21 May REDEEMING US FROM PUNISHMENT

The Gemara (Succah
45:) states:
Reb Shimon bar
Yochai said, “I can free
all people from
judgment [that they
won’t be punished for
their aveiros]. Together
with the merits of my
son, Reb Elazer, I can
redeem people from
judgment from the
beginning of Creation
until today. And if we
take the merits of Yosam
ben Uziyahu along with
us, we can redeem
everyone from judgment, from the day the
world was created until the end of time.”
How do they redeem us from judgment and
punishment?
Reb Akiva Eigar (see Gilyon HaShas on
Succah 45:) tells us that the explanation can be
found in Avos d’Reb Noson (ch.16). It states
there that Reb Shimon bar Yochai said, “The
Jewish nation doesn’t go to Gehinom.” Reb
Shimon explains that they aren’t guilty of their
aveiros. It is the yetzer hara who causes them
to sin.
Reb Shimon expresses this lesson with the
following mashal:
A king owned an unfertile field that never
grew crops. The people told the king that they

wanted to rent this portion of land, and in
exchange, they will pay ten kur of wheat each
year.
The king agreed to this offer.
But after a year of hard work in the field, all
that the field produced was one kur of wheat.
The king rebuked them. “You told me you
would pay me ten kur!”
They replied, “Our master, our king, You
know that this field is infertile. All the years
you owned it, nothing ever grew in this field.
We plowed, sowed, fertilized, pruned, and
irrigated the field for a year. We tried our best,
yet it produced only one kur of wheat. Don’t
hold us responsible because we tried our best.”
Reb Shimon bar Yochai concludes, “This is
how the Jewish nation will defend themselves
on the day of judgment. They will say, ‘Master
of the world, You know the yetzer hara entices
us to sin. As it states (Tehillim 103:14) ‘For He
knew our nature.’ So, don’t hold us responsible
for our poor output. We tried the best we
could.”Reb Akiva Eiger explains that when
Reb Shimon declared that he could save us
from judgment, he meant that he would claim
before the court in heaven that we aren’t
responsible for our sins. We don’t want to do
bad. We try our best. Our faults are due to the
enticements of the yetzer hara.
So, we are saved from Gehinom and we are
protected from the judgment because Reb
Shimon will speak in our favor. He will tell
Heaven our good side and our desire to do

what’s right.
The Chidushei HaRimzy’a says that every
year, on Lag b’Omer, Reb Shimon bar Yochai
repeats his famous statement, “I can free the
entire world from punishment!”
On Lag b’Omer, Hashem sees our good,
ignores our bad, and loves us immensely,
which is why our joy is great on this day.
There are always two ways to look at a
situation. You can examine with a critical eye,
and find all of the faults, or look with a positive
eye and seek to find the qualities and the good.
The first time Reb Shimon and Reb Elazar
left the cave was after twelve years. Due to the
very high levels that they attained in the cave,
they looked with a very negative eye at people
immersed in Olam HaZeh, without taking
heart that this is a passing world and that our
primary
focus should be on earning Olam HaBa. Reb
Shimon said, “They are abandoning the eternal
world, and establishing themselves in the
temporary world!” Wherever Reb Shimon and
Reb Elazar looked, they burned people with
their eyes.
A bas kol came forth, “Did you leave the cave
to destroy My world? Return to your cave!”
They returned to the cave and said to one
another, “We’ve learned that resha’im are
punished in Gehinom for no longer than
twelve months. Now that twelve months have
passed, we can leave the cave.” Then, they
heard a bas kol who told them to leave the

cave. Reb Elazar
was still smiting people with his eyes, but
Reb Shimon would immediately heal them.
Reb Shimon said, “My son, it is enough that
you and I study Torah.”
Once, close to Shabbos, Reb Shimon and Reb
Elazar encountered an old man rushing down
the street with two bundles of hadasim. They
asked him what the hadasim are for.
The man replied, “They are in honor of
Shabbos.”
They asked, “Why isn’t one bundle enough?”
The old man replied, “It states, Zachor
V’Shamor, so I have two bundles of besomim.
One for Zachor and one for Shamor.”
Reb Shimon turned to his son and said with
admiration, “See how beloved the mitzvos are
on the Yidden!”
Their perspectives changed. Despite people’s
faults, Reb Shimon and Reb Elazar now
focused on the good side of Klal Yisrael. They
realized that Yidden loved the mitzvos and
wanted to serve Hashem with all their hearts.