The Secret of the Inner Sanctum: The Power of Tzaddikim to Sweeten Judgments on Lag BaOmer
Lesson No. 340 | *Monday, Parashat Behar-Bechukotai, 18 Iyar, Lag BaOmer 5762, lesson after the lighting in the Yeshiva.*
The Torah portions read around Lag BaOmer hold within them the secret of the Yom Kippur service and the entry of the tzaddikim into the "Inner Sanctum" (Lifnai VeLifnim). Through the self-sacrifice of Nadav and Avihu and Rabbi Shimon bar Yochai, it is explained how absolute self-nullification and the readiness to jump into the fire sweeten all judgments and draw down new life to the world.
The Torah portions that we read around Lag BaOmer – Acharei Mot, Emor, and Behar – all deal with matters of Yom Kippur. Parashat 'Acharei Mot' is literally the portion of the High Priest's service on Yom Kippur. The main thing is to read the portion and know what we are saying, to understand the roots of the matters.
In Parashat Acharei Mot, we read about the two sons of Aharon, Nadav and Avihu, who jumped into the fire. When we see the bonfire on Lag BaOmer, we need to think: when will I jump into the fire of self-sacrifice? Aharon's sons simply jumped into the fire, and thereby they sweetened everything. The 'Noam Elimelech' explains on the verse "Acharei Mot" (After the death), that by jumping into the fire of the Holy of Holies with the knowledge that they would be burned, they nullified death from the world. Therefore, they subsequently became impregnated (ibur) in Eliyahu HaNavi, and they are the ones who will bring about the resurrection of the dead.
Crying Over the Sons of Aharon
It is brought in the 'Ba'er Heitev' and the 'Mishnah Berurah' (Laws of Torah Reading on Yom Kippur, Siman 621):
"Whoever grieves over the death of Aharon's sons and sheds tears for them on Yom Kippur, all his sins are forgiven."
Furthermore, such a person is promised that his children will not die during his lifetime, because Aharon's sons completely nullified death and atoned for all sins. Rabbi Natan of Breslov also brings this in 'Likutey Halachot' (Laws of Kashering Vessels), that the main forgiveness of sins on Yom Kippur is through the merit of the two sons of Aharon.
The entire Yom Kippur service is an aspect of entering the "Inner Sanctum" (Lifnai VeLifnim). But Lag BaOmer is higher than Yom Kippur – it is the true 'Inner Sanctum'. A Torah scholar is greater than a High Priest, because he truly enters the Inner Sanctum, into the highest supernal secrets of 'Adam Kadmon'. When we travel to Meron on Lag BaOmer, we are literally entering the Holy of Holies.
The Secret of the Blasphemer and the Infinite Light
In Parashat Emor, we read about the blasphemer (HaMekalel). The 'Heichal HaBerachah' and the holy Arizal (in Sha'ar HaPesukim) explain that the blasphemer was a very high soul, who could have been King Mashiach. He saw that Moshe Rabbeinu commanded to light only a small candle in the Menorah, and he argued: "Why a small candle? I can reveal to you right now the Infinite Light (Ohr Ein Sof)!"
He wanted to pierce a hole in the screens between the worlds – between Yetzirah and Asiyah, between Beriah and Atzilut – and immediately draw down the light of Atzilut so that everyone would see Hashem face to face. Therefore it is said, "And the son of the Israelite woman pronounced (vayikov) the Name" – he wanted to make a hole (nekev), a puncture in the screen.
But his mistake was that he did not want to follow the vessels of Moshe Rabbeinu, who establishes one candle and then another candle, step by step. He was told: First, be outside the camp! First, accept the humiliations with love, atone for your blemishes and your reincarnations, and become dust and ashes. Only after a person becomes dust and ashes can he bring down the Infinite Light.
Becoming Dust and Ashes Like Rashbi
So it was with Rabbi Shimon bar Yochai. A regular person, if his garment is a little tight or not soft enough, he already cannot learn and it annoys him. But Rashbi sat for 13 years in the sand in the cave. The sand reached up to his neck, ate away at him, and burned him. When he almost died from the immense suffering and literally became dust and ashes – only then did Eliyahu HaNavi reveal himself to him and disclose the secrets of the Zohar.
When we light the bonfire on Lag BaOmer, everyone needs to think, as it is written in the 'Tzetel Katan' of Rabbi Elimelech of Lizhensk: to see a fire burning to the heart of the heavens and to think when I will jump into it for the sanctification of Hashem's Name (Kiddush Hashem).
The 'Noam Elimelech' explains that through the aspect of "Acharei Mot," the tzaddik nullifies all the decrees in the world. The tzaddik ascends in his prayer to the upper worlds, which are entirely mercy without any mixture of judgment at all, and transforms all the judgments into mercy. Even if, God forbid, death was decreed upon a person, or he is lying on his deathbed and a sharp sword is resting on his neck, the tzaddik can draw down completely new life for him. He takes his chosen ones out of all the straits, out of the prisons and out of all the illnesses, and brings them to a world of gladness and joy, to true freedom and liberation.
Part 2 of 5 — Lesson No. 340
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