The Yanuka Rav Shlomo Yehuda-הגאון הינוקא - ＂רשב＂י סמל הרחמים של עם ישראל＂ השיעור והניגונים בהדלקה במבשרת ציון בל＂ג בעומר תשפ＂ה

3:58 And that is how our master the Arizal would practice every single year, and they would rejoice on this day. So that is what is written about Rabbi Shimon — that he would go and rejoice. And in place of 'rejoiced' in the first printing, in the second printing it was 'the day he died' — they changed it from 'rejoiced' to 'died.' And because of this there are those who say that this is not the day of his time at all, and so on. But the matter is not so clear, for certainly everything is from Heaven, and everything will be revealed from Above.

4:26 For our master the Kaf HaChaim, Palagi, wrote in his sefer Moed L'Chol Chai, siman 7 — he wrote 'the day of his hillula.' And so too wrote our master, the author of the Chayei Adam, in the Vilna edition, in klal 130, se'if 11: he wrote that the day of Rabbi Shimon bar Yochai's passing is 'the day of his hillula.' There are those who distinguished between the day of the hillula and the day of the passing. But what is certain for us — it is known to us that this day, which the whole world and all the Jewish people celebrate and rejoice on, is certainly the day of Rabbi Shimon bar Yochai's passing, as he revealed his view to us explicitly — our holy master Rabbi Tzvi Elimelech of Dinov, in his essays, where he wrote about the month of Iyar,

5:05 that this is in fact the day of Rabbi Shimon's hillula, that he was both born on Lag BaOmer and passed away on Lag BaOmer, and this is the day of his hillula, and this is how the Jewish people practice, and it is a tradition from ancient times, and certainly there is no mistake, and it is all from Him, blessed be He, and it all came out for the good. And they also learned this from the Zohar, Haazinu, page 291, where it says 'the day of the hillula of Rabbi Shimon,' and 'gather for the hillula of Rabbi Shimon' — for that is how the world celebrates and rejoices.

5:30 So certainly there is no difference between the first printing and the second printing, and it is all from Him, blessed be He. A scribe's error? What scribe's error? It is all for the good; it is the custom of Israel, and this is how the Jewish people practice and celebrate. So if something comes to light, then certainly it is a tradition. For in their times people would go a great deal to the graves of the holy ones to rejoice — at the grave of Rabbi Akiva, at the grave of Rabbi Meir, at the grave of Rabbi Yehudah, the grave of Rabbi Yosef — as it is written in Yevamos, page 62b: "until he came to our Rabbis in the south and taught it to them" — and they are Rabbi Yehudah, Rabbi Yosef, Rabbi Meir, Rabbi Shimon, Rabbi Elazar —

6:01 for Rabbi Akiva taught them the Torah. And we rejoice on this day over the Torah, that it was not forgotten, and Rabbi Shimon bar Yochai upheld it for us and revealed his view. Everyone practices and rejoices on this day, in kedushah, with might and power, for joy and in honor of this great day — for he revealed to us the holy Zohar, where more than 150 times a halachah in the Shulchan Aruch is ruled like the holy Zohar. And the whole Shulchan Aruch, whose foundation is in the holy mountains — there is no siman in the Shulchan Aruch that does not have a root, an arm, a hand and a foot somewhere in the holy Zohar.

6:34 For everything that Rabbi Shimon bar Yochai revealed to us — these are all things hewn from a lofty source, from which they come, so that one cannot measure or describe the greatness and the kedushah of one who merits to stand in this and to reach this. We know that the Jewish people have the practice, at this time, of the custom of making the chalaka, in which there is a very, very great custom; and this was the custom of our master, our master the Arizal — in Pri Etz Chaim it is brought that he took his son — from Rabbi Chaim Vital — [unclear] the children, and the chalaka is made, and they would bring them to him.

