Yesterday we celebrated Lag BaOmer, the 33rd day of the Omer Count. An important theme associated with the holiday is that of Ahavat Yisrael; love of each and every Jew. The Torah says that we should love our fellow as ourselves. It sounds nice enough but is it even possible to accomplish such a thing? How can the Torah command us to have an emotion? Either we have it or we do not!?
Additionally, why does the Torah instruct us in specific detail as to how to treat another, why not just rely on this rule? After all, if we love another as we love ourselves we would never cheat them or steal from them or mistreat them in any other way.
The great sage and scholar Rabbi Akiva, famously referred to this mitzvah as a "K’lal gadol baTorah,” a great rule of the Torah. It’s a general rule but can we even accomplish it?
By Rabbi Akiva referencing it as a general rule, it helps us understand how we can actually fulfill the mitzvah. A “general rule” must include specific details, in this case the details of the rule to “love our fellow as ourselves” are all the individual mitzvahs; don’t steal, don’t cheat, pay workers on time etc. All of the specific mitzvahs detail how we should act towards another; they are the specifics included in the general rule of “love your fellow.” Just like the details instruct how to act, the mitzvah to love is also about how we act.
But there is a deeper dimension to it all and that has to do with another aspect of Lag BaOmer. Lag BaOmer celebrates the passing of Rabbi Shimon bar Yochai, universally known as the Rashbi (an acronym of his name). He was a great sage and scholar, the author of the famous kabbalistic work, the Zohar. Before his passing he requested that the anniversary of his passing (Lag BaOmer) be celebrated. He lived his life in such a way that when he passed he knew that he had fulfilled his life’s mission, utilizing every minute to the fullest.
The central theme the Rashbi’s life and therefore that of Lag BaOmer, is the inner secrets of the Torah, the deeper dimension of wisdom that is contained in the kabbalistic works.
When we look at another Jew through the prism of the inner teachings we discover that in fact we are all one. On the surface we may be different beings, on the surface we have different goals and different priorities, but when we peel away the layers we realize that in reality we are all one.
When we study the inner teachings of the Torah contained in kabbalah, as explained and elaborated upon in Chassidic teachings, we realize that the entire world - all of creation - is essentially one. As we work to reveal this oneness we will hasten the revelation of Moshiach; the entire benefit of which is that, at that point, the entire world will be cognizant of this Oneness and it will no longer be hidden.