Translation by Yehoshua Siskin
Does this nation seem divided and out of control? Even so, deep within, there is unparalleled unity and solidarity.
Does this child seem rebellious who brings his teachers to despair? Even so, there is a pure soul inside that can illuminate the world.
Does this Torah sometimes seem incomprehensible and irrelevant to this generation? Even so, it radiates inner light and sustains the soul.
Do the media and the politicians seem to control the world with their gloomy prognostications? Even so, there are unseen processes at work, going back to ancient times, that are beyond our ability to understand.
This evening we celebrate Lag BaOmer, the day that Rabbi Shimon Bar Yochai passed away. He is identified with the hidden Torah, the Zohar, and the Kabbalah. Most of us are not Kabbalists yet we all celebrate this day, even if only with a little bonfire and roasted marshmallows, because we are somehow connected to his message that there is a reality that we do not see. There are both revealed and hidden layers to this reality, yet far more hidden ones.
We need to always look beneath the surface and not surrender solely to what our eyes can see or our ears can hear. This is the day to adopt a new attitude, to examine reality with greater depth and less superficiality. To be who we really are, people of the hidden Torah.
Happy Lag BaOmer.