7:05 And in fact this custom is a very lofty custom, which is brought in Ta'amei HaMinhagim, in siman 269, on page 269, that they had the practice of doing the haircut and the shaving — this chalaka — because of "and I am a smooth man" — because of "and I am a smooth man" they came to call it chalaka. And they would do this every single year, when children reached the age of three, as the Arugas HaBosem taught in siman [unclear], who brought this in the name of Midrash Tanchuma, siman 14: "its fruit shall be holy, for praises to Hashem" — "holy, for praises" — that is three: "three years it shall be forbidden to you, it shall not be eaten."

7:42 That was like the holy children: it is three years — they are particular specifically about three years, and [unclear] about less than that. We learn that in Tractate Moed Katan, page 14, it is permitted to cut the child's hair right away, and one does not need to wait three years. But the Jewish people took on the practice — here the Arugas HaBosem wrote, from Midrash Tanchuma, siman 14 — to wait with their haircut until three years; and that is how they would practice it, and especially outside the Land. Our master the Chazon Ish was more particular — that outside the Holy Land they should be more particular about three years, so that it be "holy fruit, for praises to Hashem."

8:15 For when a child's hair is cut at less — less than three years — it can harm his memory. But if he is already two years old and a bit more, then one can already cut his hair. That is how they were particular about it; and some here in the Land of Israel were not particular, and some were particular. But the main thing is that when the day of the hillula of Rabbi Shimon bar Yochai arrives, the Jewish people took on the practice of doing this, and it is a very, very, very great thing. This custom, even before our master the Arizal, appears in the responsa of the Radbaz, part 2, siman 608, where he writes that it was the custom of Israel to go up to the grave of Shmuel HaNavi and to donate and make gifts and vows there. He was asked: if the government — by then of idol worshippers —

8:54 took the place, and people had made vows and had pledged to come to the grave of Shmuel HaNavi — do they need to annul their vows or not? And there he writes that it is a vow that cannot be annulled. He writes that they had the practice of bringing there tears and joy and the lighting of candles. From here we also see the greatness of the candle that is lit in holy places. We see explicitly in the words of our master the Radbaz, part 2, siman 608, the greatness of lighting candles, or of maintaining a holy place — that this is how they would practice.

9:24 And so it truly was, that the practice was to hold a prayer and a festive meal there, in every such holy place, one or another, where they would pray; and they would do this at Shmuel HaNavi. And today the thing has spread, so that it is done at our master Shimon bar Yochai, in every holy place, anywhere in the world. And that is how the Jewish people would practice — to go from place to place and to pray, and to give Hashem, blessed be He, nachas ruach, and to pray in honor of Hashem, blessed be He. We all know that the tradition of Israel — the tradition that 'the custom of Israel is Torah' — and we know of Israel that they are all sons of prophets, holy and pure and righteous, and we walk in the way of Hashem,

10:02 and one must honor and keep and [unclear] all the customs. In the Beis Yosef, Yoreh De'ah, siman 179 — we know that the Rashba uprooted all the herbs that they would burn as incense, and all kinds of customs of one sort or another that were customs of [unclear] — our master the Rashba uprooted them, as our master brought in the Beis Yosef, siman 109. But regarding these things, regarding the tradition of Israel, regarding the chalaka and all kinds of holy customs that the Jewish people have practiced — there is kedushah in this, and one must be careful with it and not simply abolish customs whose foundation is in the holy mountains, as we know that our master the Rashba wrote, part 1, siman 9, about all the customs of the elderly women — that one had to be stringent and keep customs;

10:41 and as our master the Chasam Sofer wrote, part 1, end of siman 51; as our master the Rema wrote, in siman 99, [unclear] 7 — that one must be as careful as possible with this — to be careful and not to permit, Heaven forbid, the abolishing of customs, and to be careful with them and not to make light of their honor, Heaven forbid, because these things have their foundation in the holy mountains. Every custom of Israel is Torah, and one must honor it and not try to come and abolish all kinds of holy customs of Israel, for it is all holy to Hashem.

11:08 When we come and walk in the way of our fathers, and the custom of our fathers is in our hands — when one goes out anywhere, and any sage who arrives in some city and wants to know a source of the city or a matter of the city — the first thing he needs to look for, in every city where he is, before one goes into the laws and the Shulchan Aruch, is "go out and see what the people do." One goes to the root of the customs of the place, for the customs have their foundation in the holy mountains, and one follows these customs.

