Rabbi Glatstein Live on JMintheAm {The Nachum Segal Network} Lag BaOmer - The Fire and the Soul

this Torah class is brought to you by Torah anytime.com well as we said this coming Sunday is log B om L Bomer means a lot of different things to a lot of different people and um by Danielle gladstein who has been a guest of ours before he is the rabbi the marra of kilas morai founder of M Magid Haria in Cedarhurst New York has a very popular website rabid dg.com and his viewed on many many different platforms he's out with a brand new book it's an artscroll release go to artscroll.com make sure to use promo code radio24 for your major discount and your free shipping again go to artscroll.com make sure to always use promo code radio24 the book is called logba om the fire and the soul the mystical power of LBA om R shim barai and the Z hakos RAB Danielle gladin a pleasure to welcome welcome you back to JM and the am good morning how are you hasem doing fine a happy early ler to you likewise thanks for having me m shabas it starts ler is Sunday I think this is one of the thing and this is of course uh o only to help um remind people that people like yourself have done a tremendous amount of research that we're going to be gaining from through this book I think logba om is one of those days and topics that the more I study it learn about it and hear about it the more complicated it gets I just I it is there's so much to this day there is so much built in to the day of L Bomer the type of celebrating the type of inspiration we're supposed to get from it the mix of sadness and happiness for obvious reasons because of what the OM represents in general uh R gladstein do you agree with me that log B is more complicated than we think well it's it's more profound Than People realize it's more than just uh shooting bows and arrows and uh joyous festivity if I may say you know uh lagba om has actually become the most uh the celebrated day on the Jewish calendar there is no event throughout the life cycle of uh of yam toim that has more participants you know that last year a half a million Jews made their way to meon unfortunately that is not available uh this year but I'm I'm particularly excited because there is another sadic who has his yard side on the who uh the is based upon and we're going to be leaving Wednesday night to crack out to be at the ra k for lag so you know if you can't be at meron that's uh cocal is a nice place to be but I say if you can't be by either then by studying the Torah of rabish sham it's like you're virtually transposed to to meon and to connect with his uh amazing Tyra and sanctity and elevation so you'll be spending shabus and crao yes yes and the raama yard site is a definitive we know his yard with her shim there's a little bit of it's it's a little bit more of a cloudy situation with his yard site correct exactly actually uh there's a lot of uncertainty whether the in fact passed away on writes that we don't have any authoritative source that passed away on which adds to the mystery and Mystique of the day where so many people are flocking to the Kev and yet we're not even certain that it's his yank right pretty interesting and by the way I mean I just I got to put this in because I've been on this bandwagon for many many decades already there's a benefit I mean it's unfortunate and terrible the circumstances of this year's LBA om and mayron obviously because the Safety and Security situation has called for for basically no event or a very very very limited event but the benefit is frankly as we said last week on the air that we know that when lock Bomer is on Sunday there's a tremendous amount of shabas that takes place on on Saturday on shabis in order to prepare for what uh you know is a tremendous movement of hundreds of thousands of people right after shabas up to mayone and at least uh you know there's a silver lineing that this year that's not going to happen so I I never really understood the whole M shabas Sunday thing because I thought that you know there would be more sensitivity to that but in in fact this year because of the way the uh security situation is that might be a drop of a silver lining just want just wanted to put that in there and uh you know for whatever yeah for whatever it's worth so to speak yeah I always thought that the the Torah Giants would be much more concerned about that um in term just like the raban is concerned about shabas when it comes to Y and that's why those days are moved um but again it's a something we discussed last week on the air just an observation that I think is an important one so where does this come from we we know as you know as we were taught in Yeshiva that LBA om is this you know break in SP where either the talum OFA actually stopped dying or or they had you know they had all died by then because you know there are many who hold that L Bomer is the end of that period and of course there are others that feel that L Bomer is just a pause in that terrible tragedy and that that has to be acknowledged that there was a day where that tragedy um you was was not uh you know didn't happen so where did this all come from is LBA om and its popularity all an outgrowth of the history that we know of yes so even even that point that the students of stopped passing away on also is not mentioned in the gamar which is also a great mystery all the gamar tells us is that the students passed away between p and the gamar makes no mention that they stop dying at any point during the days of s it's based on a tradition we have