A Leibedik Lag Ba’Omer: Rabbi Akiva and Rabbi Shimon Songs

Next week is Lag Ba’Omer – are you ready? Well, a big part of Lag Ba’Omer is the music. Of course, there are the bonfires, and the bow and arrow. A lot of fun. When we were kids, we used to make bows and arrows from wood we found and some wire. We used to play with them, shooting arrows at each other (probably not the safest activity.)

Do you know why kids play with bows and arrows on Lag Ba’Omer? It’s to commemorate the Bar Kochba revolt. Shimon Bar Kochba was a Jewish military leader in Judea. He lent his name to the revolt, which he initiated against the Roman Empire in 132 CE. The end of the revolt was tragic – thousands of Jews were brutally murdered by the Romans. In 135, Bar Kochba was killed by Roman troops in the fortified town of Beitar.

Following the revolt, Hadrian, the Roman emperor, incensed at the Jews, ordered a “Damnatio Memoriae” (erasure from memory) of the name Judea from all Roman documents. He commanded that it be renamed “Palestine” and annexed to the province of Syria-Palaestina, assuming that in the absence of the land’s name, the Jews would forget their homeland and cease to rebel. Additionally, he established a pagan city on the ruins of Jerusalem, Aelia Capitolina.

But the Jews never forgot Jerusalem and never forgot Judea – Eretz Yisrael. After 2,000 years, they eventually returned to their homeland.

The name Palestine became established in history as a designation for the Holy Land. Yet the peoples who lived in Israel were never referred to as Palestinians. Since the Arab conquest of the land in 638, neither a distinct Palestinian people with its own identity nor a distinct country appear in Arabic or Islamic literature. In the English tradition, Palestine was simply another name for the Biblical Holy Land of Israel. The homeland of the Jewish People.

The Zionist movement drew profound inspiration from Bar Kochba’s spirit of resistance. But it is deeply ironic that today, many self-proclaimed liberals continue to refer to our ancient homeland as Palestine with total disregard for the name’s origins. The term is not Arabic; it is a Roman invention – a colonial tool used by Hadrian to erase Jewish history. Those shouting “Free Palestine” in the streets are usually blissfully unaware of this historical irony. Tragically, among these voices of ignorance, one can even find Jews who have lost touch with their own heritage.

Returning to Lag Ba’Omer, a few weeks before the holiday, we would also start to collect wood for a bonfire. There was a competition between the groups: Who’s going to have the biggest bonfire? We worked hard. We loaded heavy logs on a cart and took them to the bonfire site. And then on Lag Ba’Omer, the adults also joined in, and each group lit its own bonfire. After about one hour, the adults would leave, but starting from about seventh or eighth grade, we used to stay up the whole night around the bonfire, eating campfire potatoes, telling stories, and singing.

Two important things happened on Lag Ba’Omer: This day marks the hilulah (yahrzeit) of the Tana Rabbi Shimon Bar Yochai and the end of the plague that killed Rabbi Akiva’s students.

In a fascinating podcast I recently listened to, Rabbi Eliyahu Rahamim Zini, rosh yeshiva of Or Viy’shua Yeshiva in Haifa and former rabbi of the Technion, provides a powerful historical insight. He explains that the students of Rabbi Akiva actually fell as fighters in the Bar Kochba revolt. According to Rav Zini, the Babylonian Talmud may have intentionally obscured this fact, framing their deaths in spiritual terms in order to protect the Jewish community from Roman censorship and further persecution. You can find the podcast on YouTube: @AlHamashmaut.

I love the music of Lag Ba’Omer. It is the biggest day for klezmer music, especially for the clarinet. I’m a big fan of klezmer, and in last year’s Lag Ba’Omer column, I reviewed some of my favorite klezmer music.

Chassidic music also has some songs to offer for Lag Ba’Omer. Many of the songs are about Rabbi Shimon bar Yochai. The ones I’d like to review today are about Rabbi Akiva and his student, Rabbi Shimon Bar Yochai. Whether you sit around the bonfire and eat campfire potatoes or have a Lag Ba’Omer party, these songs can enhance your celebration.

One of my favorites is “Omar Rabbi Akiva” by Mordechai Ben David from the album Kulom Ahuvim which was released in 2009. The song has a very electronic beat. When I interviewed Yeedle for the special Passover column, I mentioned to him that in such a song you’d expect a more traditional chassidic arrangement, such as brass, strings, and more of a freilach beat. He told me that actually, he intentionally decided to incorporate an electronic dance beat and make the song more upbeat. The result? The track is rhythmic and energetic. It has become a popular wedding song, too.

