28 Apr THE QUANTUM MECHANICS OF JUDAISM WHAT IS KABBALAH? WHAT IS CHASSIDUS?

The Birth of
Jewish Mysticism
Lag B’Omer, the
thirty-third day of
the omer, is the
anniversary of the
passing of one of the
greatest sages and spiritual giants in Jewish
history, Rabbi Shimon bar Yochai. Rabbi
Shimon, who lived in Israel under Roman
occupation around 165 CE (approximately
one hundred years after the destruction of the
Second Beit HaMikdash in 70 C.E.), was an
extraordinary scholar and author of the
Zohar, the most basic work of Kabbalah.
Kabbalah is the official theology of Judaism,
its inner spiritual meaning, and Reb Shimon
was responsible for revealing the wisdom of
the Kabbalah. The Zohar relates, how the
most significant revelation came about on
the day of Rabbi Shimon’s passing, on which
he expounded for many hours on the most
intimate secrets of the Divine wisdom before
he passed on. That day was Lag B’Omer.
Centuries were to pass before the great
Kabbalist, Rabbi Isaac Luria (1534-1572),
would proclaim, “In these times, we are
allowed and duty-bound to reveal this
wisdom.” More than a century later, Rabbi
Israel Baal Shem Tov (1698-1760) and his
disciples were to make them accessible to all
via the powerful teachings of Chassidus,
while other great masters of Kabbalah would
teach Jewish mysticism in their own unique
way, like Rabbi Moshe Chaim Luzzatto
(1707-1746) and the Vilna Gaon (1720-
1797), and many others. But Lag B’Omer
remains the day on which “Jewish
mysticism” made its first emergence from
the womb of secrecy and exclusivity.
Before his passing, Rabbi Shimon instructed
his disciples to observe his yahrzeit as a time
of joy and festivity, since the day of a
person’s death marks the culminating point
of all that he achieved in the course of his life
on earth. Since then, Jews the world over,
especially at his resting place in Meron,
Israel, celebrate this day with singing,
dancing, Torah study, and an increase in acts
of love and unity.
Playing with the Bow
One particular custom practiced on the day
of Lag B’Omer is unique: Children go to
parks and fields to play with bows and
arrows.
What is the reason for this peculiar custom?
One well-known explanation is that during
Rabbi Shimon’s lifetime, no rainbow ever
appeared in the sky. The Torah states that the
rainbow represented G-d’s covenant never to
destroy the world again even humanity is
corrupt. But as long as Rabbi Shimon was
alive, his merit and piety alone were enough

to ensure that G-d would not regret His
creation, with no need for the rainbow.
On the day of Rabbi Shimon’s passing,
however, the world was in need of the
rainbow. So, each year on that day we recall
this man’s greatness by playing with the
bow.
Why Focus on the Negative
Yet, this explanation is enigmatic. First, it
seems far-fetched to associate the archer’s
bow with the celestial rainbow, just because
they both include the word ‘bow’ in English
and share the same term in Hebrew, “keshes.”
Second, according to this interpretation,
playing with bows and arrows on the day of
Lag B’Omer constitutes a negative symbol,
reflecting the tragic potential of humans to
destroy the world.
Yet, on the day of Lag B’Omer, we ought to
focus on the life of Rabbi Shimon, not on his
death! Especially that he himself requested it
to be a day of joy, not melancholy. Why
would we institute a custom that might
hamper the intense joy of the day?
There is another way to explain this
interesting tradition. The bow and arrow
represent a positive symbol, one that fits into
the joyous nature of the day, celebrating the
life and vision of Rabbi Shimon. Indeed,
Rabbi Shimon’s book, the Zohar, states: “Do
not anticipate the coming of Moshiach until
you see the shining colors of the rainbow.”
From the Zohar’s perspective, the bow
represents a powerfully positive symbol.
Two Types of Weapons
The first weapons devised by man were
designed for hand-to-hand combat: the
sword, the spear, the ax, and the like. But a
person’s enemy or prey is not always in
arm’s-length, or even within sight; soon the
warrior and hunter were inventing an array
of weapons capable of reaching targets that
are a great distance away or that are invisible.
Chief among these new weapons was the
bow and arrow, invented early on in human
history. (The Torah, too, speaks of the bow as
a weapon: Yitzchak and Yaakov both discuss
it with their sons.) For many countries and
cultures, the bow and arrow have served as
the main projectile weapon for a long time.
The person who invented this weapon had to
grasp the paradox that the arrow must first be
pulled back toward one’s own heart in order
to strike the heart of the enemy; and that the
more it is drawn toward oneself, the more
distant it can reach. Indeed, virtually all
long-range weapons (including the rocket)
operate on this principle: they cause an
action by the means of an opposite action;
they impel up and away by means of a force
that is exerted down and back toward the
launch point.

