Thursday, / March 28, 2024
Home / news

Lag B’Omer After The Earthquake

By , Kathmandu, Nepal

At the Chabad House in Kathmandu, Nepal, posters informing visitors and travelers of Chabad activities are never made professionally. The paper, in some cases a paper plate, gets pinned to the bulletin board. The modest sign is usually created the night before the event, with a marker in the hands of the ever-dedicated Chabad representative Chani Lifshitz.

Today, Jewish communities around the globe celebrate Lag B’omer, a day that, among other noteworthy events, honors the passing of 2nd-century Jewish sage and kabbalist, Rabbi Shimon Bar Yochai. A mystic, known also as the author of the Zohar, and as the Rashbi, Rabbi Shimon asked that his day of passing should not be marked by mourning, rather by celebration.

This year, Lag B’omer comes at a difficult time for Chabad of Nepal. While sitting down to create her poster, Chani’s husband, Rabbi Chezki was in the midst of a difficult rescue effort in the destroyed Langtang village, following last month’s quake.

“Just outside of our door corpses are piling up, the wounds—physical and emotional, are still bleeding,” said Chani, asking herself: “How should I word the poster marking a celebration? How can we, in this situation that has affected the country, celebrate at all?”

Since the earthquake struck, the Chabad House in Nepal has been a safe place for survivors and aid workers who flew from Israel. The trekkers who saw destruction, the aid workers who pulled small children from the rubble and others buried under the weight of their collapsed homes, now come together to ponder, to seek answers, to comfort each other and seek words of wisdom from the Lifshitzs.

Chani Lifshitz speaks of the resilience of the Jewish nation. “This is our strength, to understand that we do not understand, but yet we trek forward,” she said as she made her poster with black, yellow, brown and red markers, small bonfires around her announcement on a paper plate.

The Chabad representative was acting on the words of Lubavitcher Rebbe, Rabbi Menachem Mendel Schneerson, words he said at a Jewish Unity and Pride Parade over three decades ago: “Rabbi Shimon lifted up his generation, and through his teachings the generations to come, to a higher spiritual plane… we must too lift up those around us, with the strength and ability endowed to us through Rabbi Shimon.”

An hour after returning from Langtang, Rabbi Chezki, stood in front of the crowd, a bonfire burning in the center. He spoke of the tragedy, he spoke of healing, he spoke of the future, and the need to move forward, but with greater compassion and understanding. Lifshitz spoke about the teachings of mysticism.

He told of Rabbi Akiva, the Talmudic sage, whose students died in a plague that ceased on Lag B’omer. He echoed the 1984 words of the Rebbe about the sage who is mentioned over 1500 times in the Talmud: “To Rabbi Akiva, every individual was precious. He educated his students with the great principle, ‘to love your fellow as yourself’ . . .  This is what we need to learn from Lag B’omer, from our experience here in Nepal.”

Chani’s colorful poster said: “We will sit around the fire in unity and song.” Visitors, backpackers, travelers celebrted Lag B’omer with new appreciation, grateful for each other, for life and the gift of friendship.

“It was a kumzitz [sit down] of song and unity. The flames of the bonfire warmed our bodies, and the words of comfort warmed our souls,” Chani said.

To assist relief efforts visit Lubavitch.com/Nepal.

Comment

Be the first to write a comment.

Add

Related Articles
Lag B’Omer: Of Mystics and Merriment
More than a million people visit annually, but it is during the 24-hour period of Lag B’Omer that the gravesite of Rabbi Shimon bar Yochai…
Nepali Locals, Travelers, Find Food, Solace at Chabad
“Our greatest worry now is to make sure that anyone who comes to the Chabad House should have a hot meal,” the Chabad representative says.
Nepal Jewish Leaders Appeal For Help As Crisis Deepens
“The country is devastated, buildings that once proudly stood are now rubble, streets that once were bustling are now deserted,” says the Chabad representative.
Chabad Provides Himalayan Trekkers With Satellite Phones
The breathtaking views from mountain precipices and jagged cliffs beckon, but with real danger, and invariably, Chabad is called in on rescue missions when hikers…
Survivor of Nepal Bus Accident Grateful For Chabad Rabbi
The Nepalese man arrived at the Chabad House last Monday “looking for the man with the white shirt and the beard.”
Bim, The Boy From Nepal
He’s the good looking, buoyant 12 year old Nepalese boy who greets visitors to Katmandu’s Chabad House with a huge smile: “Hi I’m Bim, the…
Nepal Earthquake Survivors Flock To Chabad
In the midst of Shabbat morning prayers at the Chabad House in Kathmandu, Nepal, a 7.8 magnitude earthquake hit the country. The death toll is…
Jewish Service Members Convene for Shabbat Renewal
Chabad’s Aleph Institute Welcomes Jewish Members of the Military for Five Days of Renewal
#LightForIsrael Campaign Encourages Millions to Respond to Darkness With the Light of Shabbat Candles
Influencers and Shluchim Spread the Word as Shabbat Candles are Lit in Solidarity with Israel
Memories of Sukkot 1991
Sukkot 1991 was different. The crowds were enormous. But this time, the Rebbe remained standing in the sukkah for the next six and a half…
It’s A Lemon. It’s An Orange. It’s An Esrog!
It may bear resemblance to its cousins, but the esrog is no simple citrus.
Newsletter
Donate
Find Your Local Chabad Center
Magazine