11:36 We see that the customs of the Jewish people, in all the holy places — that this has already gone and spread from place to place — regarding this greatness of Rabbi Shimon, that people celebrate and make a chalaka, and rejoice in honor of the Torah of Rabbi Shimon — it is a holy custom, and certainly, certainly there is great joy in this. And in this gathering and in this kedushah, in which we merit to pray and merit to mention his merit together, this power keeps rising and is fixed high, high Above, and this protects us and all the Jewish people, our brothers who are in exile — especially at this time, when we need Hashem, blessed be He, to redeem us and return the children to their border, and may all the captives return to the Holy Land, and may Hashem, blessed be He, watch over all His inheritance and over all the Jewish people.

12:21 Our master Shimon bar Yochai — in all kedushah, each and every tzaddik has his own greatness, his own path. There are tzaddikim who are from the side of Gevurah, there are those from the side of Chesed, like Avraham Avinu. King David was Gevuros. Every holy one and tzaddik had his own sefirah and his own power and his own greatness. Rabbi Shimon bar Yochai — the power of Rabbi Shimon was mercy.

12:46 Rabbi Shimon bar Yochai is the symbol of the mercy of the Jewish people. The mercy of Rabbi Shimon is a great and mighty mercy, as we find — such a great tzaddik, who could say of himself that he is able to exempt the entire world — in Tractate Sukkah, page 45b — that he can exempt the entire world from judgment. It is an awesome and fearsome thing to speak in such language.

13:10 "If my son Rabbi Elazar and [unclear] were together" — it is a thing beyond measure — one could exempt the whole world from all the troubles, from all the problems. But the power of Rabbi Shimon, who can exempt the entire world from judgment — it is a thing where one cannot measure the power and the might and the greatness of Rabbi Shimon. For Rabbi Shimon wanted to exempt the entire world from judgment, so that there would be no judgments, and he was all mercy, and a revelation of mercy before Hashem, blessed be He.

13:40 But one must reflect and ask: if Rabbi Shimon was all mercy and was all kindness, and was entirely of such a mind that there is no mercy above it — the whole power of Rabbi Shimon, who revealed his mercy in the world — he wanted to reveal it in order to bring the geulah, because "through this work of yours" — in the merit of your work, Rabbi Shimon, the Jewish people will go out of exile — from Parashas Naso, which Rabbi Shimon wrote.

14:07 The reflection is that Rabbi Shimon wanted to reveal mercy upon all creatures. And in fact we find in Tractate Shabbos, page 53, that Rabbi Shimon was inside the cave, and when he wanted to come out — so when they came out after twelve years, they saw someone who was plowing and sowing, and they were upset: how can one be occupied with the life of the moment when one sees the whole purpose, sees the World to Come, sees the true purpose, sees the revelation of Hashem's glory — how can one look at this world, how can one leave the holy Torah in order to be busy with this?

14:38 And immediately they set their eyes on it; every place where they set their eyes was burned up. And then Hashem, blessed be He, sent them back into the cave, to return for another year. So — as I explained before, that Rabbi Shimon was mercy — how do we find that he did an act that was judgment? For he made a fire. But one can explain this: in truth, Rabbi Shimon — he did not, Heaven forbid, burn people; he burned what was wood and stones.

15:03 I can see in this a great hint as well, for in Tractate Kiddushin, page 31b — "A psalm of Asaf" — what is "a psalm of Asaf"? That Hashem, blessed be He, poured out His wrath on wood and stones, and He did not pour out His wrath on the Jewish people. So that is Hashem's mercy. That is "a psalm of Asaf." So why do we say about Rabbi Shimon bar Yochai — why was the Holy One, blessed be He, strict with Rabbi Shimon, sending him back to the cave? After all, You Yourself — Hashem, blessed be He, did this, that He poured out His wrath on wood and stones, and that was Hashem's mercy, for which we say "a psalm of Asaf," and that is the great joy, that Hashem, blessed be He, spent His wrath specifically on wood and stones and not on the holy people. Whereas Rabbi Shimon bar Yochai, who set his eyes out of zeal for Hashem —