Two Types of
Adversaries
One of the fundamental
ideas in Kabbalah is that
every physical invention
and phenomenon
originates in the realm of
spiritual consciousness.
The two types of weapons,
the sword and the bow,
designed for two different
types of foes, exist also on
a psychological and
spiritual plane.
Every one of us has two types of adversaries:
The exposed challenges, those behaviors and
emotions that overtly threaten our well-being
and happiness. Immoral and hurtful words
and deeds, the expression of negative
emotions, and outbursts of anger and
animosity are openly destructive. But
we also possess an entirely different array of
skeletons: Our subliminal paradigms and
feelings invisible to the conscious brain.
To confront my invisible adversary, the
“sword” won’t do the trick. I need a new
style weapon: the bow and arrow. To confront
and conquer my unconscious traumas, pain,
and brokenness, I need to pull back and
retreat to the core of my soul; I need to open
myself to trailblazing pathways that have
never been charted. I must discover what I
look like on the inside.
Two Aspects of Torah
Judaism contains these two types of
weapons. The Torah, the body of Jewish
wisdom transmitted and developed over
3300 years, is generally comprised of two
parts, the “niglah” and the “nistar,” the
revealed Torah, and the concealed part of
Torah. The former can be compared to the
“sword,” the latter to the “bow.”
The first stream of Torah, Jewish law and
ethics, is like the close-range weapon that
could confront the obvious enemy. It
delineates for me right from wrong, moral
from immoral, holy from profane, good from
bad. It teaches us to distinguish between the
desirable and the disgraceful, between noble
and coarse behavior. It is the foundation of
living a moral, meaningful, and good life.
But how about confronting the pain and
trauma in the depth of my being? What about
the chaos at the core of my consciousness?
How about facing my existential loneliness
and angst? How about confronting my inner
toxic mindset and paradigms? How about
my questions about ultimate purpose,
meaning, and truth? How about dealing with
my inner confusion, anxiety, insanity, and
uncertainty? How about the profound pain of
life and being?

This is where the “hidden” part of Torah
becomes a life-saver. The teachings of
Kabbalah and Chassidus are the “quantum
mechanics” of Judaism, where infinity and
finiteness merge, where paradoxes abide
side by side, and where G-d and the human
person stand face to face with each other. Just
like the bow, the Kabbalah and Chassidic
teachings guide the person toward the
quintessence of his or her consciousness,
uncovering the “fragment of G-d” that
constitutes the core of my soul, teaching me
how the complex notes of the human psyche
are a Divine symphony, and how the entire
universe is pulsating infinity.
Both parts of Judaism make up its divine
mosaic. People who only learn mysticism,
are often disconnected from the concrete,
pragmatic and authentic expression of Torah.
Conversely, the exclusive study of Jewish
law may leave you with the lingering
question, what is this all about? How do I
find real joy and passion in my life? Can I
learn to love freely?
A Complicated World
There was a time in history when the revealed
part of the Torah sufficed. The Kabbalah
remained concealed from most of the people
and only a select few passed it on from
generation to generation. But as the world
became a much more complicated place, and
as the consciousness of redemption and full
healing become more manifest, we must
extricate the last traumas hidden inside of us,
obstructing our full alignment with the
Divine. Hence, Divine providence sent the
great mystical masters, chief among them
Rabbi Shimon, to teach us how to open
windows to the super-conscious forces of
our soul; how to discover the oneness in all
of reality, how to perceive your darkness as a
manifestation of infinite light, how to see
yourself as an ambassador of love, light, and
hope.
Rabbi Shimon Bar Yochai gave the Jewish
people and the world the bow and arrow.
(This essay is based on a talk delivered by
the Lubavitcher Rebbe on Lag B’Omer,
5711, May 24, 1951).