Chapter 53

Meanwhile, other members of our fellowship arrived from Jerusalem, Tel Aviv, and Bnei Brak. They rented rooms above, in the upper stories beside the roof where the hadlakah [ceremonial bonfire] was held, and paid well for them. Their room, however, had no door. They asked the Sephardim for a door, or at least for a mat to hang across the entrance. The Sephardim searched but found none. One Sephardi then went and took the mat that had been spread over the window of the room adjoining the bench-platform upon which my wife, may she live, sat with the children and her other acquaintances, as stated above. The window was consequently left open.

Directly opposite it was the window beside the holy tziyun of Rabbi Shimon bar Yochai, may his merit shield us, Amen, which opened into the courtyard. We feared that there would be a double current of air, called a tsag (a cross-draft). The women shouted to the Sephardi not to do this, lest the people seated there become ill, but it did not help at all. I experienced anguish and suffering beyond measure lest, Heaven forbid, my wife and the children become ill—especially the small child, concerning whom I had already feared that he might be ill, Heaven forbid. I therefore actually quarreled with the aforementioned members of our fellowship so that they would return the mat, but it did not help. The window remained open throughout the entire day, as stated above; only toward evening did the women hang a garment over it to cover it somewhat.

There was also the following incident. Immediately upon my arrival in Meron, a certain poor Sephardi whom I knew from before encountered me. In earlier times I had occasionally given him, and other poor people, a piece of bread. As soon as he saw me, he rejoiced and said, ‘You should know that I have no bread at all’—as though to say: You should therefore know that you must give me bread. It was difficult for me that he wished to cast himself entirely upon me, while I myself had only the bare minimum—particularly enough for all of us to remain until after Lag BaOmer, as we then intended, and for the journey home—and had no money with which to buy more. I gave him half a loaf and said, ‘You should know that I have nothing more to give you throughout this entire period. Do not cast yourself upon me.’

Immediately after I did this, my heart smote me over it. I should not have answered him in that manner, but should simply have given to him with a pleasant countenance. Only if I later saw that he was pressing me excessively day after day and placing himself entirely upon me should I have appeased him with gentle words: ‘You should know that I myself am poor and can assist you only a little. There are, after all—“Ben Poras Yosef”—thousands of people; you can receive from them as well.’ Afterward, when the calamity of the child’s illness befell me and I was compelled to flee in the midst of Lag BaOmer, as will be related below, I reflected upon this and attributed the matter in part to this incident, in accordance with what is written in the Zohar: ‘Whomever the Holy One, blessed be He, loves, He sends him a gift—a poor person.’ (That is, when Hashem, blessed be He, loves a person, even though a judgment has, Heaven forbid, been decreed upon him, the Holy One, blessed be He, sends him a ‘gift’—namely, a poor person who asks him for charity. If he merits the opportunity and gives to him joyfully and affords him benefit, he is thereby saved from the judgment, and even from actual death if it had been decreed upon him.)

The holy Zohar likewise relates an incident concerning Rabbi Yaisa, one of the disciples of Rabbi Shimon bar Yochai, may his merit shield us, Amen. Rabbi Yaisa was passing through the marketplace, and this poor man saw him and asked him to sustain his life, for he had not eaten for several days. Rabbi Yaisa asked him, ‘With the half-shekel that I have, how can I sustain you?’ He replied that he too had half a shekel; together there would be a full shekel, and he could buy a loaf to sustain himself. Rabbi Yaisa did so. That night Rabbi Yaisa saw in a dream that he was drowning in the Great Sea, while Rabbi Shimon bar Yochai, may his merit shield us, Amen, stood upon the seashore with both hands outstretched to save him. This poor man entered the sea, pulled him from it, and placed him into the two hands of Rabbi Shimon bar Yochai, may his merit shield us, Amen. (This intimated that even the tzadik cannot by himself accomplish everything without an awakening from below on the person’s part through some mitzvah or act of charity. Only the mitzvah or charity that Hashem, blessed be He, brings before him, and which he fulfills, gives the tzadik the power to complete everything, and so forth.) He understood that this charity had saved him from the death decreed upon him, and so forth.

It is likewise brought in the sacred works and in Likutay Moharan that when a person requires mercy, other people are sent to him from Heaven so that he may show mercy to them; if he shows mercy to them, mercy is shown to him from Heaven. As is brought in the Gemara: ‘Whoever shows mercy to created beings is shown mercy from Heaven.’ It is likewise written in Parashas Reeh: ‘And He shall give you mercy’—meaning that you should show mercy to another—‘and He shall have mercy upon you,’ meaning that Hashem, blessed be He, will have mercy upon you, and so forth. Much is likewise brought concerning this. Afterward, when I suffered anguish from the illness of the child, may his light shine, I understood that this had been arranged for me in order to save me from that anguish, and so forth.

