The Secret of Rashbi

Shiur No. 528 | Motzaei Shabbos Parshas Emor, the Eve of 18 Iyar 5767 - Lag BaOmer

Rashbi

Rashbi (Rabbi Shimon bar Yochai) is the soul of Moshe Rabbeinu. Moshe Rabbeinu was spiritually impregnated (ibbur) within him, and about him it is said:

"And he gazes upon the image of Hashem."

From the day he was born until today, he sees Hashem eye to eye. The Gemara relates that Hillel HaZaken had eighty disciples; thirty of them were like Moshe Rabbeinu and could stop the sun and the moon. The greatest among them was Yonasan ben Uziel. When traveling to his tziyun (gravesite) in Amuka, one can see in the spirit that all the mountains are burning with fire, and any bird that flew above him would be burned and go up in flames. The smallest among them was Rabban Yochanan ben Zakkai, from whom nothing was hidden—not the speech of parables, the speech of birds, the speech of palm trees, and even the complex Talmudic debates of Abaye and Rava.

Abaye and Rava were not ordinary human beings at all; they embodied the secret of holy Names, the four Sefiros (Divine emanations). The gematria (numerical value) of Abaye is 23, and the gematria of Rava is 209. Together, they equal 232. This number corresponds to the four expansions of the Tetragrammaton (the holy Name of Hashem): the Name of A"B (expanded with the letter Yud), the Name of Sa"G, the Name of Ma"H (expanded with the letter Aleph), and the Name of Ba"N (expanded with the letter Hei). Their combined numerical value is exactly 232. All the Tanna'im and Amora'im (Talmudic sages) were holy Names. Even with their physical bodies, they were greater than our souls, and the smallest among them could resurrect the dead.

We see their greatness even in relation to the nations of the world. The Roman Emperor Antoninus built a tunnel from Teveria (Tiberias) to Tzippori, and he would ride through it on a horse with a spear in his hand without touching the ceiling of the cave. When he would reach Rebbe Yehudah HaNasi, he would prostrate himself before him and say, "Who will grant that I may serve as a mattress beneath you in the World to Come." The emperors of the world would bow down before Rebbe Yehudah HaNasi, before Rashbi, and before Rebbe Elazar b'Rebbe Shimon.

Rectifying the Sin of the Sale of Yosef

Rashbi and Rebbe Elazar b'Rebbe Shimon came into the world to rectify the sin of the sale of Yosef. This sin weighs heavily upon the world until the end of all generations, until the Resurrection of the Dead, and only Mashiach will begin to rectify it completely. After the tragedy of the Ten Martyrs, and after they combed the flesh of Rebbe Akiva with iron combs, Rashbi took it upon himself to rectify the sin of Yosef.

Yosef HaTzaddik endured 13 years of suffering—12 years in the dungeon of the prison, and another year in the house of Potiphar. Therefore, Rashbi took it upon himself to remain in a cave for 13 years, eating only carobs and drinking water, in order to rectify the sale of Yosef. An ordinary person who eats only carobs and drinks water for three weeks would die on the spot, but Rashbi survived like this for 13 years to bear the tikkun (rectification) of all of Israel. All the souls of the Jewish people, until the end of all generations, participated in the sale of Yosef.

The Torah hints at this sale:

"The mandrakes yield their fragrance, and at our doors are all choice fruits."

"The mandrakes yield their fragrance" refers to Yosef and Reuven. Reuven wanted to save Yosef from the pit. He saw that the snakes and scorpions were not touching him, and he said to his brothers, "Look, he is a completely righteous tzaddik!" But Shimon argued that Yosef was a "charmer," and as the Gemara says, one who is a charmer can overcome snakes and scorpions. Therefore, Shimon said that Yosef deserved death. Ultimately, they agreed to Yehudah's advice to sell him to the Ishmaelites.

Rabbi Avraham ben Rabbi Nachman explains that selling a person to the Ishmaelites is worse than death. The Ishmaelites would buy slaves in order to abuse them, to vent their wrath and fury upon the wretched slave, and to kill him with hellish tortures. If Yosef HaTzaddik had not found favor in the eyes of Potiphar, Heaven forbid, he would have breathed his last breath under cruel beatings.

Opening the Closed Mem and Shooting the Arrows

Rashbi came to rectify the closed letter Mem of the verse:

"To him who increases the authority, and for peace without end."

After Chizkiyahu HaMelech (King Hezekiah) failed to rectify this Mem, Rashbi came to open it. In the Tikkunei Zohar, it is written that when Hashem created the world, He opened this Mem and transformed it into the letter Beis—"Bereishis bara Elokim" (In the beginning, God created). But immediately after the sin of Adam HaRishon (the First Man), the Mem was closed once again.

About Rashbi it is said, "Let us make man was said for your sake," because he is greater than Adam HaRishon. Adam HaRishon was spiritually impregnated within Rashbi, Moshe Rabbeinu was impregnated within him, as were all the tzaddikim, the Patriarchs, Dovid HaMelech, and the Seven Shepherds—they all underwent ibbur (spiritual impregnation) within Rashbi in order to rectify the sin of Adam HaRishon and to open the closed Mem.

Therefore, the custom on Lag BaOmer is to shoot arrows. As it is written in Mishlei (Proverbs):

"Until an arrow pierces his liver."

We are now going to pierce the liver of the Yetzer Hara (evil inclination), the closed Mem of the Sitra Achra (forces of impurity). Every single arrow shot on Lag BaOmer succeeds in extracting a soul from the Klipos (husks of impurity). Shooting the arrows is actually the opening of the new year. We usually read the Torah portions of Behar-Bechukosai close to Lag BaOmer. In Parashas Behar, we begin with "And you shall sound the shofar of teruah" on Yom Kippur, and we conclude in Parashas Bechukosai with 49 curses, which in Parashas Ki Savo become 98 (Tzadi-Ches) curses.

By shooting 98 (Tzadi-Ches) arrows on Lag BaOmer, we merit to transform all the 98 curses into 98 blessings, into the Oros HaTzachtzachos (supernal radiant lights). This is the opening of the new year, which concludes on the holiday of Sukkos with the offering of 98 sheep.

The Preparation for the Giving of the Torah

The soul of Mashiach comes to open the closed Mem of "l'marbeh hamisrah" (to increase the government), and through the shooting of the arrows, the walls of Jerusalem are breached where they are broken, and there the Mem is opened. Now Rashbi (Rabbi Shimon bar Yochai) comes to build and join together the walls of Jerusalem. This is the secret of Eliezer, the servant of Avraham, who gave the bracelets (tzemidim) to Rivka – in order to join (lehatzmid) the Tablets, in the secret of a groom and bride.

Rashbi unites the Tablets and prepares us for the Giving of the Torah. Soon we will receive the Torah, and Rashbi prepares us for this event with thunder and lightning. The bonfire that we light in honor of Rashbi and the arrows that we shoot, correspond to the thunder and the torches that were at the Giving of the Torah.

Through this preparation, we will merit to hear the Ten Commandments, the "I am Hashem your God." The entire world was created only for "I am Hashem your God," so that every minute we will hear the Ten Commandments with a great voice that did not cease. Through the joy and dancing of Lag BaOmer, we will merit that the soul of Rashbi will impregnate us (a spiritual *ibbur*), in the aspect of 'and he gazes upon the image of Hashem'. Thus we will merit to hear the voice of Hashem every minute and every second, and we will merit the complete Geulah (Redemption) speedily in our days, Amen.

Part 1 of 2 — Lesson No. 528

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