Many are the miracle stories revolving around the Tomb of R'
Shimon bar Yochai in Meron. The practice of distributing
"Chai Rotl" wine on Lag B'Omer for a personal yeshua --
for shidduchim, children, parnossa etc. -- has already become
institutionalized, and the giver need only send his check to
have it done for him. In his magnificent collection of
inspiring stories, Nifleosov Livnei Odom, B. Ben Zahav
has captured the spirit of Lag B'Omer, the call to each Jew
to unite with his fellow in song and dance, prayer and soul
uplifting.
The author introduces the section on "Crumbs of Yeshuos in
the Merit of R' Shimon" with a touching insight that sets the
tone for the rest of the true stories, which are highly
recommended for inspirational reading in Hebrew:
The Jewish people is a multi-colored one, each circle
blessed with its particular shade, and all of them together
constituting a spectrum extolling the Mighty One in Heaven.
On this great day [of Lag B'Omer], however, all meld into one
cohesive Jewish bloc, with no one sector preferred over the
other. The circles at Meron are a powerful reflection of that
dance which Hashem will make for the Tzaddikim in the Future.
This is the Meron uplift that is experienced year after
year...
It was R' Shimon who noted that a Jew does not say "I hail
from the tribe of Reuvein or Shimon," but "I am a Yehudi,"
and this is seen in the flesh at the great Hilula anniversary
at Meron. It doesn't matter whether your country of origin is
Iraq or Poland, Persia or Galicia, Lithuania or the Ukraine.
"I am a Jew." This says it all.
This is how we will make our Aliya Laregel, how we will greet
Moshiach, in a vast mass of Jews who are equal, in a babble
of languages and accents united by one Jewish
identity...
A Change of Nature
It was in Iyar, 5759 when we sat opposite a famous
specialist, fearful and frightened. The results of many tests
lay on his desk, and in an incisive voice, he stated his
unequivocal opinion, "A pity for all your efforts and for all
the expense." Then he declared four words, in a cold, hard,
threatening tone: "You -- Won't -- Have -- Children,"
punctuated by a bang on the desk. Final. As if the key to
barrenness were in his hand and his was the ultimate verdict
on the subject. That sentence still rings in our ears. Many
were the nights that we couldn't sleep because of it.
A few days later, on Lag B'Omer, I went up to Meron. I stood
among the thousands there with heavy heart. I buried my head
in a Tehillim and wept bitterly, "See my misery and my
toil..." I couldn't utter anything else, just those few
words...
Oblivious to my surroundings, amidst the deafening tumult, I
wept like a child, "Remember me, Hashem, with the goodwill of
Your people, be mindful of me through Your salvation... to be
proud in Your portion ... the Portion of Hashem is children,
the fruitful reward of the womb ..."
I knew that I had no chance. Only one hope remained: the
mercy of Heaven, the merit of tzaddikim, the great
merit of R' Shimon of whom we sing, "`Let us make man' was
said for his sake." I knew that I was not worthy of miracles;
who better than I knew my lowliness, my lack of all merit. My
tears were directed and supported only by the merit of the
holy tzaddik and this holy site. In a sobbing voice, I
portrayed my troubles and disappointments, I unburdened my
difficulties and great despair into the pages of the
Tehillim covering my face, like a child telling his
mother the details of a difficult day. I continued to weep
copiously. "Have compassion upon me, Hashem, for I am
miserable, heal me for my bones shudder ... Hashem, how much
longer ..." And then I declared, with all my heart, with full
voice, that after I was succored, I would come here to thank
and praise Him.
The words "After I am succored" had hardly left my lips when
suddenly I felt a wave of great hope envelop and suffuse
me.
When I am before that specialist, I have no prospects.
According to his pronouncement, "I, won't, have, children."
But when I am here, near R' Shimon, I have great hope. I am
able to stand here and declare, "After I am succored,"
meaning, that salvation is something connected to me, too.
All of a sudden, my heart overflowed with joy. B'ezras
Hashem, I WILL be helped. In the merit of R' Shimon, I,
WILL, Have, Children! And from the midst of this sobbing of
emotion, I thrust myself through the crowd till I reached the
grave and declared aloud that I felt that with the help of
Hashem, I will, indeed, be remembered for salvation and
mercy. And then -- I would return ...
I left the cave, swept up with a joy such as I never have
experienced in all my life. I elbowed myself into the circle
and began dancing with a great jubilation, the likes of which
I had not experienced for the longest time. "I am virtually
helped!" I felt. "I am one who has been delivered." I shut my
eyes and sang with all my might. "Ve'omar ve'omar bayom
hahu... kivinu Lo veyoshiaynu -- And he will say on that
day... we put our hope in Him and He shall succor."
"The joy experienced in Meron on Lag B'Omer," writes the
Bnei Yisos'chor, "is metaphysical." I was able to
imagine in my mind's eye that here I was, on the coming Lag
B'Omer of 5760, dancing and praising Hashem, dispensing
lechaims with overflowing soul to all those around me,
now -- then that in my home resided a cradle holding a tender
infant... I prayed and begged with all my heart and soul,
"Let us rejoice, let us rejoice and regale in Your
salvation..." Please, make it possible for me to
rejoice...
I sang this song as I descended the mountain. I sang these
words throughout the long trip from Meron to my home town,
and suffused the walls of my home with this chorus-prayer for
the months to come.
"Hey, Hey, this is Hashem in Whom we trusted and hoped..."
*
"I don't believe it!" shouted the specialist some three
months after that dance, astonished, shocked. His voice
reverberated thundrously as he shouted again, finding no
other expression for his great surprise. "I don't believe
it!" He looked at the tests and the sonogram and said,
"Listen here, something happened. Something here has changed.
There's been a transformation from one extreme to the
other..." Tears threatened to choke him, his eyes reddened
and he murmured in a very different, subdued tone, "Hashem
loves you ..."
I am still singing, and I shall sing to Hashem so long as I
am alive. I shall praise Him with all my might. I shall dance
in Meron with all my soul, a dance that is beyond the
physical, beyond nature, and I shall draw as close to Hashem
as I possibly can.
I have a cradle in my home, with my tender son lying in it.
"Lo, here is our G-d ... Shehechiyonu ... Lo, we had
faith in Him and He delivered us..."
