Who was Rav Naftali Tzvi, or Rav Naftulche as he was affectionately known? What was his connection with Rabi Shimon bar Yochai?
A
s the eyes of hundreds of thousands of Jews focus on a mountaintop in Meron, thousands are busy arranging rides and car pools to a quiet and little-known cemetery in New Jersey. They are heading to the resting place of the Bobover Rav, Rav Naftali Tzvi Halberstam ztz”l.
In a world where virtually every initiative is launched with neon lights and over-the-top marketing, Lag B’omer in New Jersey remains a notable exception. It was sparked by a private conversation, an enigmatic phrase heard by one person in the year 2002.
“Rabi Shimon bar Yochai vet zein bei mir Lag B’omer,” Rav Naftali Tzvi had said, in Yiddish. “Rabi Shimon bar Yochai will be by me Lag B’omer.”
Those ten simple words have been sowing yeshuos in ways that can only be termed miraculous.
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