The lyrics, sung on Lag Ba’Omer by chassidim both in Meron and at various bonfires, are not a piyyut (liturgical poem) in the conventional sense, but are from a passage of the Mishna that is the concluding segment of Tractate Yoma.

“Amar Rabbi Akiva,

‘Ashreichem Yisrael

Lifney mi atem mitaharin

U’mi metaher etchem?

Avinu Shebashamayim.’”

Rabbi Akiva said:

‘Fortunate are you, O Israel!

Before whom do you purify yourselves,

And who purifies you?

Your Father in Heaven...’

Another Lag Ba’Omer song by MBD is “K’Dai Reb Shimon,” which is also nice and upbeat.

“Kedai hu Rabbi Shimon,

Adonenu Rabbi Shimon,

Kedai lismoch alav bishaat hadchak

Kedai lismoch alav adonenu Bar Yochai…”

Worthy is Rabbi Shimon,

Our master, Rabbi Shimon,

Worthy is he to be relied upon

In times of distress.

Worthy is he to be relied upon,

Our master, Bar Yochai…

A quieter, more moving Lag Ba’Omer song is the soul-stirring “Bar Yochai” by Yossi Green, performed by Avraham Fried.

Green made my life easy, as half of the song is sung in Hebrew and half in English, so I didn’t have to translate – just copy and paste the lyrics from YouTube:

“Here in galus, so far away,

Here – like a stranger every day,

Here – cold and aimless, all alone,

Lost in the dark, I wander far, away from home.

There – on Meron the fires blaze,

There – sparks of hope and better days,

Warmth – and the soul bursts out in song,

And on the mountain hearts connect, and beat as one.

Around the fire, dancing free,

Ashkenazi and Sepharadi,

Hassid, Litvak arm in arm,

Swaying together.

Women, children taking part,

The youth, the old, yet young at heart.

It’s thanks to you, Rabbeinu Bar Yohai,

All one family, there on Har Meron.”

How about a Mizrahi-style song for Lag Ba’Omer? Yaniv Ben Mashiach is a popular Israeli singer. His song “Rabbi Shimon,” composed and produced by Moshe Avraham and Ofek Yakutiel, is an upbeat song about Rabbi Shimon done in a Mizrahi-style.

“Rabbi Shimon, Rabbi Shimon, bame’ara gilita sodoteicha.

Rabbi Shimon, Rabbi Shimon, hashemesh lo gilta et milotecha,

Orcha tamid meir ein sof, mikan v’ad shachak,

Alav ra’ui tamid lismoch bish’at hadchak.

Rabbi Shimon, Rabbi Shimon, t’Zohar Hakadosh lanu katavta,

Rabbi Shimon, Rabbi Shimon, tzinor letfilotai tamid hayita,

Orcha tamid meir ein sof mikan v’ad shachak,

Alav ra’ui tamid lismoch bish’at hadchak.”

Rabbi Shimon, Rabbi Shimon, in the cave you revealed your secrets,

Rabbi Shimon, Rabbi Shimon, even the sun did not discover your words.

Your light shines endlessly, from here to the highest heavens,

On him, one can always rely in times of distress.

Rabbi Shimon, Rabbi Shimon, you wrote the holy Zohar for us,

Rabbi Shimon, Rabbi Shimon, you have always been a conduit for my prayers.

Your light shines endlessly, from here to the highest heavens,

On him, one can always rely in times of distress.

Another song I love is “Bar Yochai” by Yeedle, composed by R’ Eliezer Kalish – a high-energy, driving song from the album A Verdiger Yid. The song is a mix of traditional chassidic arrangement and a modern electronic dance beat. It begins with a powerful drums and brass intro, with the electronic beat in the background. And then Yeedle begins to sing in his unique and familiar style.

“Ashreinu ma tov chelkeinu,

b’hilulah d’Bar Yochai,

u’ma na’im goraleinu, b’hilulah d’Bar Yochai.

Lichvod HaTana HaEloki Rabbi Shimon Bar Yochai…”

Fortunate are we,

How good is our portion

In the celebration of Bar Yochai,

And how pleasant is our lot

In the celebration of Bar Yochai.

As they say in Israel, Lag Same’ach!