Question:
Rabbi
After reading your questions about mourning during the Sefira period and related days of judgment, could it be that Hashem answers your concerns?
Deuteronomy 31:14-18
Hashem said to Moses: The time is drawing near for you to die. Call Joshua and present yourselves in the Tent of Meeting, that I may instruct him. Moses and Joshua went and presented themselves in the Tent of Meeting.
15 Hashem appeared in the Tent, in a pillar of cloud, the pillar of cloud having come to rest at the entrance of the tent.
Hashem said to Moses: You are soon to lie with your ancestors. This people will thereupon go astray after the alien gods in their midst, in the land that they are about to enter; they will forsake Me and break My covenant that I made with them. Then My anger will flare up against them, and I will abandon them and hide My countenance from them. They shall be ready prey; and many evils and troubles shall befall them. And they shall say on that day, “Surely it is because our God is not in our midst that these evils have befallen us.” Yet I will keep My countenance hidden on that day, because of all the evil they have done in turning to other gods.”
Why do you believe that avoiding dancing, singing, or enjoying oneself alleviates the necessity of returning to Hashem instead of the halacha of men?
Job 32:7-9
“I thought, “Let age speak; Let advanced years declare wise things.”
But truly it is the spirit in men, The breath of Shaddai, that gives them understanding.
It is not the aged who are wise, The elders, who understand how to judge.”
Your insight into this question is appreciated.
Answer:
Thank you for your question.
the questions that people are asking are related to a certain custom that the Jews have, to do some small acts of mourning, due to the fact that the disciples of Rabbi Akiva all died during this period of time. The reason they died we are taught that it was because they didn’t respect each other enough. It is not being done by us as a form of repentance, for any specific sin that we might have done, but rather to show our connection with these people and to inculcate the ethical message that they give us.
Best wishes
