Concerning the Yom Tov of Lag BaOmer, the thirty-third day of the Omer, we find in different sefarim different reasons. For instance, we have the famous reason that this is the day that the talmidim of Rabbi Akiva stopped dying. We know that they died for thirty-three days because לא נהגו כבוד זה בזה, because they didn't give kavod one to another, and on Lag BaOmer they stopped dying. Then there's another reason given in the She'elot uTeshuvot Chatam Sofer חלק יורה דעה סימן רל״ג that according to the Midrash, this is the day that the mon started going. On the eighteenth day of Iyar the mon started falling, which is different than what it says in the Gemara, but nevertheless according to the Midrash, it happened on this day. This is another reason why we celebrate Lag BaOmer. But then there is the other reason, the most famous reason, and that is that on Lag BaOmer was the day of the histalkut of the yahrtzeit of Rabbi Shimon bar Yochai. And this is the reason that is given in Pri Etz Chaim שער ספירת העומר פרק ז׳. Other reasons are given in Mishnat Chassidim Masechet Iyar veSivan, in Pri Chadash for אורח חיים סימן תצ״ג, Mareh HaEin of the Chida in Shulchan Aruch there, in She'elot uTeshuvot Shem Aryeh חלק אורח חיים סימן י״ד, and in Sdei Chemed, Asifat Dinim Ma'arechet Eretz Yisrael סימן ו׳ in P'at HaSadeh he goes through many details of this inyan of Lag BaOmer. But the one that's accepted and that's given in Pri Etz Chaim שער ספירת העומר פרק ז׳ is that this is the day of the yahrtzeit of Rabbi Shimon bar Yochai, as it says in the Zohar חלק ג׳ דף רצ״ו עמוד ב׳, and also understood from the Zohar חלק א׳ רח״ עמוד א׳. And we know that Rabbi Shimon bar Yochai referred to Lag BaOmer, the day that he passed away, as יום שמחתו, as the day of his simchah, as it says in the Sha'ar HaKavanot ענין ספירת העומר דרוש י״ב and in Pri Etz Chaim as we mentioned before. And therefore it is a מצוה לשמוח שמחת ר׳ שמעון בר יוחאי on this day, as it says in Mishnat Chassidim Masechet Iyar אייר פרק א׳ משנה ו׳, because this is the day that he passed away. And we know the klal that on the day a tzadik passes away, all the maasim and all the Torah and all the avodah that the tzaddik did all his life, on the day of his histalkus, it goes up l'maalah, they all gather together and it goes up l'maalah, as it says in Iggeres Hakodesh סימן כ״ח, that they all go up למעלה בבחינת גילוי מלמעלה למטה in a revealed way, ופועל ישועות בקרב הארץ, and this even brings yeshuos, help, in this world. That's how great that day is. And every year when this day comes around, the same thing happens over again. So it comes out that on this day that Rabbi Shimon bar Yochai passed away, so on this day all the Torah and avodah that Rabbi Shimon bar Yochai did throughout his lifetime gathered together and shine, so to speak, on that day. And every year this happens again and again. That's why this is a very great simchah. Now, we know that everything that happens by a Yid is definitely by hashgachah pratis. Everything that happens in the world is by hashgachah pratis with the special Divine Providence, but when it comes to Yid it's even more. And therefore, the Baal Shem Tov said that anything that a Yid sees or hears, and bichlal anything that has a contact with a Yid, a Yid is supposed to take a horaah, a lesson, from that in his own Avodas Hashem. Since it is that Lag BaOmer is the day of Rabbi Shimon bar Yochai'ss simchah, the day that Rabbi Shimon bar Yochai passed away, the day that all his Torah and avodah of his whole lifetime stands strong, so the lesson we're supposed to take from Rabbi Shimon bar Yochai is the lesson concerning his avodah. What lesson do we take from the special avodah of Rabbi Shimon bar Yochai? So we know what it says in the Zohar in חלק ג׳ דף רפ״ח עמוד א׳ and רצ״ב עמוד א׳ that on the day of his histalkus, when he passed away on Lag BaOmer, Rabbi Shimon bar Yochai said like this: says that פתח ר׳ שמעון ואמר, ר׳ שמעון started, opened up and said the pasuk is אני לדודי ועלי תשוקתו, \"I am to my Beloved, and to Him I have my desire.\" So ר׳ שמעון בר יוחאי said, כל יומין דאתקטרנא בהאי עלמא, \"All the days that I was connected to this world, בחד קטירא אתקטרנא ביה בקודשא בריך הוא, I was tied with one knot with Hashem. נשמתי ביה אחידה, my neshamah was united with Him. ביה ליהטא, was glowing, had a desire to Him. ביה אדבקת, was davuk and connected to Him.\"

Now, since Rabbi Shimon bar Yochai says כל יומין, all my lifetime, בחד קטירא אתקטרנא etc. etc., from that we understand that the עיקר עבודה of Rabbi Shimon bar Yochai all his lifetime in this world was to be connected to Hashem, because he said always he was בחד קטירא אתקטרנא ביה בקודשא בריך הוא, he was always with one knot tied to Hashem, and other expressions he used is that he was אחידה and ליהטא and he's דבוק. Now, since the Torah tells us this, meaning it's written in the Zohar, which is part of the Torah, so this is a lesson to every single Yid. Especially when it comes to Lag BaOmer, when we celebrate the yahrzeit of Rabbi Shimon ben Yochai, and that's the day the Torah and avodah of his whole lifetime stands strong and shines, so that's the day we're supposed to take a lesson of this inyan.

