Tonight and tomorrow we celebrate Lag B'omer!
Almost 2,000 years ago, the great Rabbi Shimon bar Yochai—teacher, mystic, and fearless defender of Torah—knew the exact day he would leave this world. He gathered his closest students and requested that they celebrate instead of mourning:
“This day is my hillula. With one bond I am bound to the Holy One… on this day, there is no sadness.” — Zohar
The Talmud says a “great fire” surrounded his home that night. His students sang. They danced. And they passed on his charge: Every year on this date, rejoice.
