HaRav Shmuel Eliahu is Chief Rabbi of Tzfat and Master of Ceremonies at the national bonfire lighting in Meron.

On Lag Ba'Omer, we especially rejoice in the light of the five students of Rabbi Akiva, which is revealed on this day. To understand their value, we must recall the episode of the 24,000 students who died between Passover and Shavuot:

“Rabbi Akiva had twelve thousand pairs of students from Gevat to Antipatris, and they all died in one period because they did not treat one another with respect. The world was desolate until Rabbi Akiva went to our Rabbis in the South and taught them: Rabbi Meir, Rabbi Yehuda, Rabbi Yossi, Rabbi Shimon, and Rabbi Elazar ben Shammua. They were the ones who restored Torah at that time” (Yevamot 62b).

They transformed a desolate world into one filled with Torah. Another version of this salvation states:

“Rabbi Akiva had twelve thousand students from Akko to Antipatris, and they all died in one period. Why? Because they were envious of one another. In the end, he established seven: Rabbi Meir, Rabbi Yehuda, Rabbi Yossi, Rabbi Shimon, Rabbi Elazar ben Shammua, Rabbi Yochanan the Sandal Maker, and Rabbi Eliezer ben Yaakov. Others say: Rabbi Yehuda, Rabbi Nechemia, Rabbi Meir, Rabbi Yossi, Rabbi Shimon bar Yochai, Rabbi Chanina ben Chachinai, and Rabbi Yochanan the Sandal Maker. He said to them: My sons, the first ones died only because they were envious of one another. Be careful not to behave like them. They stood and filled all the Land of Israel with Torah” (Bereishit Rabbah 61:3)

After the death of the 24,000 students, the world was desolate. Despite Rabbi Akiva having taught them many Torah insights over 24 years, nothing remained of them. There are no teachings in the Talmud, Midrash, or Zohar from those students. Rabbi Akiva then established a new generation, through whom all the Torah we have today was transmitted. They were careful not to repeat the earlier failure.

In effect, the initial failure of Rabbi Akiva’s students was in their failure to connect Torah to life. Our Sages emphasize that they died between Passover (representing physical Redemption) and Shavuot (spiritual Redemption).

At Mount Sinai, Israel was purified from the impurity of the primordial serpent - the cursed being who deceives others into transgressing God's word and who surrounds life with fear. This impurity is reflected in a beastly coarseness, a disregard for God’s word, in the exploitation and oppression of others, like Egyptian culture which ignored God and enslaved the masses.

Israel must undergo spiritual liberation from Egyptian culture - to recognize God, to live with gentleness and holiness, and to fulfill the mitzvah: “Love your neighbor as yourself,” the foundation of the entire Torah.

This is what Hillel taught the gentile who came to convert, and Rabbi Akiva followed: “Love your neighbor as yourself – this is a great principle of the Torah.” (Sifra on Kedoshim 4).

Rabbi Akiva’s students knew the details of the law, but they were disconnected from the root teaching. And without roots, life cannot be sustained. Rabbi Akiva’s final five students repaired the damage and remained rooted via its expression in life. Thus their Torah endures to this day.

A Vital Warning About Love Among Torah Learners
The holy Arizal, who carried on their redemptive Torah, warned his students to be meticulous in loving their fellows. We, too, who strive to study the Torah of Redemption must prepare ourselves in this time through “Love your neighbor as yourself.” We must distance ourselves from hatred, jealousy, desire, pride, the pursuit of honor - and acquire love, humility, and peace. As written in Sha’ar HaKavanot (p. 1a): “One must be exceedingly careful in the matter of love among those who learn Torah together” (Kaf HaChaim on Orach Chaim 493).

Rabbi Akiva’s Era – A Mirror to Our Time
We must remember that after the destruction, Rabbi Akiva also attempted to restore Jewish sovereignty over the Land of Israel through the study of Torah and its sincere observance. His attempt failed due to our sins (Rambam, Laws of Kings 11:3). Today we continue his path.

Presently, we are in a time parallel to the period between Passover and Shavuot. The State of Israel exists today between physical construction and spiritual Redemption. We have a rich and strong State. We are no longer under foreign dominion. But we have not yet reached the point where nations flock to us to learn law and justice. The verse “For Torah shall go forth from Zion and the word of the Lord from Jerusalem” is not yet fully realized. Nor is the promise “And all the families of the earth shall be blessed through you.”