Meanwhile they brought the Sefer Torah that is brought from Tzfas to Meron on Erev Lag BaOmer. (At that time it is wondrous to behold the rejoicing in Tzfas, with drum, violin, and musical instruments, and so forth.) Many men, women, and children were then arriving, and the crowding was already severe. We spent some time rejoicing and dancing with the Sefer Torah in the courtyard. The musicians were already doing their part, playing and singing, while men danced and whirled with all their strength in honor of the holy Torah and in honor of the holy tzadik, the divine Tanna Rabbi Shimon bar Yochai, may his merit shield us, Amen.

There was already abundant singing and chanting both in the courtyard and in the bais midrash. They sang ‘Bar Yochai,’ ‘Amar Rabbi Akiva,’ ‘Vaamartem Koh Lechai,’ and so forth (‘Kulla hada mishan tzadik,’ in Arabic, meaning: ‘All this is in honor of the tzadik,’ and so forth), as well as other songs, zemiros, and melodies. There had already been very great spiritual awakening and rejoicing throughout the day, and especially after midday, when they brought the Sefer Torah. There was already severe crowding of men and women, and so forth, beside the holy tziyun, both inside and outside.

I spent most of the time in my place within, beside the holy tziyun, while my son, the young ‘groom’ of the peyos ceremony, remained continually with me, watching and seeing everything. The men and women prepared themselves for Shabbos, both by cooking the Shabbos dishes and by preparing the lamps in honor of Shabbos. They lit the large Lux lamp, No. 1,000, in the courtyard. In the great bais midrash, where my wife, may she live, was situated, there was likewise a No. 500 lamp; and within, beside the holy tziyun where my place was, there was also a large lamp—in addition to exceedingly many tallow candles and olive-oil lamps, beyond measure or reckoning.

They likewise arranged large vessels containing olive oil for the women, so that they could recite the blessing over the lamps and kindle them. They also arranged vessels for the men whose wives were not with them, so that they too could recite the blessing and kindle lamps. They likewise brought many myrtle branches to distribute among the men, so that on Shabbos after the prayer they could recite the blessing Borei Atzei Besamim and smell them, and so forth.

In sum, they prepared themselves with every kind of preparation to receive Shabbos with every manner of rejoicing and song, and so forth. Other people continued to arrive until the actual time of lighting the lamps. My friend Yaakov Zev also arrived then with his young men. He entered the inner chamber, to the place of the holy tziyun, took his place beside mine, deposited all his belongings there, and performed his order of devotions beside the holy tziyun (having first gone to the mikveh), reciting the Tikun Haklali and prayers and practicing hitbodedus, as stated above. He did not manage to finish before the lamps had already been lit and the people began to assemble to pray Minchah of Erev Shabbos.

The Sephardim prayed in the great bais midrash, directly beside the place of my wife, may she live, and received Shabbos there early, with rejoicing and song, in accordance with their custom. We prayed within, in our place, and the room was too narrow to contain everyone. We prayed Minchah with great spiritual awakening and recited ‘Hodu,’ which is said on Erev Shabbos, with great spiritual awakening. It took some time until we finished. We likewise recited ‘Patach Eliyahu’ and ‘Yedid Nefesh.’ Afterward we received Shabbos and recited Kabbalas Shabbos with great rejoicing and intense fervor; ‘Lecha Dodi’ was sung to a melody, and so forth.

Afterward we formed a circle around the bimah, sang the song ‘Bar Yochai,’ and danced together; all this continued for some time. We then prayed Maariv with fervor, rejoicing, and song until we completed the Maariv prayer, after which we once again sang and danced together in a circle and smelled myrtle branches and spices, and so forth. Many recited the Zohar passage for Friday night that begins, ‘Patach Rabbi Yitzchak,’ and so forth. They then went to eat at their places in their rooms—whether in the bais midrash, in the upper stories, or in the Moshav Zekeinim [old-age home], where many people lodged. Rabbi Avraham, a member of our fellowship, likewise lodged there until after Lag BaOmer and came only to pray and serve Hashem.

Many members of our fellowship, together with very many other people, arranged to eat together the food that certain people had prepared for the group, and I was among them; I nevertheless ate my own food. I went outside, but it was impossible to approach my wife’s place because—‘Ben Poras Yosef’—so many people were standing there. They recited Kiddush there and took a cup of wine, together with foods that my wife and the aforementioned other women had prepared for the public.