Tefillah le-Lag BaOmer — Prayers for Lag BaOmer — the Hillula of Rabbi Shimon bar Yochai

A Prayer for Lag BaOmer

This prayer is founded upon the awesome mystery revealed by Rabbi Nachman of Breslov

(in the teaching 'Lechu Chazu' at the opening of Part One of Likutei Moharan)

concerning the greatness of Rabbi Shimon bar Yochai, of blessed memory,

who gave Israel his promise that Torah would never be forgotten through him —

for through this Zohar they shall go forth from exile.

See there.

How good it is to recite this prayer at the holy grave of Rashbi, of blessed memory,

for those privileged to come there;

but even one who has not reached Rabbi Shimon's tomb

should still recite it,

for the soul of the righteous spreads throughout all the world,

as brought in the Holy Zohar:

Rabbi Shimon ben Yochai —

a watcher and holy one descended from heaven,

holy lamp,

supernal lamp,

great lamp,

precious lamp —

you gave Israel your promise

that Torah would never be forgotten from Israel through you,

for through this Zohar they shall go forth from exile,

and even in the full force of concealment within concealment,

in the footsteps of the Messiah in these latter days,

you promised that even so

Torah would not be forgotten from the mouths of our offspring,

as it is written:

"And I will utterly hide My face on that day

for all the evil that they have done;

but this song shall testify before them as a witness,

for it shall not be forgotten from the mouths of their offspring."

And now the days have arrived in which we find no delight,

for the exile has grown long upon us and the bondage has stretched over us,

and each day we grow ever more diminished,

and our strength has greatly weakened —

"for the hand has failed and there is none left, bound or free" —

for we have remained as orphans without a father,

and there is no one to stand up for us.

And now, in the full force of the end of this bitter exile,

the glimmer of the Messiah has already begun to shine

from the days of the divine Ari, of blessed memory,

and Your people, the house of Israel, long and yearn deeply

for the Lord, may He be blessed,

and all desire to stand in awe of Your name

with a fierce and wondrous longing

the like of which has not been since days of old —

"I have awakened, and I am still with You" —

I have come to the very end of all the generations, and I am still with You.

We are still bound to You,

longing to serve You with the complete outpouring of our souls.

And yet even so,

the vastness of our distance from You in these times

is likewise beyond all measure,

for we have sunk into the deep mire where there is no foothold,

we have entered the depths of the waters and the flood has swept over us.

Look upon Your people Israel, so greatly afflicted —

it is impossible to explain or to recount

the full force of the adversary's assault against us,

how fiercely he has attacked us,

until he has brought us very low.

And here I am, in my poverty —

who am I to recount the sorrows of Israel?

Only you alone truly know

the full situation and state of Israel in these latter days.

But I have come to tell and cry out

for myself and for my own soul —

for the depth of my distance from the Lord, may He be blessed,

for the depth of my failures and my many sins

and my great transgressions,

"and for these things I weep; my eyes, my eyes run down with water" —

for I know of no path at all

by which to restore the power of holiness to me,

nor how to be worthy of complete repentance,

nor by which road I should begin to abandon my evil ways

and my shameful thoughts,

nor how and by what means I might be worthy to repair such failures and flaws —

"I do not know myself, where am I going?" —

where shall I carry this great shame of mine,

where shall I flee,

where shall I hide from my disgrace and dishonor?

I say to the mountains: cover me,

and to the hills: fall upon me.

Woe, what has become of me, woe, what has become of me —

"therefore I say: look away from me, I will weep bitterly" —

perhaps He will take pity, perhaps He will have mercy,

for there is no restraint upon the Lord from saving

even me at this time,

for great deliverance and salvation lie before Him,

as it is written:

"Behold, You can do all things, and no purpose of Yours can be thwarted;

and who can say to You, what are You doing?"

Therefore I have come like a pauper at the doorway,

poor, destitute, and wretched,

struck down and afflicted,

distressed and desperate, suffering and in pain,

to cry out and call before the radiance of your holiness:

Rabbi! Rabbi! Rabbi!

"My father! My father! The chariot of Israel and its riders!"

The radiance of the lamp of Torah —

"Awake, why do You sleep?" —

how can you bear the sufferings of Israel?

Rise up and rouse yourselves together with all the true righteous ones

to look upon and perceive, in all their bitterness, the sorrows of our souls —

"Awake and sing, you who dwell in the dust" —

arise, you sleepers of Machpelah, to support us,

you righteous ones, foundations of the world,

arise to help us in this time of distress,

have pity and compassion upon all the congregation of the children of Israel,

and among them upon me, the sinner, the flawed one who is full

of sins from the sole of the foot to the crown of the head.

