Zutshka Rebbe chastises Chusid that was sad that he couldn't go to Meron on Lag Be'Omer "Were you sad that that we couldn't do the Korban Pesach??

 Over the past week, the charedi public felt a painful sense of loss after the cancellation of the Meron hilula. The images of the deserted mountain, the barricades, and the locked gates of Meron preventing access to the courtyard of Rabbi Shimon bar Yochai pierced the hearts of those accustomed to gathering in the shadow of Rabbi Shimon on Lag BaOmer. 

One chasid brought this pain into the room of the Zutshka Rebbe, but the answer he received echoed far beyond the walls of that room.

According to the story, published in last Friday’s edition of HaMevaser, the Rebbe listened to the chasid’s sorrow over the dancing that was lost and the prayers that were prevented. But then he responded with a question that struck deeply:

“Tell me, dear Jew, two days ago, when we were unable to ascend and appear on the Temple Mount in Jerusalem and offer the ‘Second Passover’ sacrifice, were you also this distressed? Did you also sigh? Did you also groan?”

The Rebbe did not stop there. In a voice trembling with longing, he continued asking the surprised chasid whether his heart was broken over the fact that foxes walk on the Temple Mount, and whether he feels an inner pain over every passing day without the daily and additional Temple offerings.

During the lighting ceremony held in Bnei Brak, the Rebbe shared with the crowd the challenging insight arising from the complicated reality of recent years in Meron. He wondered aloud whether the fact that for seven years, since the terrible disaster and now with the wartime restrictions,the pilgrimage celebration has not taken place in its proper form might itself be a message from Heaven.

“Who knows if this is not what Heaven is trying to hint to us,” the Rebbe told the crowd. “Perhaps Heaven wishes to awaken us to the exile of the Divine Presence? To awaken us to yearn and long, to sigh and weep over the humiliation of the City of G-d, which has sunk low to the depths?”

The Rebbe’s words seek to transform the tangible pain over Meron into a catalyst for spiritual growth and longing for a rebuilt Jerusalem. The message is clear: if we are capable of feeling such a deep sense of loss over being absent from Mount Meron for one day a year, then we must examine ourselves : Does that same feeling exist within us regarding the Holy Temple and the sacrificial service that is absent from our lives every single day?

This presents an entirely different perspective on the “Meron decree”, not merely as a security or administrative issue, but as a wake-up call for the Jewish heart to awaken to the truest and deepest longing of the entire nation: for the Divine Presence which is dwelling in exile.