After the world became desolate of Torah, Rabbi Akiva gathered five students to bring about Redemption:

“Rabbi Meir, Rabbi Yehuda, Rabbi Yossi, Rabbi Shimon, and Rabbi Elazar ben Shammua – and they were the ones who reestablished Torah at that time” (Yevamot 62b)

Their Torah is the source of all Halakhot and Midrashim. As Rabbi Yochanan said:

“The anonymous Mishnah – Rabbi Meir; anonymous Tosefta – Rabbi Nechemia; anonymous Sifra – Rabbi Yehuda; anonymous Sifrei – Rabbi Shimon. All according to Rabbi Akiva” (Sanhedrin 86a). All their Torah was what they learned from Rabbi Akiva (Rashi ad loc.).

Rabbi Akiva ordained them as Sages to continue the Torah for generations (Sanhedrin 14a). These five filled the Land of Israel with a Torah of brotherhood, a Torah of Redemption — a Torah that has remained from their time to ours (Bereishit Rabbah 61:3).

Persecuting the Torah Scholars Who Bring Redemption
The Romans understood that the Torah of Rabbi Akiva’s students would bring Redemption to the world. Therefore they sought to destroy anything that could lead to Redemption and the restoration of Jerusalem. They plowed over Jerusalem, changed its name, renamed the Land of Israel “Palestine,” and decreed bans against Torah study and the ordination of Rabbis. They especially targeted Rabbi Akiva, Rabbi Shimon, and Rabbi Meir, knowing that their Torah could redeem Israel - which it did.

Our Sages tell us in the Midrash that after the Roman persecutions, Rabbi Akiva’s students gathered the masses for Torah, just as their teacher had:

“During the aftermath of the persecutions, our Rabbis assembled in Usha: Rabbi Yehuda, Rabbi Nechemia, Rabbi Meir, Rabbi Yossi, Rabbi Shimon bar Yochai, Rabbi Eliezer son of Rabbi Yossi HaGalili, and Rabbi Eliezer ben Yaakov. They sent to the elders of the Galilee, saying: Whoever has learned, come and teach; and whoever has not learned, come and learn.” (Shir HaShirim Rabbah 2:18; see also Berakhot 63b).

Rabbi Akiva - A Torah Scholar of Redemption

The Talmud tells us that Rabbi Akiva was refined and humble (Ketubot 62b) even before he had studied Torah. This set him apart from other Torah Scholars of the time, many of whom, though learned, lacked proper character traits.

The daughter of Kalba Savua understood that Torah Scholars without good character would be the ones to bring about the destruction of the Temple and harm the Jewish People. That’s why she refused to marry any of the Torah Scholars who proposed to her. She wanted a Torah of Redemption - a Torah Scholar with good character. So she chose Rabbi Akiva, because he possessed those traits. She sensed that he could become a vessel to receive the redeeming Torah.

A Unique Ability to See the Good
The Talmud relates an incident that illustrates Rabbi Akiva’s spiritual greatness even before he studied Torah, after marrying Kalba Savua’s daughter:

“Our Rabbis taught: One who judges his fellow favorably will be judged favorably. A story is told of a man who descended from the Upper Galilee and worked for a homeowner in the South for three years. On the eve of Yom Kippur, he said to him: ‘Give me my wages so I can go and support my wife and children.’ The employer said: ‘I have no money.’ ‘Then give me fruit.’ ‘I have no fruit.’ ‘Give me land.’ ‘I have no land.’ ‘Give me animals.’ ‘I have no animals.’ ‘Give me bedding.’ ‘I have no bedding.’ So he slung his belongings over his shoulder and returned home dejected.

“After the festival, the employer took the man’s wages along with three donkeys - one carrying food, one drink, and one delicacies - and brought them to the man’s home. After they ate and drank, he gave him his pay. Then the employer asked, ‘When I said I had no money, what did you suspect?’ He replied, ‘I thought perhaps you had found a bargain and used the money.’ ‘When I said I had no animals?’ ‘I thought perhaps you had rented them out.’ ‘No land?’ ‘Perhaps it was leased out.’ ‘No fruit?’ ‘Perhaps they hadn’t been tithed.’ ‘No bedding?’ ‘Perhaps you had consecrated all your property.’

"He responded: ‘By the Temple service, so it was! And just as you judged me favorably, may the Omnipresent judge you favorably’” (Shabbat 127b. According to Hagahot Yafeh Einayim, the man was Rabbi Akiva before he studied Torah.)

This ability, to see the good even in something that appears faulty, is what God demanded of Moses before he could redeem Israel, and likewise of Isaiah. When Rachel saw this trait in Akiva, she chose to marry him. This same perspective allowed Rabbi Akiva to laugh when he saw foxes emerge from the ruins of the Temple, because he could already envision children playing in the rebuilt streets of Jerusalem in the future Redemption.

May the light of Lag B’Omer fill our eyes and our hearts with a love for our Nation and with thanks to Hashem who has given us the pathway to Redemption by our embracing the Torah in all of its beauty and truth, the revealed and inner Torah combined.

[Translated by Tzvi Fishman]