The Mystical Significance of Lag B’Omer

Tonight is Lag B’Omer, at least here in Australia.  I realize that for many of our readers, Lag B’Omer won’t start until tomorrow night, but anyway, it’s a good enough time to start thinking about it.

Lag B’Omer is one of those holidays I’ve enjoyed ever since I discovered it, without even knowing why or understanding the real meaning behind it.  And even still, it seems that no matter how much I learn about Lag B’Omer, how many hours I spend researching it or learning or reading up on it, all the things I learn slip right out of my mind as soon as I see that first bonfire of the evening, hear the first child’s excited laugh, smell that first marshmallow roasting.

The truth is, I think in some ways that this is how all Jewish holidays should be.  They should be so overwhelmingly full of a sense of joy that we have no space left in us for deep contemplation.  Not that we shouldn’t study or learn – of course we should! – but that, at their core, we have to recognize that our holidays are always just a bit beyond our level of true comprehension.

And it’s not just holidays that are like this, but really anything at all that has to do with Judaism.  There are so many levels of understanding, so many things that we have to learn (70 explanations for every part of the Torah!), and yet, even learning every single one of them will never bring us to the level of comprehension of their power and meaning that G-d experiences and has.  The sages say that if we understood even at the tiniest level what power saying Tehillim (Psalms) has, we would do nothing but sit all day and recite them.  On our limited human level of understanding, we are restricted.  We have gravity.  We can reach only so high.  We cannot truly touch the divine.

But our neshamas (our souls) – ah! They are not so restricted. Within each of us is a bit of G-d that has the power to understand infinity.  Our souls are forever reaching for that closeness with G-d, that unity. That is why we are drawn to other people – they are also missing pieces of the G-dly puzzle – and why we are drawn to divinity.  The G-dly soul within us yearns to be reunited.

I think this is why there are certain times when we can just lose ourselves in a holiday.  Especially on a mystical holiday like Lag B’Omer, I feel as if my soul is reaching for spirituality and the divine.  ”Down, intellect!” it commands, even though it is usually my intellect through which I most connect. “Down, intellect!” shouts my soul, “This is one thing that is far, far beyond your comprehension!”  And so, I forget everything I’ve studied, everything I’ve learned… And, like the flames of the bonfires we will light tonight, my soul leaps and reaches up, and I surrender to the joy of the moment, the joy of the mysticism, the joy of incomprehension, the joy of unity, the joy of being close, in some small way, to Hashem.

It’s been too long since I last wrote a post.   It brings me to an interesting realization: travel can be hard work, but it also guarantees a certain amount of leisure time.  In some countries you can spend the whole day just trying to get yourself from one town to another, find something kosher to eat, and find a place to sleep that’s moderately clean (relatively speaking).  You end those days exhausted.  Even on a day when you’re doing nothing but exploring and having fun, you collapse into bed at night as if you have just worked a long day.

So in travel I’m discovering that I sometimes take leisure time for granted.  The fact that I can sit down and write when I feel like it (even if I can’t always get internet to post them) is something I took for granted for far too long.  There’s a certain freedom to having no outwardly-imposed restrictions on your time.  Even if your days are full to the brim and very busy, you can choose to slow down if you want to.

My time in Sydney has provided me with more of a sense of stability.  Staying put for a while is a totally different lifestyle!  It has its benefits, which our style of travel cannot offer.  I have friends here and, after moving into an apartment this week, I have an idea at least of where I’ll be sleeping at night!  Sydney doesn’t offer the kosher food choices that America does (even in a 7-11 in the middle of nowhere) but it offers far more kosher variety than Peru or Jordan, Nepal or China.  It would seem that life is easy and routine.

But the truth is that even if you’re not actively on the move, you can keep travelling.  The key to travel is making the most of your time and your space.  When Rabbi Ben and I spent three weeks in Hampi, India, we didn’t have internet (I think I was online maybe 2 hours total in 3 weeks!).  During the weeks I spent in Pokhara, Nepal, I only had electricity a few hours a day.  But spending a longer period of time in a place doesn’t mean that you fall into a routine, not necessarily.  It only happens if you allow it to.

A few weeks ago, I was walking in Bondi (a suburb of Sydney) on a Friday night on my way to Shabbat dinner.  As I walked, I noticed that a front window of a house I was passing was wide open.  Inside, someone was watching television.  They were watching golf.  Now, no offense to anyone out there who’s a fan, but golf has got to be one of the most boring sports ever invented.  It’s even more boring than baseball!  Very little happens and what does happen, happens slowly, and I cannot but imagine that it is even more boring on television than in real life! (This does not, of course, apply to mini-golf, which even as an adult I still find insanely amusing.)

Anyway, there I was, walking on a pretty fall evening to a beautiful and warm Shabbat table with friends, and inside this house is some person wasting time watching golf on television.  I felt so bad for them!  I was celebrating Shabbat, the holy Sabbath, full of joy and love, and there was someone who was wasting time, hours they’ll never get back.

When I am old (please G-d!), I will look back on my life and say that I have done a lot.  That even if I stayed in one place for years, I never let myself fall into a rut, always sought out some new and challenging experience.  I don’t want to look back on my life and wonder where the years went… and then recall that I went to work all day, then came home and watched golf on television.

And you know what? The truth is that as I settle in one spot for a while, I am still the same expat, ever on the move.  The result is that I now have far less leisure time than I ever did when I travelled because my days and nights are full.  I still don’t have time for television.  And that’s the way it should be for all of us, whether travelling or staying put.  We should always strive to make our lives count to the fullest, no matter how we define it.  Whether you’re spending your days in prayer to Hashem or working on self-improvement or simply learning something new, always, always make your life count!