Page 8 THE NEWS-May, 1987
LUBAVITCH OF W. C.
Thoughts From The
Lubavitcher Rebbe
Lag B*Omer
By Rabbi Binyomin Weiss
Among the reasons cited
for the distinction, importance
and significance of Lag
B’Omer (the thirty-third day
of the Omer period between
Passover and Shavuot, two
bear special attention; The
Shulchan Aruch, our Code of
Torah Law, explains that a
plague had broken out
amongst the numerous
disciples of Rabbi Akiva, and
on Lag B ’Omer the death toll
came to an end.
At the other end of the scale,
Lag B’Omer is noted as the
day of great joy for Rabbi
Shimon Bar Yochai (called the
Rashbi). It was the day of his
demise and ascent to heaven.
Rabbi Shimon, who lived at
the time of the Roman con
quest of Israel, was an
outstanding student of Rabbi
Akiva. He transmitted the
teachings of the esoteric
aspects of Torah to a select
group of pupils and was the
author of the Zohar (The Book
of Brightness). The Zohar
became the source-work of
Kabbala and the basis for the
philosophy and teachings of
genereil Chassidism founded
by the Baal Shem Tov
(1698-1760) as well as Chabad
Chassidism expounded by
Rabbi Schneur Zalman of
Liadi (1745-1813).
There is an obvious correla
tion and connection between
the two above aspects of Lag
B’Omer: After most of Rabbi
Akiva’s disciples had died in
the plague. Rabbi Shimon Ben
Yochai was the one outstan
ding and distinguished pupil
of the very few who remained
and restored the desolate
world. His distinction is at
tested to by Rabbi Akiva
himself, who said to Rashbi,
“Be satisfied that I and your
Creator recognize your
worth.”
The disciples who were
stricken by the plague had
brought down Divine judge
ment on themselves by not
treating each other with due
respect, but Rabbi Shimon
Bar Yochai’s approach ran
counter to their conduct and
rectified it, as he declared, “I
am willing and able to absolve
-the whole world from judg
ment, from the day I was
created to this moment.”
Torah is called Toras
Chayim, “instruction in life.’’
Lag B’Omer, in common with
all Torah-ordained remem
brance days, calls for reflec
tion on the significance of the
day and on the personality of
Rashbi; reflection in a way
that will lead to positive action
in one’s daily life.
Two outstanding points of
Rashbi’s personality that
should stand as shining exam
ples to us all: (a) his study of
Torah to the exclusion of all
else was so intense that it was
said of him “his Torah is his
vocation.’’ (b) His Ahavas
Yisroel (love of fellow) em
braced the ‘’whole world” —
every Jew in whatever situa
tion he may find himself, in
cluding one, who faces Divine
Judgment and needs to be ab
solved from it.
Though one may justly
wonder “who can even ap
proach the level of Rashbi’s
exclusive devotion to Torah-
learning?!”, yet everyone can
set fixed times for Torah
study, so that as such times
one’s learning attains the
quality of a person whose
Torah “is his vocation,” to the
exclusion of all else. Moreover,
in the spirit of boundless
Ahavas Yisroel one should do
everything possible to en
courage other Jews in all parts
of the world, to do likewise—to
set for themselves fixed
periods for Torah study and to
induce others in their environ
ment to follow their example.
Dial-A-T orah-T alk
365-1616
Maimoiiides Celebration
A musical program was held
it Shalom Park, on Sunday,
March 29, in honor of the
famous Jewish scholar
Maimonides. The celebration
was part of an ongoing effort
by the Lubavitcher Rebbe
Shlita to honor Maimonides
through studying his writings,
and was sponsored by
Lubavitch of North Carolina.
The program began with a
lecture by Rabbi Yossi Groner,
director of Lubavitch of North
Carolina, on the life and
teachings of The Rambam —
Maimonides, including the
conclusion and beginning of
his classic work of Jewish law
entitled Mishna Torah.
The feature of the evening
was a musical concert with
Moshe Yess and his mixture of
comedy and song. Moshe s£mg
many of his original composi-
1
Ilk u
Rabbi Yossi Groner speaking to audience about Maimonides
tions like “My Zadie’’ and “I
Have The What Page Are We
On In The Prayer Book
Blues”. He kept the crowd go
ing with his popular songs and
his wit.
Participants also enjoyed
excellent Israeli delights like
authentic falafel and chumus
served during the party. There
were many other Middle
Eastern foods and sweet
delicasies to honor the region
where Maimonidies lived.
Preschoolers Learn About Spring Holidays
Lubavitch preschool child
ren discovered the joy of
spring and its holidays to in
volve the children with their
most creative ideas in the par
ticular project at hand.
Since Passover contains so
many things to do, the
teachers and children decided
to experience all that is possi
ble. First the children design
ed their own Haggadah, with
their own artwork and depic
tions of Seder foods. Then the
children watched a special
video entitled. “The Animated
Haggadah” which is a wonder
ful claymation describing the
Congratulations
on
Shalom Park’s
Seder and story of Pesach
through the eyes of a
youngster.
The most exciting project of
all was the actual baking of
traditional matzah, during
which, the children exper
ienced how the Jews felt when
they baked their matzah in
haste during the exodus from
Egypt.
Chanie Weiss, Judaica
teacher at the school, led the
children in a model Seder
where they ate their own mat
zah and learned how to ask the
four questions.
The children also had an ex
citing tour at the Audiology
Center at Presbyterian
Hospital in Charlotte. The
children learned about the ear
and its care. Thanks goes to
Jan Glick who is an
audiologist and parent of Aron
Glick, one of the students at
the school. The children also
visited a new born infant and
were treated to an exciting
learning experience that
afternoon.
Other activities included
roller skating and a visit to the
theatre to watch the Tarradid-
die players.
1st
Birthday
—A Friend
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