Even though one might ask, how can we expect to take a lesson from Rabbi Shimon ben Yochai, which means to follow his footsteps, when the Gemara says in Sukkah דף מ״ה עמוד ב׳ that he was from the בני עליה, he was from the special people, and he said that if there is only one person great in the world, אנא הוא, it's me, as the pasuk says צדיק יסוד עולם. So most people are not at all on the level of Rabbi Shimon ben Yochai. And the Gemara also says in Berachot דף ל״ה עמוד ב׳ that הרבה עשו כרבי ישמעאל ועלתה בידם, כרבי שמעון בן יוחי ולא עלתה בידם. רבי ישמעאל said that a person should learn a little bit and give most of his time for work. Rabbi Shimon ben Yochai says that how could a person work, תורה מה תהא עליה? What's going to happen to the Torah? And therefore Rabbi Shimon ben Yochai says a person should learn all day. And the Gemara says many people tried to do like Rabbi Shimon ben Yochai, and it didn't work for them. So likorah, how can anybody try to learn a lesson from the lifetime, from the avodah of Rabbi Shimon ben Yochai? But nevertheless, we know that a person can at least a little bit learn from every great tzaddik, and especially from Rabbi Shimon bar Yochai, because we know that Rabbi Shimon bar Yochai was a nitzotz of Moshe Rabbeinu, as it says in Emek HaMelech שער דיקנא קדישא פרק י״ד. Also there is a raayah from Zohar חלק ג׳ דף קס״ב עמוד ב׳ that he was a nitzotz or a gilgul from Moshe Rabbeinu. Concerning Moshe Rabbeinu, we know that every single Yid has within himself a nitzotz of Moshe Rabbeinu, because it says in pasuk that מה ה׳ אלקיך שואל מעמך כי אם ליראה את ה׳ אלקיך. What does Hashem want of you? Just to fear Hashem. And the Gemara asks a kashya in Berachos דף ל״ג עמוד ב׳, what does the pasuk mean? What does Hashem ask of you, only to fear Hashem, as if this is a small thing? אטו יראה מילתא זוטרתא היא? Is fear of Hashem a small thing? And the Gemara answers: אין, לגבי משה מילתא זוטרתא היא. Regarding Moshe Rabbeinu, it is a small thing. But in Tanya, in פרק מ״ב he asks a kashya, but Hashem was not speaking to Moshe Rabbeinu alone. He was telling Moshe Rabbeinu to tell this to the Bnei Yisrael. So he was really saying to all of the Bnei Yisrael that מה ה׳ אלקיך שואל מעמך, what does Hashem want of you, all He wants is yirah. So it's mashma that for all Bnei Yisrael, יראת ה׳ is a small thing. So what does the Gemara mean when it answers that Regarding Moshe Rabbeinu it's a small thing? And the answer, the pshat in the Gemara, that Regarding Moshe Rabbeinu is a small thing, it doesn't mean Moshe Rabbeinu himself, it means the Moshe Rabbeinu that's within every single Yid. Every single Yid has a nitzotz of Moshe Rabbeinu, and that gives him the special koach to be able to serve Hashem easier. Since we say that Rabbi Shimon bar Yochai was a nitzotz of Moshe Rabbeinu, so every single Yid has a nitzotz of Rabbi Shimon bar Yochai within himself. And therefore every single Yid is able to learn and take a lesson and follow the footsteps of Rabbi Shimon bar Yochai to a certain degree, especially in this inyan, where the lashon in the Zohar is that פתח ר׳ שמעון ואמר, ר׳ שמעון opened up and said. And we know that it says in sefarim that the לשון פתח doesn't only mean he started, it means he started speaking. He opened up a tzinor, he opened up a way for everyone to do it. Before Rabbi Shimon bar Yochai said this, then it was harder for people to do it, but after he opened it up, the gate is open already, now everybody can enter. So here it says that פתח ר׳ שמעון ואמר, ר׳ שמעון opened up and he said that his avodah was that בחד קטירא אתקטרנא ביה בקודשא בריך הוא, with one kesher, with one knot he tied himself to Hashem, and his neshamah was אחידא וליהיטא and attached to Hashem. And since he opened this up, obviously everybody else is able to follow in the footsteps, and at least a שמץ ממנו, a drop, a little bit of what Rabbi Shimon bar Yochai did, everyone is able to do.

