Lag Ba’Omer: Reclaiming the “Ashreinu!”2 min read

We are all familiar with Rebbe Akiva’s teaching set to the famous Lag Ba’Omer melody, “Mah mikvah metaheir es hatemei’im…” – “Just as a mikvah purifies the impure, so does HaKadosh Baruch Hu purify am Yisrael.”

I have long been bothered by the following question.

If Rebbe Akiva intended to reveal that Hashem purifies in the same way a mikvah purifies, why switch the wording from “temei’im” to “Yisrael”? After stating that a mikvah purifies the impure, he should have ended with “af HaKadosh Baruch Hu metaheir es hatemei’im”! Why the change?

Perhaps we may suggest that Rebbe Akiva is introducing a novel concept: It isn’t only the overtly impure that require purification.

Sometimes, even those who are on the level of “Yisrael”, those who embody the most elevated iteration of a Torah lifestyle and mitzvah observance, can also be missing something: the spark of connection, the awareness of what it’s all for, the relationship with our Loving Creator that sits at the very heart of our tradition.

Sometimes, a Jew’s otherwise healthy observance may be lacking the wonder, the passion, the excitement that our yiddishkeit is intended to foster – the echo of “Ashreinu! – How fortunate are we!” that should thunder throughout our being when we are engaged in Hashem’s Torah and mitzvos.

Sometimes, the Princess of soulful intention becomes lost.

Perhaps this is what Rebbe Akiva was teaching us:

“Ashreichem Yisrael!” – It is indeed possible to reclaim this exclamatory experience of avodas Hashem, the “ashreinu!” of our observance.

“Mah mikvah metaheir es hatemei’im” – For just as a mikvah purifies those who have become estranged from the Torah’s ways,

“Af Hakadosh Baruch Hu metaheir es Yisrael” – So does actively bringing Hashem back into the forefront of our religious consciousness and conversation have the effect of “purifying” even those who are already pure – infusing their service with a spirit of life, joy, depth, sincerity, vibrancy, and effervescence.

Perhaps we sing this song on Lag Ba’Omer because it is deep, emotional, and big-picture teachings like the ones Rashbi received from his Rebbe and revealed for all future generations that grant us the ability to find Hashem in His Torah, to truly feel that He is at least as real as His creations, and infinitely more so.

Perhaps this is the reason for the great joy of Lag Ba’Omer. The fires we light outside mirror the dancing flame Rebbe Shimon’s Torah lights within. And as our souls flicker and jump on the bodily wicks they yearn to consume, we are moved to join hands and dance, to celebrate the gift of Rashbi and express our gratitude for the privilege of rekindling the ancient love affair with Hashem at the very end of time, as the shofar of Moshiach continues to call us home.

“Ashrei – ha’am heim lomdecha, v’ashrei – ha’omdim al sodecha!”