from the go that thei sites so the fact that the students stopped dying a it's uh it's based that's a tradition that's uh up to question exactly when did that happen and and furthermore if you think about it is that really cause of Celebration if the reason they all if the reason they stopped dying is because they had all died that would be a pretty unusual reason to celebrate imagine you know we're all uh dancing and in great festivity why because they all passed away right so it it definitely requires much further analysis um there is really a beautiful idea that elevates to a completely different status namely you know we just read in parar the par of all the we read about P Rus but included in that discussion are the days of the OM and one may wonder you know what are the days of s doing a discussion of the the days of aren't they days of mour they're days of mourning well you know they're in the wrong para right but that that demonstrates to us that fundamentally the days of the are part of the cycle of yam they could be viewed really as a between and and they and they were in said days then in the time of of they were not and and uh even today then they really retain their fundamental status of yam it's just their overridden their their they're it's cancelled to it's nullified because of the mourning of the students of RAB AKA right but on when they didn't die on that day so it's not that we're celebrating they didn't die it's that the original status of Y is able to shine forth it's able to be restored really sense is a Biblical yum spoken about inar so that's important element of sort of representing the entire sphere right is that how we would put it yeah representing the entire SPH right and any day that would not be canceled or nullified would have retained that status but that day that did retain that status was the day of lag om glad with us the book is called LBA om the fire and the Soul get it you need it by m shabas everybody at the minimum it'll actually be an amazing shabas read for this coming shabas go to artscroll.com so um you know what's unbelievable in terms of and and really what you just said might help us understand this because it is elevated more when we think of minor holidays PES Shen is coming up this week and uh and you know you think of shushan purm outside of yam and you know days like that you know you know there there's something there's a slight ritual there's a a minig to do something nice have some matah for breakfast you know this coming Wednesday things like that but but you may just have explained that that as much as L Bower we would think would be in that category where it should be recognized don't say t on that day you know that type of thing but but there but there because of how you just connected it literally to a ora literally to the holidays that we know are you know that we are obligated by because it's in the Torah I I feel like all that gives it a certain elevation and then of course you add the whole mysticism part of it the whole repai part that the whole Raba students you know again according to the opinion uh you know stopped dying that day the the the entire you know Heights of spirituality Zohar kados etc etc that one can reach and obviously the day has become much bigger do you think that that's a legitimate way of looking at it because of the because of its source um because of its source it has a a little bit of a um a different element PES Shen is I'm thinking about P Shan is not in that list of holidays that you just went through and that we read this past shabas and you know and certainly shushan puram isn't uh do do you think that that might be a an approach that we continue to need to explore definitely a a foundational approach to understanding lag you know you could think of it that these days have this tremendous power they are fueled by them being mentioned in the but like you know they're all covered over and they have and they have no way to express themselves but there's this one little opening all these 49 days only have this one little opening to burst burst forth their biblical Tower and like all 49 days come bursting forth like a geyser on the 33rd day of the OM so you know it gives us a little bit of an understanding for this magnetic pull that people have t shim and ton and enjoying lag om it's this Supernatural force that has no way to express itself other than this little p this little opening on the 33rd day of the Omar and that's all and and again the meron connection is all because of rip shim this assumption or this tradition that it's his yard site and and and and we use that opportunity to use that location to enhance the day yeah if I may if I may you know even aside from the element of it being Rim's y side or if it's right the in general there there's a certain mystique and mystical element of because it the 33rd day of the the number 33 is a very mystical number there's an idea that there are 32 regular Elementary pathways of wisdom in the T and that is reflected in the opening of barus when Hashem creates the world you'll find the word eloim 32 times and that represents the 32 foundational Pathways of T but the number 33 represents the secrets of the T the hidden light of the T even the 33rd word of bous is God saw the light that it was good that represents the hidden light of the Tyra so the 33rd day of the is deeply rooted in the secrets of the Tyra the mysticism of the Tyra the the cabalistic wisdom and that was something that brought to the world so even aside from it being Rim's yard site