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Daily Chizuk #0898
Holidays / Yamim Tovim
Never Rejected: Mercy in the Midst of Punishment
Lag Baomer: The Power Of Rabbi Shimon Bar Yochai
On Lag B’Omer, we celebrate the light of Torah that Rabbi Shimon bar Yochai illuminated the world with. On this day, the anniversary of his death, he revealed to his students the greatest secrets of Torah and told them to proclaim it a day of celebration. While Rabbi Shimon was hiding in the cave, he had the zechut to learn Torah with Eliyahu HaNavi, until he eventually became one of the greatest sages of all times. How did he become so great? He himself told his son-in-law it was because of the difficulty involved in his learning Torah day and night in a dark cave, buried in sand to the point that his skin became filled with cracks. Hashem did not make a miracle for him there and provide him with luxurious accommodations to help him learn better. Hashem knew it was going to be the toil and difficulty that would make Rabbi Shimon who he was meant to become. We can only imagine the dreariness of him being trapped in a cave, worried for his life, not knowing if he’ll ever be able to get out of there.
If someone has been trying to get married, or have children, or become healed from an illness, of course they should continue praying hard and doing the necessary hishtadlut to receive their yeshua. But if they haven’t been answered yet, all it means is, for now, their job is to serve Hashem without having what they are asking for. A day of avodat Hashem in hard times is like a hundred days when times are easy. Yes, we should always continue to pray and try to get what we need, but what will define a person is how he conducts himself before the yeshua comes. If we are able to rise to the occasion and put forward our full efforts in a happy state of mind, although it’s very difficult to do, we will be able to look back later and say, “Those days are what made me the person I became. Those days were the ones that elevated me the most.”
On Lag B’Omer, we celebrate the light of Torah that Rabbi Shimon bar Yochai illuminated the world with. On this day, the anniversary of his death, he revealed to his students the greatest secrets of Torah and told them to proclaim it a day of celebration. While Rabbi Shimon was hiding in the cave, he had the zechut to learn Torah with Eliyahu HaNavi, until he eventually became one of the greatest sages of all times. How did he become so great? He himself told his son-in-law it was because of the difficulty involved in his learning Torah day and night in a dark cave, buried in sand to the point that his skin became filled with cracks. Hashem did not make a miracle for him there and provide him with luxurious accommodations to help him learn better. Hashem knew it was going to be the toil and difficulty that would make Rabbi Shimon who he was meant to become. We can only imagine the dreariness of him being trapped in a cave, worried for his life, not knowing if he’ll ever be able to get out of there.
If someone has been trying to get married, or have children, or become healed from an illness, of course they should continue praying hard and doing the necessary hishtadlut to receive their yeshua. But if they haven’t been answered yet, all it means is, for now, their job is to serve Hashem without having what they are asking for. A day of avodat Hashem in hard times is like a hundred days when times are easy. Yes, we should always continue to pray and try to get what we need, but what will define a person is how he conducts himself before the yeshua comes. If we are able to rise to the occasion and put forward our full efforts in a happy state of mind, although it’s very difficult to do, we will be able to look back later and say, “Those days are what made me the person I became. Those days were the ones that elevated me the most.”
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