What is the lesson that we're supposed to take from here? It's very simple. We know that Hashem created the world, and specifically the people, in a way that lechatchilah, the way the person is, he is a separate thing from Torah u'mitzvot. Hashem did not create the person, the Yid, that he should lechatchilah be one with the Torah or one with the mitzvot. A person has to be educated, and grow up, and train himself, and use his own bechirah, his own free choice and his own will, in order to go on the path of Torah u'mitzvot. And therefore, when a Yid does reach the point where he follows the path of Torah u'mitzvot, it could be in a way that the Yid who does the Torah u'mitzvot could do it bishleimut, he could learn Torah and do mitzvot completely, the way you're supposed to. But nevertheless it's possible that the Torah and the mitzvot and the person remain two separate things. Which means even though he feels that אני נבראתי לשמש את קוני, as the Gemara says that a person is supposed to say, I was created to serve my Master, so he knows that the whole purpose of his creation was only to serve his Master. But nevertheless, he could feel as there are two things: there is the he, and there is the Master, and he serves the Master. Which means that even at a time when he serves the Master, which means he serves Hashem, he learns Torah and does mitzvot, he still feels that there is the he, the אני, and then there is the קוני, the Master whom he is serving, and the avodah he is doing to serve the Master, the Torah he is learning and the mitzvot he is doing. Which means he is not one with the Torah and the mitzvot. He is a separate being, the Torah and the mitzvot that were given from Hashem are a separate being, which means Hashem is a separate being, he doesn't feel one with Hashem, and he just does what Hashem wants him to do. And certainly, a person could have this feeling at a time when he is not learning Torah or doing mitzvot, when he is involved in his own physical needs, like his משא ומתן, his business, or at a time of אכילה ושתיה, when he eats and drinks, and he sleeps, etc., etc. So then, even though he might know that the reason he does all this is in order to serve Hashem, but still, he feels that these things are a separate inyan, and he does them in order to serve Hashem, but, on the other hand, they are still a separate thing. The avodah of Rav Shimon ben Yochai, as he said that כל יומין he was אתקטרנא ביה בקודשא בריך הוא, he was always tied with השם, and his neshamah was ביה אחידא, ביה להיטא, בהתדבקות, that was a special avodah. That avodah was, and that gave a koach to every single Yid to be able to follow that avodah, as we said before, every single Yid has a nitzotz of Rav Shimon ben Yochai, that in addition to serving Hashem by doing Torah and מצוות בתכלית השלימות, completely, it's possible for the Torah and mitzvot to penetrate into his whole מציאות, into the whole being of the person, that כל היומין, and all the days, and everything that the person does should be ביחידה, should be united with Hashem. He is so one with Hashem that he doesn't feel that he serves Hashem, but automatically his מציאות is nothing but an expression of Hashem's will. As Rabbi Shimon bar Yochai himself said, as it says in the זוהר, דף רכ״ה, עמוד א׳, אנא סימנא בעלמא, \"I am only a siman,\" which means my whole being is only a siman, a sign of Hashem. That's how batel he was to Hashem, and how united he was with Hashem. And a Yid is able to follow the same footsteps, because every Yid has a nitzotz of Rabbi Shimon bar Yochai, and is also able to reach that madregah of being one with the avodat Hashem as he does. To be more specific, we know that the avodah of Rabbi Shimon bar Yochai was mainly in Torah. His avodah was תורתו אומנותו, as the Gemara says in שבת, דף י״א, עמוד א׳, as his אומנות, his whole job was Torah. Now normally, a person does business, a person does other things also, and he also has a קביעות עתים לתורה, time to learn. But Rabbi Shimon bar Yochai, he was תורתו אומנותו. His Torah was his whole אומנות, his whole business. His whole life there was nothing but the Torah. And this fits to what we mentioned from the Zohar, as he said that he was אתקטרנא ביה בקודשא בריך הוא, was tied with one knot with השם, ביה אחידא, was united with Hashem, therefore, his whole being was Torah. Now when we say a Yid is