, got a bag of chips, went back, went in, got a bag of chips and went to the car with a thousand bags of chips. And they were selling. This is a beautiful family story. Because it's like a beach theme Cape Cod potato chip factory. It's like a beach theme, so they had a lifeguard chair, which was a stand for potato chips.

22:25 And I wanted the lifeguard chair, and my brothers wanted the lifeguard chair, so we went over to the. It was probably some twenty-three-year-old kid who was working there for the summer. We're like, "How much for the chair?" And he's like, "The chair is not for sale." And my brother looks at him and he goes Everything has a price. The guy said, "It's not for sale." My brother's like Everything has a price, and I'm sitting there watching my brother, who's three years younger than me. Act like a mafia goon over Cape Cod potato chips. Not even the potato chips, over the lifeguard stand that held the Cape Cod potato chips. If you find a burg And you go over to them and you say I heard Avi Berg tried to buy the Cape Cod potato chip lifeguard stand. They will do this. They'll go, 'good times.'

23:20 Simcha? No. Of course not. Why did he even think he could get the chair? And what would he have done with it had he gotten the chair? It was a monstrous size. We were in Massachusetts. We would have had to get it back to the five towns. None of these things bothered my brother. We had these wonderful memories together, no? And then what happens when you lose somebody? They're no longer there to remember the story with you. And when people part ways from each other There's a death to it. When you walk by, that's why it's like. Girl once told me She had this really serious relationship And they used to go to this same hotel lobby. Every single date was in the same hotel lobby. And she went out with a new guy. And he planned the date, and where was the date in that hotel lobby?

24:26 And it's traumatizing. And why is it traumatizing? It's just a hotel lobby. Because it was in that hotel lobby that we spoke about this, and it was in that hotel lobby that we first said this to each other, and it was in that hotel lobby v'chulu v'chulu. In a certain way, when we part ways from each other, it's a type of death, and it requires a grieving process and a mourning process. The reason that the Beis Hamikdash is kulo simcha is because there is no death in the Beis Hamikdash. That's why it's misoyz kala aretz. It's the most simchadic place that a person could ever experience. That's why on the Simcha's Beis Hashoeva, anyone who didn't see the Simcha's Beis Hashoeva in their life, it's like they never saw simcha. They never experienced simcha like this in their life. This is something unusual because it's all life; it's no death.

25:14 And that's why on Yontif there is a mitzvah of Aliyah LeRegel. Yantif is zman of simcha. There is a lach; you have to be besimcha and yantif. If you have to be besimcha and yantif, listen. Remember, girls, all things exist on three levels: in the level of makom, in the level of zman, in the level of nefesh. In the level of makom, the base of mikdash represents laasid lava, the ultimate simcha where there is no death. In zman, in days, yantif represents yom shakulo tov. It represents those days of oila mabro, where there will be no death. And in nefesh, in person. When a Jew goes up to the Beis Hamikdash and is a man of Aliyah Laregel, he is experiencing literally what it was like to be an Arilam Abba. That's the mitzvah of Aliyah Laregel. What did Rishon Bayochai learn in that cave all of those years?

26:03 So he learned what's called Pnimias Hatayro. Today, these words have Baruch Hashem become part of our lexicon, part of our jargon. We hear the words Pnimias Hatayro and we know what it means. The inner essence of Torah. Rishimba Yochai. It's described that the Torah that he taught was called Ilana Dechay A living tree Like an eighth chayim, a living tree. Neshmasan Da'iraisa. He taught the living soul of Torah And this is why Rishimba Yochai buried himself in the dirt Because we know. That when a person dies Where does his body return to? From dust you came. And from dust you shall return. But in the world of Roshim Baruchai, girls, in the world of Ilana Dechai, of the eighth Chaim, of revealing the inner essence of Torah, is there any notion of death? There's no notion of death. When you reveal the truth of Torah, the Torah that will be taught in the days of Mashiach, the Torah that will be the Torah of Olam Habah, there is no death in that Torah. That's why it's such a profound Torah, such a transcendent Torah.