15:43 Hashem, blessed be He, sent him back to the cave for a year. Why was Hashem, blessed be He, strict with him? He should have treated him too with the attribute of mercy, because what he did is also the same thing as "a psalm of Asaf." But one can reflect on this and see that the light of Rabbi Shimon — Hashem, blessed be He, wanted Rabbi Shimon to set his eyes with His mercy — that of Hashem, blessed be He — and to accustom his eye to see the good of the Jewish people and to awaken mercy on the Jewish people.

16:08 For if Rabbi Shimon were to see something not good in the Jewish people, if he were only to look at creation and see something not good, then his eye too, and his view too, could, Heaven forbid, come to be from the attribute of judgment and not mercy. And Hashem, blessed be He, wanted Rabbi Shimon to be all mercy, and therefore it was important to Hashem, blessed be He, to send Rabbi Shimon back to the cave for another year, so that after he came out of the cave his mercy would be revealed in the whole world, and the whole world would see the mercy of Rabbi Shimon, how Rabbi Shimon is revealed.

16:37 We see this — not only that the mercy of Rabbi Shimon was revealed, but all the sayings of Rabbi Shimon. You know that Abaye and Rava — the 'discussions of Abaye and Rava,' in Tractate Bava Basra, page 134a — the discussions of Abaye and Rava, who disagree in the Talmud, 428 times — the disputes of Abaye and Rava, who disagree with one another. Every time, Abaye comes to [unclear] the weak one, comes to protect the weak one, the unfortunate one, whereas Rava is the opposite: the one with a livelihood, the one with standing, whoever is greater — [unclear] him more, supports him more; his view leans to that.

17:10 Whereas Abaye, specifically, has more mercy on the unfortunate, on the poor, on the weak. That is how we see it. And exactly the same with Rabbi Shimon. Rabbi Shimon bar Yochai — his light is so great that he always tries to awaken mercy on the Jewish people. He wants to exempt the entire world from judgment; he tries to have mercy on the Jewish people. In Tractate Sotah, page 32b, in the name of Rabbi Shimon: why did they institute that prayer be said in a whisper? So as not to shame those who transgress.

17:35 That is how Rabbi Shimon bar Yochai has pity on the creatures. We see that he has pity — in the sayings of Rabbi Shimon, they always lean toward kindness and mercy. One can reflect on this: in Tractate Megillah, page 29a — that every place to which Israel was exiled, the Shechinah was exiled with them; that is how the Holy One, blessed be He, had mercy on them. In the Yerushalmi, Tractate Peah, chapter 1, halachah 1 — there — Hashem, blessed be He — that the Holy One, blessed be He, equated — that He put the honor of one's father and mother above His own honor.

18:00 Hashem, blessed be He, preferred that people honor their parents, says Rabbi Shimon, rather than honor the honor of Hashem. In Bereishis Rabbah, parashah 11 — what did Hashem, blessed be He — the Shechinah said: "The first day has a partner, the second day; the third has the fourth, the fifth has the sixth" — and the seventh, Shabbos, said before Hashem, blessed be He: "I have no partner." Rabbi Shimon said: the Holy One, blessed be He, said — the Jewish people, Knesses Yisrael, she will be your partner.

18:26 The holy Shabbos and the Jewish people are the pair. The seventh day, Shabbos — and the Jewish people are the partner of the holy Shabbos. This is what Rabbi Shimon teaches us: that a person should always be soft like a reed — in Tractate Taanis, page 20 — that a person should have mercy, should be soft, and not hard like a cedar — to be mercy, to lean toward mercy. We see that all the sayings of Rabbi Shimon, when one reflects on them in the Talmud — where one can look and see that when a person did teshuvah, he tipped the whole world to the side of merit — in Tractate Kiddushin, page 40b.

