(15) And from the day on which you bring the sheaf of elevation offering—the day after the sabbath—you shall count off seven weeks. They must be complete: (16) you must count until the day after the seventh week—fifty days; then you shall bring an offering of new grain to the Lord.
אמרו שנים עשר אלף זוגים תלמידים היו לו לרבי עקיבא מגבת עד אנטיפרס וכולן מתו בפרק אחד מפני שלא נהגו כבוד זה לזה והיה העולם שמם עד שבא ר"ע אצל רבותינו שבדרום ושנאה להם ר"מ ור' יהודה ור' יוסי ורבי שמעון ורבי אלעזר בן שמוע והם הם העמידו תורה אותה שעה תנא כולם מתו מפסח ועד עצרת אמר רב חמא בר אבא ואיתימא ר' חייא בר אבין כולם מתו מיתה רעה מאי היא א"ר נחמן אסכרה.
It was said, That Rabbi Akiva had twelve thousand pairs of disciples, from Gabbat to Antifaras; and they all died at the same time because they did not treat each other with respect. The world remained desolate until Rabbi Akiva came to our Masters in the South and taught the Torah to them. and it was they who revived the Torah at that time. These were Rabbi Meir, Rabbi Judah, Rabbi Yossi, Rabbi Shimon and Rabbi Eleazar ben Shammua; And it was they who revived the Torah at that time. A Tanna taught: All of them died between Passover and Pentecost. Rabbi Hama bar Abba or, it might be said, Rabbi Chiyya bar Abin said: All of them died a cruel death. What was it? — Rabbi Nahman replied: Croup.
(א) נוֹהֲגִים שֶׁלֹּא לִשָּׂא אִשָּׁה בֵּין פֶּסַח לַעֲצֶרֶת עַד ל''ג לָעֹמֶר, מִפְּנֵי שֶׁבְּאוֹתוֹ זְמַן מֵתוּ תַּלְמִידֵי רַבִּי עֲקִיבָא; אֲבָל לְאָרֵס וּלְקַדֵּשׁ, שַׁפִּיר דָּמִי, וְנִשּׂוּאִין נָמֵי, מִי שֶׁקָּפַץ וְכָנַס אֵין עוֹנְשִׁין אוֹתוֹ. הַגָּה: מִיהוּ מִלַּ''ג בָּעֹמֶר וָאֵילָךְ הַכֹּל שָׁרֵי (אַבּוּדַרְהַם וּבֵית יוֹסֵף וּמִנְהָגִים).
(ב) נוֹהֲגִים שֶׁלֹּא לְהִסְתַּפֵּר עַד ל''ג לָעֹמֶר, שֶׁאוֹמְרִים שֶׁאָז פָּסְקוּ מִלָּמוּת.
(1) It is customary not to get married between Pesach and Shavuot, until Lag BaOmer (the 33rd day), because during that time, the students of Rabbi Akiva died. However, to do "erusin" and "kiddushin" (engagement and betrothal) is OK. And even for "nisuin" (marriage), if someone did so, we do not punish him. Rema: however, from Lag Ba'Omer onwards, all this is permitted (Abudraham, Beit Yosef & Minhagim).
(2) It is customary not to cut one's hair until Lag BaOmer, since it is said that that is when they stopped dying.
תָּאנָא בְּהַהוּא יוֹמָא דְּרִבִּי שִׁמְעוֹן בָּעָא לְאִסְתַּלְּקָא מִן עָלְמָא וַהֲוָה מְסַדֵּר מִלּוֹי. אִתְכְּנָשׁוּ חַבְרַיָּא לְבֵי רִבִּי שִׁמְעוֹן. וַהֲווּ קָמֵי רִבִּי אֶלְעָזָר בְּרֵיהּ וְרִבִּי אַבָּא וּשְׁאָר חַבְרַיָּא. וַהֲוָה מַלְיָא בֵיתָא.
It has been told: On the day that Rabbi Shim'on was to depart the world, while he was arranging his affairs, the Comrades assembled at his house. Present were Rabbi El'azar, his son, Rabbi Abba, and the other Comrades. The house was full.
(Zohar: The Book of Enlightenment, Translated by Daniel Matt, p. 182)
אָתוּ טְרִיקִין, וּמָארֵי תְּרִיסִין דִּכְפַר צִפֳּרִי וְטַרְדָאן בְּהוּ (ס''א דצפרי וטרדיא והוו) בְּנֵי מְרוֹנְיָא, צַוְוחִין בִּקְטִירִין, דְּחָשִׁיבוּ דְּלָא יִתְקְבַּר תַּמָּן. בָּתַר דְּנָפַק פּוּרְיָיא, הֲוָה סָלִיק בַּאֲוִירָא. וְאֶשָּׁא הֲוָה לָהִיט קַמֵּיהּ, שָׁמְעוּ קָלָא, עוּלוּ וְאָתוּ, וְאִתְכְּנָשׁוּ לְהִילּוּלָא דְּרִבִּי שִׁמְעוֹן.
Truculent stingers and shield-bearing warriors from Sepphoris came and beset them. The people of Meron banded together and shouted, for they feared he would not be buried there. After the bed emerged from the house, it rose into the air; fire blazed before it. They heard a voice: “Come and enter! Assemble for the wedding celebration [hilula] of Rabbi Shim'on!"
