THE TRAGEDY AT THE TOMB OF
RABBI SHIMON BAR YOCHAI
By Suri Davis
When tragedy hits klal Yisrael, the first question after the pain is what, Mah, as in Mah Karah/what happened.
The gematriah of Mah/what is 45, the number of men who perished as they exited a night of joy at the tomb of Rabbi Shimon bar Yochai.
Rabbi Shimon bar Yochai, RASHBI, was the author of Kabbalah, the field of Jewish study that is above nature, a gateway to heaven. Rashbi wrote the kabbalah while hiding from the Romans who were looking to kill him for teaching and disseminating torah. He subsisted on water and carobs from a carob tree which G-d provided near his cave.
It is interesting that G-d gave him Carobs to eat in that it is said of someone who plants a carob tree that he is selfless in that he plants the tree not for himself, but for those who come after him, in that it takes 70 years for a carob tree to bear fruit, a period of time too great for many to survive.
The word Mah brings to mind Chapter 8 of tehilim, verse 5:
Mah enosh ki tizkirenu uven adam ki tizkirenu: “What is frail man that You should remember him, and the son of mortal man that You should be mindful of him.” This question was asked by the angels of G-d, when G-d decided to create man. G-d’s answer was, who else will serve me and follow the Torah, for you angels cannot do mitzvoth/commandments in heaven.
This chapter, according to the Wasserman edition of the Artscroll siddur is “the rapturous song of one whose clarity of vision perceives G-d’s handiwork everywhere. He realizes all of man’s accomplishments are gifts from G-d and should be dedicated to His service.”
King David wrote Psalms and sang them through great adversity as a revelation of great Emunah/faith in G-d that his suffering was guided by G-d and for his good. Who are we, mortal man, who are on this earth for a blink of an eye in world history. The men who died in Mt. Meron were pilgrims who came to honor the life of a tzaddik/righteous man, and the work that Rashbi left behind, which is a bridge between man and G-d.
In a period of joy and grief between Passover and Shavuoth, joy for the mounting excitement of celebrating the receiving of the Torah on Mount Sinai, grief over the lost of the 24,000 holy students of Rabbi Akiva, this moment in time encapsulates our history into one moment, as L’ag B’omer will now forever be indelibly etched in our minds as the day of joy and grief, that one day that brings together the 49 days into one. As we are commanded to feel as though we were given the Torah on Mount Sinai, unfortunately we can feel some of the pain suffered historically when 24,000 righteous died.
The answer to Mah enosh/what is frail man? We are commanded to answer this period with faith and introspection.
May HKBH comfort the mourners among the mourners of Zion and Jerusalem.
-Suri