Lag Baomer: It's Not For Me | Rabbi Mordechai Alster

After 12 years in the cave, the news spread that the Caesar, the emperor died, and R’ Shimon bar Yochai was no longer in danger. The Gemara in Shabbos 33b speaks about that moment and the Aruch Hashulchan says that it actually happened on Lag Baomer. Eliyahu Hanavi came and stood אפיתחא דמערתא, he stood at the entrance to the cave and he said: מאן לודעיה לבר יוחי דמית קיסר Who is going to inform, who's going to notify R’ Shimon bar Yochai that the Emperor died and he’s no longer in danger? R’ Yaakov Emden asks the obvious question. Eliyahu Hanavi was no stranger to the cave. The Zohar in Parshas Ki Savo says that he came to the cave and learned with R’ Shimon bar Yochai every single day. Why at this critical moment didn't Eliyahu Hanavi just enter the cave and inform R’ Shimon bar Yochai that the Caesar died? During World War I, many Yidden, including many Yeshivas, like Radin and Slobodka, escaped the war zone and relocated to Minsk. Among them was R’ Chaim Soloveitchik and his son, R’ Yitzchok Zev, who later became the Brisker Rav. One night, while in mourning for his mother, the Brisker Rav went to the relocated Slobodka Yeshiva to daven Maariv for the Amud. He looked around and he saw all the Bochurim and all the Talmidim totally אַרײַנגעטאָן, totally engrossed, in the Mussar Sefarim they had open in front of them. And the Brisker Rav turned to the Gabai and said, What time does Maariv start? The Gabai answered: Now. The Brisker Rav said: With everybody sitting and learning like this, how could we start Maariv? The Gabai answered him: That's not a problem. Just give a klap, just give a bang on the Amud, everybody will close their Sefarim, and you'll be able to start Maariv. The Brisker Rav said, I am not going to stop this learning. With everybody so engrossed and everybody so אַרײַנגעטאָן in the learning, I will not stop them. איך קלאפ נישט. I will not give the klap. The Gabai told him: Well, if you don't do it, I will do it, but Maariv will start, regardless. We do this every night. The Brisker Rav just stood firmly, looked him in the eye and repeated, I will not give the klap. Eliyahu Hanavi stood at the entrance of the cave, knowing that R’ Shimon bar Yochai, for the last 12 years, was totally, totally in the four Amos of Halachah, totally removed from This World. He was engrossed in eternal life and he was not exposed at all to temporary life. Eliyahu Hanavi knew that the time came that R’ Shimon bar Yocahi must leave the cave, and he knew that if he doesn't tell him, somebody else will. But I will not give the klap. I'm not going to be the one to lower his spiritual level, to expose him to the temporary life that he was so protected from all these years, while learning in the cave. I know a certain yungerman, whose boss called him in one day, and he told him: We’re taking a business trip and we’re going to purchase some merchandise at a location whose standards are questionable. And the yungerman looked at his boss and said, Are you sure we’re allowed to go there? And his boss answered him, I asked the Halachic question. It's 100% permitted. There is no other way. There's nowhere else in the world that we can purchase this merchandise. It's 100% permitted. The yungerman looked him in the eye and said, I know it's permitted, and I know if I don't do it, somebody else will, and I know how important it is, but it's not for me. The standards I set for myself, and the spiritual levels that I obligated myself to maintain, I cannot do it. Let somebody else go. The question that we have to ask ourselves is not if it’s permitted or prohibited. The question always is Is it below my spiritual level? Am I too important for it? Are the standards that I set for myself going to be compromised if I go? That's the question a person has to ask himself. The Mishnah Berurah in 75:7 speaks this out clearly. He says that when it comes to matters of sanctity, although certain things are permitted, I will not give the klap. I am not going. I can't do it. I am not lowering myself. I'm not compromising myself. I'm way too important for this.