It is a beautiful custom to recite Psalm 33 on Lag BaOmer: "Rejoice in God, O you righteous!” This is the psalm recited during prostration at the graves of tzaddikim. "Rejoice, O righteous," is fitting for Lag BaOmer when we ascend for the great hillula (celebration on the day of a tzaddik’s passing) of Rabbi Shimon bar Yochai at the holy site in Meron. The psalm opens with abundant song and melody: "Praise God with the harp; make melody to Him with an instrument of ten strings. Sing to Him a new song [a Messianic song, according to our Sages]; play skillfully with a shout of joy" – like the immense joy at Rabbi Shimon's burial place, with 'klezmers' playing sweeping Meron melodies… There is a beautiful allusion to Rabbi Shimon at the end of the psalm: "Our soul waits God; He is our help and our shield. For our heart shall rejoice in Him, because we have trusted in His holy name. Let Your mercy, O God, be upon us, just as we hope in You" – the first and last words of these three verses, "Nafsheinu, hu, ki, batachnu, yehi, lach" = Rabbi Shimon.
When prostrating, "Rejoice, O righteous" refers to the unification of two tzaddikim, the 'upper tzaddik' and the 'lower tzaddik' who meet, connect, and unite. The tzaddik buried here is the upper tzaddik, and I myself, prostrating on his grave, am in the aspect of the lower tzaddik. The upper tzaddik is Joseph the Righteous, "righteous, foundation of the world," the attribute of Yesod 'representing' the entire partzuf of Ze'ir Anpin, the aspect of the male-influencer. The lower tzaddik is 'Yesod of Nukva,' the point of Yesod within the sefirah of Malchut, the aspect of the woman yearning for Ze'ir Anpin, her husband. Hence, the prostration is an awakening and raising of mayin nukvin (feminine waters), and it is the song ("Rejoice, O righteous") ascending from below to above. When the lower tzaddik connects to the upper tzaddik, many holy sparks are elevated, all souls ascend – like the fire rising upward in the Lag BaOmer bonfire – and from this elevation comes a drawing down, "through this, great abundance will be influenced in all worlds!"
Kindness and Faith
The entire Psalm 33 speaks of kindness, flowing as a result of raising feminine waters: “Our soul waits for God [initials spell "Nachal," (stream) the 'lower stream' of raising feminine waters, which draws down the upper stream of "keeping mercy for thousands”]. Let Your mercy, O God, be upon us, just as we hope in You" – this hope is a deep request, the raising of the feminine waters.
All this corresponds to Rabbi Shimon, ‘the joyous rabbi' (who wants us to rejoice in his hillula) who draws down love and kindness, as he said, "For us, the matter depends on endearment!" Rabbi Shimon belongs to the sefirah of binah (understanding), "the illumination of the supernal Mother," meaning the inner aspect of binah that sweetens all judgments at their root. And a hint: chavivut (endearment) = Chetach, 'the Name of livelihood.' Endearment influences livelihood, both in the literal physical sense and spiritual sustenance. Finally, the intensity of love turns into complete trust: "For our heart shall rejoice in Him, because we have trusted in His holy name."
Rabbi Shimon's attribute of loving kindness connects him to Abraham. Abraham's kindness is linked to faith – Abraham is the 'head of all believers,' Everything begins with faith, but the actual rectification of the heart is through charity and kindness.
Elazar Shimon
Lag BaOmer is the day of Rabbi Shimon, but also of his son Rabbi Elazar (as told about the holy Arizal who on Lag BaOmer would prostrate himself on Rabbi Elazar's grave as well) – two "sons of ascent," as Rabbi Shimon said, "I have seen the sons of ascent and they are few. If there are two, they are my son and I." Together they were in the cave, together they emerged from the cave, and together they are buried in Meron. Elazar Shimon are the initials of Esh (fire), again the fire of Lag BaOmer.
"Rejoice in God, O you righteous" can be beautifully interpreted regarding these two righteous figures: Rabbi Elazar is, relatively, a lower tzaddik, and Rabbi Shimon is an upper tzaddik (as evident in many places in the Zohar, where Rabbi Elazar asks and Rabbi Shimon answers, raising of feminine waters and drawing down of masculine waters). Therefore, Rabbi Elazar precedes Rabbi Shimon in the initials of esh (fire), raising of feminine waters before drawing down masculine waters.
For Rabbi Elazar, the fire is somewhat burning, he has 'judgments' (as he is relatively ‘feminine’ in relation to his father). But for Rabbi Shimon, the fire is of love and kindness (and Rabbi Shimon 'extinguishes the fires' created by his son's fire). In Divine service, this is 'love like fire', "Love is as strong as death… Its flames are flames of fire, the very flame of God." The way to arouse love like fire for God, as the Alter Rebbe explains, is through deep and constant contemplation of Godliness, "Through contemplation of the greatness of the Infinite, blessed be He, before Whom all is truly as naught, the soul will be inflamed and ablaze with the preciousness of the glory of His greatness, to gaze upon the glory of the King like flames of fire, a mighty flame rising upward and separating from the wick and wood to which it clings, namely, through the strengthening of the Divine element of fire in the soul" (Tanya chapter 50). The very fact that it is possible to understand and grasp Godliness is the tremendous innovation of Rabbi Shimon, which was not permitted before him. Rabbi Shimon reveals secrets and mysteries, "Open my eyes, that I may behold wondrous things of Your Torah" on Lag BaOmer.