27:16 So he knew the secret of how to turn Misa into Chaim. What happens when we are born? We come from dust. What happens when we die? We return to dust. What does Roshim Bayochai bury himself in? He buries himself in the dust of this world. And he says, "I stand opposed to this dust. I bury myself in the dust, but what do I discover within that dust? As I'm sitting for twelve, thirteen years in that cave, sitting and learning the Shmas and the Ayraisa, Ilanet the Chai, Eitz Chaim, this Torah of life. What is Rishon Bayochai doing?" He's revealing that in the essence of all things, there is no such thing as death. Death is just a temporary stop that occurs in this world. In Ayel Mabow, there is no notion of death. That's why in the pizmon that you'll hear all over Israel tonight The pizmon of Baruch Hai Baruch Hai, you know that niggun.

28:14 One of the stanzas of Baruch Hai says, "Nase Adam Neemar Baavurecha." Who was the Torah referring to when it said, 'Come on, let's make man'? We understand the simple pshat: 'Come on, let's make man,' Hakadosh Baruch Hu says to the Malachim. But who is the man? Who's the man that we're referring to? Who's the ultimate Adam? The ultimate Adam is Rishim Bar Yochai. Because Adam Rishon was originally meant to live forever. Do you girls know that if Adam Rishon had just waited until Shabbos, he would have been able to eat from the Eitz Chayim? Zayar Kadosh says he would have been able to eat from the Eitz Chayim. Only because he ate from the Eitz Hadass. It was important that he didn't eat from the Eitz Chayim because then he would be living forever in a corrupted state. But really, Adam Rishon was meant to live forever.

29:03 But because Adam Harishon sinned, and he pulled the plug, so to speak, what did he bring into the world? He brought death into the world. Rishimba Yochai comes after Adam; he becomes the rectification, the tikkun for Adam Harishon. And now we can understand the story of Rishimba Yochai. Rishimba Yochai comes out of the cave, and Rishimba Yochai is connected to life itself. So when Rishimun sees that Jew and he's tilling that land and he's acting like a farmer, he sees that accountant, he sees that lawyer, he sees that doctor, he sees the dentist, he sees the periodontist, whatever you do in your life, he sees the speech therapist, the physical therapist, the art therapist, the music therapist. He sees all therapists in the world. Rishimbar Yochai looks at every one of them, and because Rishimbar Yochai is connected to life, what does he say? How could you possibly be involved in Chayesha?

29:52 How could you be involved in living life just for a moment? Life is eternal. And he looks at the field and he burns it up because he can't understand living in this world. This is not the world of Roshim Bayochai. The world of Roshim Bayochai is the world of Elohaba. Hakadosh Baruch Hu says, "You came out of the cave to destroy my world. Go back into the cave." He goes back into the cave. He goes deeper. Even deeper than he had done for the first twelve years, and when he comes out, he learns a phenomenal lesson. He sees a Jew who's also acting like Chayesha. Looks like he's acting like Chayesha. He's walking around with hadasim. And was Rishimba Yochai look at him and say, "What are you doing with those hadasim?" What does the Jew say? They're for Shabbos. Are they really for Shabbos? Then why do you have two? Maybe one is for yourself. Maybe you're acting like a Chayes. He says, "No, one is for zocher, one is for shomer."

30:41 Rishimba Yochai says, "You mean that you could use this physical world? If you get to the essence of the physical world, you could use it to come closer to Hakadosh Baruch Hu. Shabbos is me'ain olam haba. Shabbos is a little bit of the taste of olam haba. So when he sees this Jew and he's going around with his adasim that smells so beautiful, what's it for? It's for Shabbos kaddish. Girls, what are we going? Why are we going out to work? Why are we going to get jobs?" Because want to amass stuff. Because want mansions. Because want Teslas. Because we want the latest jewelry. We want the newest. What's that? The chain that my daughters talk about. They get the A Pandora It's a time robber, that thing, this unicorn one, this thing. I don't wear it because it's too expensive to wear. What do you have it for? It's like a collector's item. Like you're putting it away to sell for a mortgage when you're older. They I don't buy it for them. Their grandmother gets it for them. That's what grandmothers are for.