18:56 We see that all the sayings of Rabbi Shimon, every place where Rabbi Shimon reveals his view, he always reveals the mercy of Hashem. In Tractate Kiddushin, page 40b: one who does teshuvah — who had a thought of teshuvah — is a complete tzaddik. For everything that he reveals in the world is to return to Hashem, blessed be He, and immediately he brings all the creatures back to Hashem, blessed be He. We see the power of Rabbi Shimon: in Tractate Berachos, page 43b; in Sotah, page 10b; in Kesubos, page 67b — in all these tractates there is that saying of Rabbi Shimon, who said: "It is better for a person to throw himself into a fiery furnace — Sotah, page 10b — and not shame his fellow in public."

19:35 And about this I say every single year, before I light, before the lighting: the whole essence of the lighting is to remember the saying of Rabbi Shimon. As we saw, Rabbi Shimon bar Yochai — he has pity on [unclear], he has pity on the Jewish people, and his sayings — like Abaye and Rava, as we saw and learned from them — so too Rabbi Shimon: he leans toward awakening mercy on the Jewish people, and in his Torah and in his view — as we see from here the comparison that one can see — that this is his language in the Zohar. Rabbi Shimon is always like his language in the Talmud; whoever has learned a lot of Zohar can know that it is like the view of Rabbi Shimon in the Talmud — one sees the view of Rabbi Shimon in the Talmud,

20:11 that on the one hand he always reveals judgment and kindness and mercy as one. On the one hand he reveals the mercy of Hashem; on the one hand Rabbi Shimon, in his traits, is exacting — like the story in the Yerushalmi, chapter 9, in Tractate Sheviis, with that Cuthean. That Cuthean came and said [unclear], when Rabbi Shimon purified the city of Tiberias — so right away that Cuthean came and [unclear] a dead body and put it on the ground and said: "Look — how did Rabbi Shimon do this?" He called to him: "Come and see."

20:39 Then Rabbi Shimon bar Yochai said: "I decree upon the one above that he go down below, and upon the one below that he come up." And immediately that Cuthean fell beneath the ground, and that dead man came up onto the face of the ground, alive. That is how Rabbi Shimon bar Yochai [unclear] the dead. And we see the power of Rabbi Shimon, how much he had pity on the creatures. On the one hand he had the attribute of judgment, that he knew how to punish the wicked, and on the other hand he had great mercy, that he could have mercy and exempt the entire world from judgment. And when one sees his view in the Talmud and sees the Zohar, and when one learns this, one understands that it is one — the same Rabbi Shimon; it is the same Rabbi Shimon.

21:12 And therefore one must learn from this, when one sees the view of the Sages — to study their words closely and to be precise with their words; "the wise man has his eyes in his head" — to comprehend and to understand, and to always remember — which is what we do at the time of the lighting, and this is the whole reason for the lighting, that we light this awesome fire up to the heart of the heavens: it is likened to a furnace. This whole lighting that we light every year is likened to the fiery furnace. We remember the saying of Rabbi Shimon, who said: "It is better for a person to throw himself into a fiery furnace and not shame his fellow in public." This is supposed to shake our hearts — not to shame any Jew among the Jewish people, not to cause anyone pain, not to speak lashon hara, Heaven forbid,

21:50 and to give one's soul for this saying of Rabbi Shimon, that a person should feel, and accustom himself, that "it is better for me to fall into a fiery furnace and not shame my fellow in public." This is the essence, this is the purpose, this is the tradition of Israel. Beyond this reason, there is no point at all in the lighting. This is the point of the lighting, this is the main reason, this is the most important thing — beyond the fact that it hints at the Torah of Rabbi Shimon, at the awesome fire that is lit up to the heart of the heavens — and the responsa Torah Lishmah, siman 520; Rabbeinu Bachya, Parashas Terumah — that it is likened to the candles that are lit, that one makes the candle that is lit [unclear],

