On Lag Ba'Omer, we celebrate the life of Rabbi Shimon bar Yochai and his revelation of the inner secrets of the Torah in the Zohar.
What makes a secret truly a secret?
Obviously, a secret is something nobody knows. The facts are hidden. For example-whether or when a war with Iran will break out again. That is a secret. If friends are planning a surprise party for someone’s birthday, that is a secret.
But there is another type of secret-knowledge that, even if explained, would remain a secret. These are ideas that are, by definition, difficult to understand. It is their hidden depth that makes them secrets.
The secrets of Pnimiyut HaTorah, the Kabbalah, and the Zohar-even though they are available on the internet-are not easily understood. A child reading the Zohar would not gain meaningful benefit. It would remain like a “code." Why is this so? Because there is a built-in gap between the content and lived reality.
The reason more and more people celebrate Lag Ba'Omer and the hilula of Rabbi Shimon bar Yochai each year is likely because, as time goes on, the secrets of Pnimiyut HaTorah are becoming increasingly revealed. As the Geula advances, more and more of the deepest concepts and understandings of reality are becoming clearer and more widely recognized.
Seemingly, all the secrets of the Zohar and Kabbalah are merely remnants and expressions of what once existed in the world of the prophets.
The Torat HaSod, the Torah of secrets, is increasingly becoming Torat HaPshat, the understood Torah. The world and the process of the Geula are bringing the hidden dream closer to reality.
Rav Kook explains in many places that, in the time of Geula, more people will feel a thirst for the Pnimiyut HaTorah. Something will change in the collective consciousness.
We are living in a time when the world is beginning to catch up to its secrets.
So, as we celebrate Lag Ba'Omer this year, may we merit greater revelation of these secrets-in our understanding of Torah and in the unfolding reality of the Geula.