You have known

"all the hardship that has found us"

from the day of the exile of the land until now,

everything that has passed over the whole of Israel in its entirety,

and in particular what has passed over each and every individual,

and especially what has passed over me —

from the day my soul and spirit and breath and body

were emanated and created and formed and made,

everything that has passed over me in each and every lifetime,

and especially what has passed over me in this body,

everything I have passed through from the beginning of my days until this very day,

that which I still remember

and that which I have forgotten —

would all the rams of Nevayot suffice

to explain and recount

even a fraction of the flaws I have created in a single day,

according to how those flaws touch the place they touch

according to the root of my soul,

and how much more so

what I have damaged in all the days that have passed over me

from the day of my existence until this day —

who can recount it,

who can fathom it?

What shall I say, what shall I lament,

what shall I speak, what shall I declare, and how shall I justify myself?

Master of the Universe,

place in the heart of this holy and awesome righteous one

(if one is privileged to stand at the grave of Rashbi, one says: who dwells here)

and in the hearts of all the true righteous ones,

that they not hide their faces from me

but stand up for me as my advocates,

to search out my merit

and to seek and find within me the good points,

and to speak well on my behalf,

that You draw me close to You in mercy,

and that You place within me a new heart and a new spirit,

place within me,

that I may be worthy from now on, in truth, to return to You

in truth and with a whole heart.

O Heaven, intercede for me;

all you who are masters of compassion and mercy, have compassion upon me;

all you who dwell in the dust, pray on behalf of one

who is "sunk in the deep mire without foothold" as I am.

Rabbi, Rabbi Shimon ben Yochai —

remember this and take it to heart:

that in these generations we have been granted

the privilege of hearing the wondrous and awesome account of your greatness —

how the Torah alludes through you that Torah will not be forgotten,

for the verse from which you brought proof:

"for it shall not be forgotten from the mouths of their offspring" —

its final letters spell: Yud-Vav-Chet-Alef-Yud — Yochai —

and your holy name itself is alluded to in the verse:

"a watcher and holy one descended from heaven" —

you alone know the mystery of these things,

you alone know the greatness of the promise

you gave to Israel

that Torah would not be forgotten from Israel through you,

and how Moses our teacher, peace be upon him,

prophesied of this in his holy Torah from of old.

Therefore I have come to remind —

please, my holy masters,

have compassion upon me and do not look

upon all the evil I have done from my earliest days until this very day,

in thought, speech, and deed,

wherein I have defied the word of God and spurned the counsel of the Most High —

do not look upon my evil deeds,

and do not deal with me as my sins deserve,

nor let me become repugnant in your eyes

because for so long you have been rousing me

with thousands upon thousands of signs and awakenings,

and with so many kinds of sound counsel, every day and at every hour,

to draw near to the Lord, may He be blessed —

and I, through the very hardness of my neck,

have ruined and damaged all of this,

and have not turned my ear or my heart to any of it.

Have pity upon me

and pay no heed to all of this,

and let your anger not be kindled against me, God forbid;

only devise plans from now on

that I not be cast away from the Lord, may He be blessed, and from you, God forbid,

for even now "there is no restraint upon the Lord from saving"

even at this time.

For I now have no strength at all

except in my mouth alone,

and even this comes from Him, may He be blessed,

who has not withdrawn His kindness and His truth from me,

and has given strength to the weary one like me

to speak now these few words.

Upon this I have planted my stakes:

that you will have mercy upon me

and bring it about that I be worthy to return in truth to the Lord, may He be blessed

(and to come to the Land of Israel soon in peace,

and to speak all this and more than this there

at your holy grave),

and may the Lord, who is good, in His mercy

hear your prayer

and help and protect and save me and all Israel for your sake,

and return me in complete repentance before Him speedily,

and hold fast to me and not let me go,

not forsake me and not abandon me in any way,

until I be worthy to return to Him in truth,

and to be as His good will desires,

from this time and forever,

and to repair in my lifetime all that I have damaged —

through the power and the merit of the true righteous ones,

upon whom alone I lean

to set these words of mine

before them and before the Lord, may He be blessed,

the Master of mercy who knows hidden things —

"The Lord will bring this to completion for me;

O Lord, Your kindness endures forever —

do not forsake the works of Your hands.