22:22 that there is a great thing in this — but beyond all this, the main thing and the main reason, the one and only thing, the important, lofty thing — now that, with Hashem's help, we will light, and the light of Rabbi Shimon is revealed and rises in the whole world — is that we mention him, and that we light the fire and remember his saying, and remember his view, and reflect and mention it — the very thought, that a person recalls and thinks of and mentions the words of Rabbi Shimon bar Yochai, and thinks of Rabbi Shimon bar Yochai, and remembers his saying; when he sees this burning fire he says: "It is better for me to fall into a fiery furnace and not shame my fellow in public" — this is the essence and the power and the great light that is revealed. And certainly the light of Rabbi Shimon

23:04 protects us, and the merit of Rabbi Shimon bar Yochai blesses this whole holy congregation, so that certainly these are all salvations, and these are all miracles and wonders, and these are all signs and marvels; and may we merit to rejoice on this day in honor of the joy of Rabbi Shimon bar Yochai — as he warned Rabbi Avraham Beruchim — [unclear] — why he was not joyful on my day, when he said Nachem. So at the time when they needed to rejoice — specifically this day, on which, in the tradition of Israel, everyone was always joyful, on this day when they stopped dying — the students of Rabbi Akiva — so may we too merit to rejoice in this Torah.

23:37 I, the small and lowly, bless you — the whole public, your whole holy city, and the rabbi of this place, and all the honored rabbis: may you continue to make the Torah great and glorious, may your wellsprings spread outward, and may we merit, with Hashem's help, to shine the light of Rabbi Shimon in the whole world, and to rejoice with great joy on this day in honor of Rabbi Shimon bar Yochai, in remembrance of the holy Torah, that it not be forgotten from the Jewish people; and may Hashem, blessed be He, redeem us, and may we all merit to lift our eyes to Heaven: "Lift your eyes on high and see Who created these."

24:08 May the King of kings, the Holy One, blessed be He, have mercy on us, save us, redeem us with a complete geulah, and may we merit to be redeemed with a raised hand, swiftly and soon, our Master, the Creator, blessed be He, our King at our head. Amen and Amen. - Six.

28:18 - The bow and arrow, by our teacher and master. - as is the custom, the bow and arrow, by our teacher and master.

28:43 - The chalaka children, from the right-hand gate, [unclear]. - From this gate, the chalaka children. - [unclear] - Let the chalaka children through!

29:49 - Let the chalaka children through! ...may it be His will, and let us say Amen.

52:42 Rabbi Chananya ben Akashya says: "The Holy One, blessed be He, wished to give merit to Israel; therefore He gave them Torah and mitzvos in abundance, as it is said: 'Hashem desired, for the sake of His righteousness, to make the Torah great and glorious.'" May His great Name be exalted and sanctified — Amen — in the world that He created according to His will; and may He establish His kingship, make His redemption sprout and bring His Mashiach near, in your lifetimes and in your days and in the lifetime of the whole House of Israel, speedily and soon, and say Amen. May His great Name be blessed forever and to all eternity. Blessed and praised, glorified and exalted, extolled and honored, elevated and lauded be the Name of the Holy One, blessed be He — above all the blessings, songs, praises and consolations that are said in the world, and say Amen.

53:18 For Israel and for our Rabbis, for their students and for all the students of their students, who engage in the holy Torah, in this place and in every other place — may there be for us, for them and for you grace and kindness and mercy from before the Master of heaven and earth, and say Amen. May there be abundant peace from Heaven — life and plenty, salvation and consolation, rescue and healing, redemption, forgiveness and atonement, relief and deliverance — for us and for all His people Israel, and say Amen. May He who makes peace in His heights make peace upon us and upon all His people Israel, and say Amen.

53:43 Blessed are You, Hashem, our G-d, King of the universe, Who creates pleasant oil. Blessed are You, Hashem, our G-d, King of the universe, Who gives a good fragrance to fruits. Amen. Blessed are You, Hashem, our G-d, King of the universe, Who creates fragrant trees.

54:10 Blessed are You, Hashem, our G-d, King of the universe, Who creates fragrant herbs. Blessed are You, Hashem, our G-d, King of the universe, Who creates various kinds of fragrances. Amen. Good tidings, a complete geulah — may Hashem, blessed be He, redeem us.