The Righteous of our Past and Second Chances
- Vivian Chaya Russo
- Jul 18, 2019
- 2 min read
That first Sunday of our Akiva trip we checked out of our Tsfat hotel and headed to Tiberias for the day. We went to Rabbi Akiva's grave, the famous sage of the Talmud who learned how to read at age 40 and amassed 24,000 thousand students. His wife's grave, Rachel was also on the schedule. Rabbi Akiva's wisdom has inspired Jews throughout the generations, including this trip in 2019 that is named after him.
The Jewish date of that Sunday in May, happened to be, 14 of Iyar. Which is Pesach Sheni & Rabbi Meir Baal HaNes' Hilula (anniversary of passing), who is also buried in Tiberias. Pesach Sheni, translated as Second Passover, comes exactly after a month of the original Pesach. It hapened in the dessert right after leaving Egypt, it was the first Passover for the Jewish people. They had to offer a sacrifice, called Korban Pesach or Paschal Sacrifice but only if they were ritually pure. To understand the meaning of this lofty statment isn't easy and it requires a lot of in depth study, beyond the scope of this article. However, the relevance of this holiday is that Jews who couldn't offer the sacrifice the first time, wanted their chance. So Moshe Rabenu consulted with G-d, and He agreed. That's how Pesach Sheni was born. It's all about second chances and the fact that it's never too late to rectify our ways. We only have to desire the closeness and Hashem does the rest.
On this fateful day, a group of Young Jews from the US found themselves through the city of Tiberias doing the first of many holy visits. In Tiberias we visited, not only Rabbi Akiva's grave, but also the Ramchal's (Rabbi Moshe Chaim Luzzatto, by his initials). The Ramchal is the author of the famous book Mesilat Yesharim or Path of the Just, a classic in ethics literature and personal character refinement.
Besides for the spiritual part, we also did some classic sightseeing. We got to enjoy the promenade right on the Sea of Galilee, with lots of shops and restaurants. It was a particularly lively day because of the Hilula of Rabbi Meir. There were even establisments giving free boat rides on the Kineret just in honor of the Tzadik.
At the beginning of my trip to Israel I realized the holy land is plagued with Hashgacha Pratit (Divine Providence) moments, and this pattern surely repeated itself throughout my stay there.
To Life!
Vivian Chaya Russo
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