supposed to follow the footsteps of Rabbi Shimon bar Yochai, take a lesson from his avodah, now lichorah, it would mean to say that every Yid should become תורתו אומנותו, every Yid should constantly learn Torah, should not have anything else to do but learn Torah. Now there are some people who are zoche, who merit to do that, so they are able to follow the lesson from Rabbi Shimon bar Yochai very easily. What about those people who can't do it? Not everybody sits in kollel and learns all day. There are people, and most of the Yidden, who are involved in their business. They only have a קביעות עתים לתורה, they have a certain time set aside for learning. How can they follow this inyan of Rabbi Shimon bar Yochai to be תורתו אומנותו, which came as a result of his being one, united with Hashem? So it's very simple. When we say a Yid should be תורתו אומנותו, it's possible that certain hours of the day the Yid does other things, על פי תורה, but when it comes to the time when he learns, when he has the shiur in learning, at that time, it should be תורתו אומנותו. That should be his whole being. Not like some people who start learning and if something comes up, they interrupt their learning, if a phone call comes in, they interrupt their learning, if someone has something to say, they interrupt. So from here we learn out that, at least, the time of learning, during the time when they have their קביעות עתים לתורה, it should be תורתו אומנותו. That should be their whole being, that when they're learning, their whole being should be learning, nothing else. And nothing in the world should take them away from their learning. Nothing should change their schedule that they should not be able to come to the shiur, and during the shiur, nothing should interrupt their learning, it should be תורתו אומנותו like Rabbi Shimon bar Yochai, which is a result of the following the lifestyle of בחד קטירא אתקטרנא, of being tied with one knot with Hashem, and ביחידות to be united, etc., with Hashem. And the same applies to a time of doing mitzvot, it's self-understood, that when they do a mitzvah you should be completely involved in the mitzvah, your whole mahut, your whole metziut should be involved, as the pasuk says, כל עצמותי תאמרנה, that the whole, all the bones, the whole body should say it. And not only concerning the time of learning Torah and doing mitzvot, but even the other time, when a person is involved in his own things, and he's able to be מקיים, כל מעשיך יהיו לשם שמים, that whatever you do should be leshem shamayim, and בכל דרכיך דעהו, and in all your ways you should know Him, it should also be in a way that his whole metziut, even while he's doing his own things, his own physical things, should be leshem shamayim. That should be his whole metziut. He should not feel that there is something that he is doing, the goal of what he is doing is leshem shamayim. For instance, he does business to make money, so takeh now he is involved in his business, and he's making money, and there is a metziut for that, too. Why is he doing it all? So he should have money to give tzedakah. So the goal is l'shem shamayim, to give tzedakah, or to have money to educate your children, to give them a proper Jewish education, or to buy a nice pair of tefillin, or whatever it should be in avodat Hashem. So it's possible that when he does whatever he does, he gives that its own chashivut, its own importance, just he has in mind that the goal is that eventually it's going to lead him to l'shem shamayim. But the lesson we take from Rav Shimon ben Yochai, that בחד קטירא אתקטרנא ביה בקודשא בריך הוא, you're one with Hashem, is that you look at it in such a way that not that this is מעשיך, your own things, and you're doing it l'shem shamayim, but it fits more to the second, to the pasuk where it says בכל דרכיך דעהו, in the ways itself you know Him. That when you are doing your own thing, you're doing your business, so the business itself is an expression to you of Hashem's will. When you do it, you feel that you're doing Hashem's will in what you're doing now, not only that this will lead you that later on it'll be l'shem shamayim. And this is the lesson we take from Rav Shimon ben Yochai on Lag BaOmer, that we have to follow at least a little bit in his footsteps to become one with Hashem, and that a person's whole metziut should only be Hashem, and