it's also the day that begins the preparation for cabal for the more Sublime elements of the T so in other words the first 32 days we prepare for the foundational elements of the T the last 17 days beginning we prepare for the secrets of the this is alluded to in the words La L days the first 32 days of the those 32 days we have to acquire a la a heart a mind and now we're ready for T 17 days 17 days to tap in into on whatever level one is able to even just to have a little bit of a taste or flavor of the secrets of Tyra and that's another important element of L and there's a um there's a two-word phrase that's inserted every night when one does the entire ritual the entire service of counting of the Omare what is the uh what is what are the two words on L don't mean to put you on the spot I'm trying to think yeah so that's also a very beautiful point uh the two words that we add on referring to the sair the the mystical emanation of the day is the category counting the category counting I would say right Shah is 33 well that's on the 33rd day and and you know what's amazing is that the word hide which maybe could be uh literally translated as Splendor comes from the root h of gratitude and this is is very significant because you know from a Torah standpoint how what how do you understand why the students of Raba stopped dying on why that day why the 33rd day was there something about that day was the water healthier that day was the air cleaner that day what was it about that day that the plague stopped you know from a Tor standpoint how do we Define life what's what's the meaning of life DAV tells us repeatedly the dead can't praise there are a lot of things dead people can't do they can't listen to your program either you know they can't they can't they can't go golfing they can't bowling can't go to school they can't go to school they can't put on fill they can't learn tile why does D say they can't thank you or we say every morning God bet what benefit would you have in my demise will the earth thank you as if to say that if I go I can't thank you anymore yeah I can't do anything can't tie my shoelaces can't brush my teeth but from here we see that thanking Hashem is not something that we do when we're alive it's the very definition of life from a Torah standpoint we say the living thank you what do you mean the living could do everything no everything we do is only what we do but thanking Hashem is the very definition of life in fact the word is an acronym stands for someone who is healed from a sickness yam someone who crosses the sea someone who's out of jail and the me stands for the one who travels through a midbar and this represents the four people who have to show gratitude to Hashem gratitude is the very definition of life is gratitude gratitude the epitome of gratitude the Pinnacle of gratitude the crescendo gratitude on this 33rd day which epitomizes gratitude which is the very definition of life that's when the students of rabika stopped dying that was their Merit to stop dying so it's a great lesson that for all of us to apply that the more we devote ourselves and focus on thanking Hashem the more that will bring us and our families and K life that is the greatest Merit for life this is what saved the students of RAB AKA this is the explanation of rabf Angel who by the way was one of the last in and he gave thisa on in the of the in honor of the r and when did he do that how long ago about a 100 years ago and now you'll be back a hundred years later probably repeating that V I bet I have yeah I I would have a feeling ler is written by by danil gladin LBA the fire and the Soul check it out brand new from Arts girl it is amazing when you think about it I mean look it's not unusual in our tradition that somebody could have this type of you know effect on clol effect on the Jewish people for you know such a long period of time but still when you think about it you know it's almost 2,000 years from shim barai and his work and his um and his uh you know inspiration whether it's his yard side or not you know has had a profound effect on the tradition of Claus and I'm assuming I have to assume this that in the last 100 200 300 years as you know as an attraction ofus spirituality mysticism more popularity popularity for theor you know I have to assume that this has only increased in recent in recent centuries would I be right about that absolutely you know many are not familiar the Z was only found um say 500 years ago it it was not the rein Rashi and Tas did not never saw the Z right they didn't have the Z so certainly the revelation of the is of more recent history and the interest in rim has only has exploded in an hour in our very times I mean I'm sure you remember 30 40 years ago people would go to merron but it wasn't even a tenth of what it what it is today right no question about that all right a couple of them in hug him wh why do we associate up Sharon those families that have a tradition not to cut a boy's hair for the first three years of his life why do we associate Mayon with the up Sharon ceremony yeah there there there is a report by R vital who he saw that his re ARA went up with his family onba to to perform that ritual but that that's the entire basis right uh you know so for those who have that custom it's based on that report ofal what himself did and a lot of people go out of their way from around the world to literally be like B that day to do that and that's you know again it's developed as a tradition over all these years and finally or by gladstein