But when it comes to issues where the Rebbe has specifically instructed us to do something specific - like Simchas Beis Hashoeva in the streets and Mivtza Tefilin in the streets - not only are we not obligated to follow the call of other Admurim and Rabbis but we are even forbidden to heed their call. We cannot, shall not and dare not submit to dictates of other Rabbis when it goes against the clear instruction of our Rebbe. ■ More

Rabbi Shimon bar Yochai, who lived in the 2nd century of the Common Era, was the first to publicly teach the mystical dimension of the Torah known as the "Kabbalah," and is the author of the basic work of Kabbalah, the Zohar. On the day of his passing, Rabbi Shimon instructed his disciples to mark the date as "the day of my joy."
The Chassidic masters explain that the final day of a righteous person's earthly life marks the point at which "all his deeds, teachings and work" achieve their culminating perfection and the zenith of their impact upon our lives. So each Lag BaOmer we celebrate Rabbi Shimon's life and the revelation of the esoteric soul of Torah.

Lag BaOmer also commemorates another joyous event. The Talmud relates that in the weeks between Passover and Shavuot a plague raged amongst the disciples of the great sage Rabbi Akiva "because they did not act respectfully towards each other"; these weeks are therefore observed as a period of mourning, with various joyous activities proscribed by law and custom. On Lag BaOmer the dying ceased. Thus Lag BaOmer also carries the theme of Ahavat Yisrael, the imperative to love and respect one's fellow.

From the talks of the Lubavitcher Rebbe, Rabbi Menachem M. Schneerson

Pesach Sheni (“the Second Pesach”) is celebrated on the 14th of Iyar, a month after the eve of Pesach. The Torah1 re­lates that in the first year after the Exodus, when the Jewish people were preparing to bring the Pesach sacrifice:

There were [certain] men who were impure because [they had come in contact with a] human corpse and they could not bring the Pesach offering on that day. They came before Moshe... and said, “We are un­clean... [but] why should we be held back from bringing the offering of G‑d in its time?...”

And Moshe said to them, “Stand and hear what G‑d will command concerning you.”

G‑d said..., “If any man be impure... or on a distant way [on the day of the Pesach offering]..., he shall sacrifice the Pesach offering to G‑d, in the second month, on the fourteenth day at dusk....”

Anyone who did not bring a Pesach offering, whether be­cause of impurity or even because he had willfully trans­gressed G‑d’s will, was thus given the opportunity to com­pensate for his shortcoming by bringing an offering on Pesach Sheni. 2

“It’s Never Too Late!”

The Previous Rebbe explained3 that, “Pesach Sheni teaches us that ‘Nothing is ever lost: it’s never too late!’ Our conduct can always be rectified. Even someone who is impure, who was far away and even desired to be so, can still correct him­self.” There is no justification for despair. Every individual, no matter what his situation, always has the potential to make a leap forward (the literal translation of the Hebrew word Pesach) in his service of G‑d.

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It has been a tradition in the household of the respective Rebbeim, handed down from generation to generation, to begin the First Seder immediately after Maariv and not to dwell on it at length, so that the Afikoman will be eaten before midnight. The Second Seder, by contrast, begins later in the evening, and the Rebbe speaks at length - expounding the Haggadah, sharing Torah insights, and arousing his listeners in their Divine service.

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Purim Laws and Customs of General Application:[679]"When Parshas Zachor is read on the Shabbos before Purim, (and likewise when it is read on the Shabbos of Parshas Ki Seitzei [from which it is drawn]), there are varying traditions as to how to pronounce the word zeicher, whose first syllable can be vocalized either with a tzeirei or with a segol. The same doubt exists when this word appears in the Torah reading of Purim, (and likewise on the Shabbos of Parshas Beshalach [from which it is drawn]). Here, too, I have not received a specific directive.

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Obituary

By Sue Fishkoff

(chabad.org.news)

Mrs. Risya Posner, who with her husband Rabbi Zalman Posner established the first Chabad-Lubavitch presence in Nashville, Tenn., died Tuesday at the age 80. An inimitable force behind Lubavitch outreach operations and techniques across the world, she was born in Brooklyn, N.Y., to Lubavitch parents who had immigrated from Russia. She and her husband pioneered the field of campus-based outreach, almost immediately inviting Vanderbilt University students to their home after their arrival in Nashville.

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On the eighth day following "seven days of inauguration," Aaron and his sons begin to officiate as Kohanim (priests); a fire issues forth from G-d to consume the offerings on the Altar and the Divine Presence comes to dwell in the Sanctuary.

Aaron's two elder sons, Nadav and Avihu, offer a "strange fire before G-d, which He commanded them not" and die before G-d. Aaron is silent in face of his tragedy. Moses and Aaron subsequently disagree as to a point of law regarding the offerings, but Moses concedes to Aaron that Aaron is in the right.

G-d commands the kosher laws, identifying the animal species permissible and forbidden for consumption. Land animals may be eaten only if they have split hooves and also chew their cud; fish must have fins and scales; a list of non-kosher birds is given, and a list of kosher insects (four types of locusts).

Also in Shemini are some of the laws of ritual purity, including the purifying power of the mikvah (a pool of water meeting specified qualifications) and the wellspring. Thus the people of Israel are enjoined to "differentiate between the impure and the pure."

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