(Zohar: The Book of Enlightenment, Translated by Daniel Matt, p. 188)
One should add to the joy of the day of the thirty third of the Omer in honor of Rabbi Shimon bar Yochai, may his merit protect us - as it is the day of his memory (the day he died). And it is known that it was his will that [people] rejoice on this day - as is known from the story of our teacher, the Rabbi Avraham HaLevi (Amigo), may his memory be blessed for life in the world to come, and from other stories that we have heard. And we know them from the mouths of holy rabbis. And there is one who is accustomed to engaging in study on the night of the thirty third of the Omer with ten [men] to teach the praises of Rabbi Shimon bar Yochat that are scattered in the Zohar and the Idra Zuta; and that is a nice custom.
The reason we rejoice on Lag Ba-omer is that the Rishonim had a tradition that the students of R. Akiva stopped dying on the 33rd day of the omer (Me’iri, Yevamot 62b; SA 493:2). Some explain that his students actually continued dying, but on the 33rd day of the omer R. Akiva began teaching new students – including R. Shimon bar Yoḥai – who did not die in the plague, and through them Torah spread among the Jewish people. This is why we rejoice on Lag Ba-omer (Pri Ḥadash 493:2). Others claim that on the 33rd day of the omer R. Akiva conferred rabbinic ordination on his five new students – R. Meir, R. Yehuda, R. Yosi, R. Shimon bar Yoḥai, and R. Elazar b. Shamu’a – who continued the tradition of Torah (Kaf Ha-ḥayim 493:26, based on Sha’ar Ha-kavanot). Another reason for rejoicing on Lag Ba-omer is that it is the yahrzeit or hilula of the holy Tanna R. Shimon bar Yoḥai, who was R. Akiva’s disciple.
R. Shimon bar Yoḥai, who composed the Zohar, is unique in that even Jews who do not understand the secrets of the Torah celebrate his hilula. This is how Lag Ba-omer became a day of celebration for the esoteric side of the Torah. Many people go up to Mount Meron for R. Shimon bar Yoḥai’s hilula. The great scholars among them rejoice over the secrets that were revealed to them in his merit and in the merit of his disciples and successors. Even though the masses who join in the festivities do not understand the secrets of the Torah, they rejoice over the fact that the Torah is deeper than the sea and that there are great scholars and righteous people who connect to its deep secrets, as this entire world of darkness is made slightly more pleasant because of them. Furthermore, the very recognition that there are deep secrets beyond the average person’s comprehension generates humility and wisdom, and even simple folk are elevated by virtue of this awareness.
One expression of R. Shimon bar Yoḥai’s approach pertains to foreign rule over Eretz Yisrael. The Sages taught that a Jew should pray for the welfare of the kingdom under whose rule he lives, and they tried, to the best of their ability, to avoid clashes between the Jewish people and the various empires that ruled over them. Only when there was no other recourse, and the kingdom forced the Jewish people to violate their religion, did the Sages call for rebellion. In the absence of religious persecution, however, they would try to find a way to reconcile with the kingdom.
Accordingly, the Talmud (Shabbat 33b) relates that several of the Sages were once talking about the Roman Empire. R. Yehuda b. Ila’i began the discussion with words of praise for the Romans, saying, “How pleasant are the deeds of this nation; they established marketplaces, erected bridges, and built bathhouses.” Even though R. Yehuda knew that the Romans issued harsh decrees against the Jews – even destroying the Second Temple and killing hundreds of thousands of Jews during the Great Revolt and the Bar Kokhba revolt – he preferred to concentrate on the positive side of their rule, in order to avoid heightening tensions. R. Yosi preferred to remain silent. Apparently, he did not agree with R. Yehuda’s words of praise, but he did not want to denounce the Romans either, so as not to create pointless tensions. R. Shimon bar Yoḥai, in contrast, was unable to tolerate words of praise for the evil Roman Empire, and he said, “All that they built they built solely for their own needs. They established marketplaces in which to station prostitutes, bathhouses in which to pamper themselves, and bridges from which to collect taxes.”
The Romans found out about this conversation and decreed: R. Yehuda, who praised us, shall be promoted; R. Yosi, who remained silent, shall be exiled; and R. Shimon bar Yoḥai, who denounced us, shall be put to death.
R. Shimon bar Yoḥai fled and hid in the beit midrash (study hall) together with his son, while his wife provided them with food and water. It is important to note that after the rebellions that the Jews staged against the Roman Empire – rebellions that caused many Roman deaths and shook the entire empire – the Romans took no chances and hunted down any display of Jewish opposition to their rule.
Apparently, Roman troops searched for R. Shimon bar Yoḥai for years, in order to kill him. The situation became so dangerous that R. Shimon bar Yoḥai could no longer rely on his wife, so he and his son moved into a cave. Miraculously, a carob tree sprouted outside the cave and a spring began to flow there, providing them sustenance for twelve years, until they heard that the emperor had died and his decree was nullified. R. Shimon bar Yoḥai and his son reached such great heights in spirituality and asceticism while there, that when they left the cave they could not tolerate worldly matters; everywhere they looked burst into flames. Consequently, they had to return to the cave for another year in order to delve deeper into the Torah and understand the value of this world. Only then did they leave the cave permanently (Shabbat 33b).
For hundreds of years, there has been a custom to light a large bonfire near R. Shimon bar Yoḥai’s grave on Mount Meron, in honor of his hilula. Ḥasidim have a custom to light bonfires in other places as well. Some light candles in their synagogues in commemoration of the hilula.
Some people have a custom to go to Meron on Lag Ba-omer and cut the hair of any son whose third birthday fell or will fall within a few months of Lag Ba-omer. Some take care not to cut a child’s hair before his third birthday. Therefore, if his birthday falls out after Lag Ba-omer, they wait until his birthday to cut his hair. If he was born a few weeks before Lag Ba-omer, they wait until Lag Ba-omer to cut his hair. But if he was born several months before Lag Ba-omer, they cut his hair on his birthday.