I mean I don't know which one you want to address first but please address both of them tell us about bows and arrows and tell us about bonfires okay the uh the bows and arrows are associated with the fact that shim's level of righteousness was so great that uh there was no there was no rainbow that uh appeared in his time you know the rainbow the rainbow represents the treaty that God made that when uh when people sin and it angers Hashem Hashem has to recall the treaty he made not to destroy the world so was uh elevated his whole generation that that Covenant was not even needed because Hashem would never come to that point so upon his demise is so to speak you know it's the return It's the Return of the rainbow now now we need the rainbow again now we need that bow that bow again to to symbolize that uh God will will not destroy the world in terms of the bonfire there's a lot of controversy about that oh I'm glad you're acknowledging that and I'm sure a lot of people listen to I'm glad you're acknowledging that good I'm sorry what I think there are a lot of people listening who are glad that you're acknowledging that there's some controversy around it yeah first the question is you know where does this come from right is there any uh we know that it it's made we know that they light one but the source of it is somewhat unclear there is a collection of letters by the banura where he writes that when he visited is and he went on well well on what many say is which is he saw great fires lit by rebi shin and the question is which Reish Shin is that now that's going to depend on what date the B was referring to so many would like to say that he's referring to and the rein that he's referring to as rabim the truth is in the critical editions of the writings of the banura it does not say it says and the rebish shin would then be Shi and not re um so that's somewhat of a controversy but you know there's a concept in Judaism that that when the Jewish people practice something that itself gives it credibility that itself gives it h Holiness and meaning so if this is something that's practiced for hundreds of years there must be uh there must be basis for it and I humbly suggest um as one of the reasons in this book that uh based on another beautiful idea teaches quoting the Z that when the Jewish people left Egypt they left on the 15th day of Nissan and on that day they they uh received their Brisa and the Z says something fantastic he says that at the time that a person has a Brisa that's when the Jewish Soul enters their body but it takes the soul 33 days for it to acclimate and get comfortable and you know find the the right position you know it's like when you get onto an airplane you sort of have to you know wiggle Shuffle around until you find that right spot it takes the soul 33 days until it acclimates into the body and the the Z says that the souls of the Jewish people were fully acclimated on on the 33rd day of the and says that's in his opinion the reason for the celebration of it's the day the joy of the Jewish Soul fully acclimating into one's body and now we understand how it's a day that we could begin to probe some of the secrets of the Tyra of course we need we need full full power of our soul to be able to understand it so the soul in the tanak is referred to as a great fire man's soul is like a burning fire it's a a force of great spiritual energy so the bonfires of lag represent that on this day the soul is fully acclimated into our systems and it's able to so to speak uh be ignited in Holy Fire and uh on this day we we try to whatever on whatever level we can to connect with the tah of who makes an amazing prediction he says that in the end of days the people are destined to taste from the Tree of Life what's the tree of lifeim says that's he says when we do that we will be redeemed in great mercy so certainly we're not on the level to to be expert in this great discipline but every Jew can access of the of there are many s that we can access and can understand that bring down for us teachings of the zadash and making them available and accessible to us so and even if we just taste that wisdom just a bit it will help bring the Gula uh ever closer pretty amazing L Bomer is is a fascinating day everybody it really is no matter what angle you're coming from it is a fascinating day and one certainly of significance in Jewish history to say the least uh and uh everyone's got their own um uh benefit from the day everybody gains from the day in different ways and by the way we we explored a lot about by gladin book but I'm letting you know there's plenty more plenty more uh he talks about the uh uh the um uh meron in general and the historic Revelations there and he talks about Bara and of course that whole story and R shim's inspiration in that entire episode and so much more so it's really a compr apprehensive look at LBA om from so many different angles and of course we are highly recommending it LBA om the fire and the soul the mystical power of L and the zel gladin is the author it's available now is a brand new book from Arts scroll go to artscroll.com you make sure to use promo code radio24 if your free shipping and major discount again artscroll.com make sure to use promo code radio 24 we by gladstein and joy krackow and a big big mlov on the book thank you so much and thank you for having me a pleasure L the fire in the soul Rob daniil gladine one of our favorite guests here at JM in the AM you've just experienced another Torah class brought to you by Torah anytime.com