The Secret of Lag BaOmer: Escaping the Lust for Money and Building the Temple
Lesson No. 243 | * Tuesday night, Parashas Bechukosai, the eve of the 18th of Iyar 5760 - the night of Lag BaOmer at the 'Nechamas Tziyon Shuvu Banim' Beis Midrash
Lag BaOmer is an aspect of Yom Kippur, a day when we merit to be purified and to don "garments of salvation." The main spiritual work on this day, through the power of the Divine Tanna Rabbi Shimon bar Yochai, is the uprooting of the lust for money—the most destructive desire that delays the Geulah (Redemption) and the building of the Holy Temple.
Lag BaOmer is an aspect of Yom Kippur, a day when all sins are transformed into merits. Through the joy, the shooting of arrows, the bonfire, and the inclusion of our souls into the soul of Rabbi Shimon bar Yochai, we merit to enter the innermost sanctum. On this day, the verse is fulfilled:
"I will rejoice intensely in Hashem, my soul shall exult in my God, for He has clothed me with garments of salvation, He has wrapped me in a robe of righteousness."
Everyone strips off their soiled garments and merits garments of salvation, magnificent garments in all radiant colors. Through the bonfire of Lag BaOmer, the "garments of skin" of Adam HaRishon are transformed back into "garments of light." The garments that cover all blemishes turn into "Anpin Nehirin" (radiant faces), and we merit entirely new garments and the rectification of the eyes from all forbidden sights.
Hating Money with the Utmost Hatred
The main point of Lag BaOmer is to escape the craving for money. If we want to attain any spiritual comprehension of the tzaddik, we must hate money with the utmost hatred. Great tzaddikim would never leave money overnight. Rabbi Shimon bar Yochai was in a cave; he had no house and he had nothing. But because he was completely clean of the lust for money and trusted solely in Hashem, a spring of water and a carob tree were created for him.
On Lag BaOmer, we are saved from the lust for money, about which Rebbe Nachman says (in Torah 30) that we must hate it with the utmost hatred in order to reach the "apple of the eye" (bas ayin), the "flaming fire" (labas esh). As long as a person is trapped in the lust for money, he remains in the "Sitra D'Mosa" (the side of death). As long as he loves money and thinks that money will help him, he is in the side of death, and this is worse than all other desires. With any other desire, a person feels ashamed, but with the lust for money, he has no shame whatsoever, and this was the cause of the destruction of the Holy Temple.
The Holy Temple is the eyes of the Jewish people, as it is stated:
"And My eyes and My heart shall be there for all days."
Therefore, on Lag BaOmer, we merit all seventy faces of the Torah, corresponding to the seventy members of the Sanhedrin who sat in the Chamber of Hewn Stone in the Holy Temple. If we want the Holy Temple to be rebuilt, we must escape the lust for money.
The Secret of Shooting Arrows: Ascending from the Gates of Impurity
Rabbi Yisrael of Shklov says that through the custom of shooting arrows on Lag BaOmer, we emerge from the forty-nine gates of impurity and ascend to the forty-nine gates of holiness. The Hebrew word for arrow, "Chetz," hints at the pure light ("Tzach") and the radiant spiritual lights (Tzachtzachos). Through the arrows, we merit the light of the Divine Countenance, and through this, we merit all the parnassah (livelihood) in the world and all the abundance, in the aspect of the "Lechem HaPanim" (Showbread).
The primary cause of the destruction of the Holy Temple was the sin of idolatry, and idolatry today is the desire for money. Every thought about money is a blemish of idolatry, in the aspect of:
"You shall not make with Me gods of silver and gods of gold."
Because of this blemish, the Temple was destroyed, and regarding this it is said: "For these things I weep; my eye, my eye runs down with water." The word "these" (eleh) hints at the sin of the Golden Calf ("These are your gods, O Israel"). "My eye, my eye" hints at the two eyes that become blemished when a person looks at money and lusts after it. Through the lust for money, a person falls time after time, losing the forty-nine gates of holiness and falling into the forty-nine gates of impurity.
The End of Wonders and the Hidden Shame
The prophet Habakkuk asked:
"How long until the end of these wonders?"
As long as people are sunken in the lust for money, the end is wondrous, hidden, and concealed from every eye. Why is the end so hidden? It is all because of the idolatrous blemish of the lust for money, which is a double descent. With any other desire in the world, a person feels ashamed. If he is caught, he is subjected to humiliation day and night, and he knows it is a disgrace. The shame itself brings him back in teshuvah (repentance) and diminishes the sin.
But the lust for money is hidden and concealed from everyone's eyes. On the contrary, a person boasts about it! He takes pride in having billions, and says so publicly and openly. Whoever has fallen into the lust for money has almost no chance of getting out of it. He doesn't even know that it is a lust; he doesn't know that it is despicable. He forgets that a Bas Kol (Heavenly Voice) announces forty days before the formation of a child that he will have a house, a field, and parnassah (livelihood). Everything is announced in advance, but through the lust for money, he loses the Bas Kol and distances the salvations from himself.
The Sword of Prayer and the Building of the Holy Temple
In Sipurei Ma'asiyos (Rebbe Nachman's Tales, in the Tale of the Master of Prayer), the king told the hero that one can escape from all other lusts, because a person is ashamed of them. But from the lust for money, which a person boasts about, one can only escape through the "sword of prayer," as it is stated:
"The high praises of God are in their throat, and a double-edged sword is in their hand"
A double-edged sword (cherev pipiyos) is a sword sharpened on both sides—twice "piy" (representing the letter Ayin [70] plus another Ayin [70]), which equals 140 voices of crying out in prayer. Only through crying out and melodies can one escape this lust.
The essence of the Geulah (Redemption) will come through the true tzaddik, who is the aspect of Mashiach and Rabbi Shimon bar Yochai. He is the one who will extract us from all lusts. The moment the Jewish people emerge from the lust for money, the Holy Temple will be built immediately at that very moment, and there will be no more lusts whatsoever. Then we will merit true abundance and double consolation: "Comfort, comfort My people," speedily in our days, Amen.
Part 1 of 4 — Lesson No. 243