31:45 What are we doing? We're amassing stuff in this world, girls. How many people are amassing stuff? It's an insanity in our world. How much stuff can you amass, and who's the winner? The winner is the one who amassed the most stuff. A psychotic world. People spend their whole lives to get to the vacation. And they're miserable on their vacation because they know the vacation has to end. The Reader's Digest story of the guy who goes fishing. He goes on a fishing trip, and he's a very wealthy guy, a CEO of a major company, and he goes on a fishing trip, and he goes out to the Caribbean islands, and he's sitting on this fishing boat, and he's just sitting there fishing all day, and he's like, this is the life. This is like a very masculine thing. I don't know if y'all like fishing, but men love to sit on a boat and just have a line in the water. Sometimes you'll feel something and you go, and it's like a tiny little thing. But sometimes it's a big thing. Mostly it's a tiny thing. You feel like a man after you pull it in. You're like to take a selfie and put it on Instagram. Otherwise it's not real, right?

32:45 And the fisherman is looking at this guy the entire time, and he's You make millions of dollars to come sit here on my boat for a week. I just sit here on my boat all week. That's all that I do. There are people whose lives are a vacation. And there are people who work insanely hard to never enjoy the things that they have. That's a real condition that people have. It should be in the DSM-5. It's a lunatic mindset. Of course, today a person has to work hard to provide for their family. Everyone deserves a nice vacation. But what are we working for? Where are our values? What's the purpose of our life? It's easy to forget those words, girls, especially as we get older. Because we get so caught up in the insanity of amassing stuff, we forget that there was a time we were passionate about living a life that was purposeful.

33:37 This is the world of Rishimba Yochai. Rishimba Yochai says, "What are you living a world of chayesha?" Why are you spending your time just amassing stuff? Do something meaningful with your life. And if your life has no meaning, people become miserable and depressed. And now we can understand why Rishimba Yochai fought so strongly against the Romans, because the Romans are descendants of Amalek. Amalek is Rome. In fact, Amalek is the gematria resh mem. Amalek is the gematria Rome. And as we know, Rome is the descendants of Esav. A malek is a grandchild of Esav. And what does Esav say? Hine anochi holich lamus. Don't worry, I can sell my birthright because ultimately I'm going to death. The world of Esav is the world of death. Rishim by Yochai is the world of life. So Rishim by Yochai has to attack everything that Esav believes in. They stand diametrically opposed to each other.

34:27 And therefore, we can understand why, even though you'll say it was just like, why did he have to be so outspoken against Rome? Why did he have to say no, they're all selfish in Rome? It was because that was his destiny. That was the way Rishim Bayachai saw the world. Any time we destroy a malk, even though generally we don't celebrate the downfall of our enemies, there's tremendous simcha. That's why every year Purim and Lag Ba'Omer always fall on the same day. Purim and Lag Ba'Omer always fall on the same day. Tonight was Purim, if you recall. Remember, Purim fell tonight. Purim and Lag Ba'Omer always fall on the same day because the connection between Purim and Lag Ba'Omer is the destruction of Amalek. It's Roshim Ba'achay who stands against Amalek. And that's why the death of the twenty four thousand Talmidim stopped with the death of Roshim Ba'Ochay. Because girls, did Roshim Ba'Ochay die?

35:16 Roshim Ba'Ochay doesn't believe in death. Roshim Ba'Ochay's life transcends death, so on the day that Roshim Ba'Ochay's 'death' came into the world. It's a tremendous day of simcha. It's not a day of avilus because you would only be misavil in the place of death, but you can't be misavil in Roshim Baruchai because he doesn't really die. That's why the Talmidim of Ravakiva stop dying on this day because it's a day where there is no death. And that's why Lag BaOmer leads up to Shavuos because on Shavuos at Kabbalah Sator we had a real tchiasis. Remember, girls, what happened? The Kodesh Baruch who spoke out the first two aseret sefiroth, and what happened? We all died, and then the Tal of Tchias Amesim came and revived us. Nase Adam Neemar Bavurecha Rishim Bayochai is the tikkun for Adam Arishon. Last year, forty-five Kedushan died. Forty-five Begamatria Adam.