Bring my soul out of imprisonment

that I may give thanks to Your name;

the righteous will crown themselves through me

when You deal bountifully with me."

◆ ◆ ◆

A Prayer for Lag BaOmer — from Our Master the Ben Ish Chai

Please, O Lord —

for the sake of the letters of the holy Name

(Alef, Chaf, Dalet, Tet, Mem)

which is the mystery of the five mighty powers of greatness,

which are the mystery of the holy Name

alluded to in the verse:

"Trust in the Lord forever" —

whose letters, spelled out in full, equal in number

the words: Peace, Blessing, Goodness, Life, Grace, Kindness, Mercy, Joy —

pour out upon me and upon my household and upon all Israel:

Peace,

Good blessing,

Life,

Grace,

Kindness,

Mercy,

Joy.

Act for the sake of Your truth,

act for the sake of Your glory,

act for the sake of Your Torah,

act for the sake of Your goodness,

act for the sake of Your kingdom.

May it be Your will, Lord our God and God of our forefathers,

that You act for the sake of Your mercy and Your kindness,

and for the sake of the merit of Your servant Rabbi Akiva ben Yosef,

and for the sake of the merit of Your servant Rabbi Shimon ben Yochai,

and for the sake of the merit of Your servant Rabbi Meir Ba'al HaNes,

and for the sake of the merit of Your servant Rabbi Yehudah ben Rabbi Ila'i,

and for the sake of the merit of Your servant Rabbi Elazar ben Shamu'a,

and for the sake of the merit of Your servant Rabbi Nechemiah —

have mercy upon us and grant us long life,

a life of peace,

a life of goodness,

a life of blessing,

a life of good livelihood,

a life of robust health,

a life in which there is the fear of sin,

a life free of shame and disgrace,

a life of wealth and honor,

a life in which there is within us love of Torah and fear of Heaven,

a life in which You fulfill all the desires of our hearts

for good, for Your service, and for Your awe,

and open for us the gates of light,

the gates of sustenance,

the gates of knowledge,

the gates of goodness,

the gates of protection.

Please, O Lord, grant us salvation;

please, O Lord, grant us success.

For with You is the fountain of life;

in Your light we shall see light.

Make Your ways known to me, O Lord;

teach me Your paths.

The Lord is good to all,

and His mercy is upon all His works.

How great is Your goodness that You have stored up for those who fear You,

that You have wrought for those who take refuge in You,

before the eyes of all.

Please, O Lord, for the merit of Your servant the righteous one,

Rabbi Shimon ben Yochai,

who embodied the quality of Yesod — Yosef, Tzaddik, Adonai —

and whose name in its numerical value equals that of Yesod, Yosef, Tzaddik, Adonai —

may he repair what we have damaged in the quality of Yesod, Tzaddik, Adonai;

and all the holy sparks that we have scattered

may they be refined and ascend to Yesod, Yosef, Tzaddik, Adonai;

and may there flow to us an abundance of goodness

and grace and kindness and peace

from Yesod, Yosef, Tzaddik, Adonai.

Please, O Lord, for the merit of Your servant the righteous one,

Rabbi Shimon ben Yochai,

whose name in its numerical value equals that of the World of Formation —

may he repair what we have damaged in the World of Formation;

and may there flow to us an abundance of goodness and blessing and peace

from the Name El Adonai that shines in the World of Formation;

and may we have the strength and courage

for our souls to ascend from the World of Action to the World of Formation,

and from there to Adonai, that He may shine upon us;

and do with us a sign for good,

that our enemies may see and be ashamed,

that our foes may behold and be disgraced,

for You, O Lord, have helped us and comforted us.

Please, O Lord, for the merit of Your servant the righteous one,

Rabbi Shimon ben Yochai,

whose name in its numerical value equals that of the Throne of the Shechinah —

may he repair what we have damaged in the Throne of the Shechinah;

and may You purify and illuminate our souls,

that we be worthy to be a dwelling and a throne for the light of the Shechinah.

Please, O Lord, for the merit of Your servant the righteous one,

Rabbi Shimon ben Yochai,

whose name equals in number four hundred and sixty-six —

may he repair what we have damaged through wayward thoughts

whose numerical value is four hundred and sixty-six;

and may we be saved from afflictions whose number is four hundred and sixty-six;

and may our inward faculties, which are also of the number four hundred and sixty-six,

be repaired and purified,

so that from them there may always flow to us good, upright, and sound counsel.

May the words of my mouth

and the meditation of my heart

be acceptable before You,

O Lord, my Rock and my Redeemer.