36:11 Forty-five Rishim Bayochais passed away last year. They were Karbanos in the Beis Hamikdash. There was no death. There were kabbanos in the Beis Hamikdash. They drew close to Hakadosh Baruch Hu. They had their aliyah leregel. They went to Meron. They went to the makom of Rishon Baruchai. But lemaisa We live in our world. And we're stuck between two worlds. On the one hand We do exist in a world where you need to go make a parnasa And despite Rishon Baruchai saying Manichin chayes shayilam lechayes shay. You're leaving behind an eternal life for a momentary life. Hakadosh Baruch Hu forced them back into the cave because the reality is that we do live in this world. Berushim by Yochai teaches us that while we live in this world, we need to live with the tension of ayilam abba. We need to live with bringing those hadassim on Shabbos. We need to be shalish regalim dika Jews. We need to live in the world of laasid lava.

37:12 So we're stuck in between two places. Forty-five kedushim, forty-five families. Robbed of their loved ones in a tragedy that we cannot even begin to imagine. How could we be insensitive? How could we go tonight and dance like we did last year? How could we walk around Yerushalayim tonight with smiles on our faces the same way we did last year? How could it be? The answer is it can't be. It would be cruel to ignore what happened last year. It would be a distortion of the world in which Hakadosh Baruch Hu placed us. We're meant to engage this world. And yet If we're if we're only misavul tonight If we don't connect ourselves to Rosh Hashanah Yochai, then we're not connecting ourselves to Simcha. Because in the world of Rosh Hashanah Yochai, you should know these forty-five Tahiri Mukdashim These forty-five pure souls that ascended to heaven last year on Lag BaOmer.

38:11 In the world of Rosh Hashanah Yochai, by these forty-five Ilana DeChai. These eight zchayim, these lebedikatayras They're still alive. In the world of Roshim Bar Yochai, they're still alive. Nothing changed. There is no death. There's only life. And so we can celebrate Lag Ba'omer. And we live in that uncomfortable tension of we lost something exceptionally precious, and we didn't lose anything at all. And that's the way it's going to be tonight. The most beautiful thing about Klal Yisroel Without a doubt, Is that we are a dysfunctional sometimes but wonderful family And we know that in times of tragedy, it doesn't matter if it's a Reform Temple in Pittsburgh or a Chabad Shul in Poway or if it's Meron and Lag Baomer We are Imo Anochi Betsara. Every single Jew stands with every single other Jew in tragedy, without exception. And tonight, I think I hope That the ultimate expression of our deep connection to these families that lost their loved ones is to stand imo anochi bezar. We stand with these yidden. We stand with these families.

39:47 And what that means is to act ki isha chad beleve chad. It's not someone else's family; it's our family. They weren't someone else's children; they were our children. So take a moment. Take a moment to imagine what it was like to be that mother who couldn't get a hold of her child. Last year, she's calling frantically and furiously Hoping that he'll pick up the phone. Take a moment to be that father who had to drive to Meron. To identify his child. Take a moment to imagine what it was like to be one of those Talmidim. Who was caught in the pile. And he's pulled out, and he loses his shoes. Because he's stuck in the masses. And he knows that he was on top of bodies that were not alive. Take a moment to experience his pain. You can't let a night like this go by, and it's just like another night. You can't let it happen.

40:52 We must be imo and achibutzar. But on Sunday of last year All the yeshivas came together. In Shalvim last year, all the yeshivas came together. To be there for the levaya of the Ani Mor Shachar Lebracha. Was no more Mevaseret Shalvim Gush Nativ Kby Rishit Shraga. There were no more various yeshivas. All there was one community of Klal Yisroel. And tonight we're getting back together in Shalvim. All the yeshivas We're going to be there together again. Ki yishachad beleiv echad. Rishon Bayochai taught us to see deeper That every single Jew is really one. So go out tonight and be besimcha. Because if the forty-five niftarim in Meron taught us anything It's to see deeper and to see the interconnection that every Jew has to every single other Jew. Like a yontif girls.