In addition to the spiritual aspect of Lag BaOmer, there are halachic issues associated with the day.
Indeed, there are many. Someone asked me the following shailah: When he was davening to have a child, he went to the kever of Rabbi Shimon bar Yochai in Meron and promised that if he was bentched with a boy he would name him Shimon and hold the chalakah in Meron on Lag BaOmer. Now that he isn’t allowed to go there because the government closed it down, what should he do? Does he have to be mattir neder?
I would assume that there’s a similar shailah for someone who travels to Meron for Lag BaOmer every year and has gone more than three times in a row.
That’s a different shailah. Going to Meron for Lag BaOmer is no different from any other hanhagah tovah that a person accepts upon himself, because the greatness of being by Rabbi Shimon on Lag BaOmer is brought down by the Bartenura and many other gedolei Yisrael of earlier generations. I wrote in the gilyon we give out that in this particular case, since he really wants to keep the neder and go there once he’s allowed to—he doesn’t want to completely nullify the kabbalah tovah—it’s an onnes for something he wants to continue and doesn’t have to be mattir neder. This applies to the many thousands of people who usually go to Meron but are unable to do so this year because of the shutdown. However, if someone has been going for 20 years and decided not to go one year—under regular circumstances, not this year—he would be breaking a hanhagah tovah and would have to be mattir neder.
How is that different from the person who made a neder to make the chalakah there? Isn’t that the same onnes?
We had this shailah during the coronavirus. The shailah is really twofold: Should he push off the chalakah until Meron is reopened, which will allow him to keep his neder, or should he be more concerned about the other part of the neder, which was to hold the chalakah on Lag BaOmer? In other words, is it preferable to do it on Lag BaOmer wherever he is, or should he wait however long it will take to have it in Meron?
The question is whether the location or the timing is more important.
The issue is that both were mentioned in the neder.
And the day of Lag BaOmer is already in honor or Rabbi Shimon, regardless of where person is.
Correct. I wrote as follows: For the part of the neder that he would go to Meron, he is clearly an onnes, which makes him pattur. However, the other part of the neder, which said that it would be held on Lag BaOmer, cannot be trifled with. Therefore, he should make it on Lag BaOmer wherever he is and at least fulfill that portion. Additionally, the Gemara (Gittin 19a) tells us, “Kedai hu Rabbi Shimon lismoch alav bish’as hadchak—Rabbi Shimon is worthy of being relied upon in a case of exigency.” This is certainly a sh’as hadchak. Furthermore, the Gemara (Pesachim 51b) also says that Rabbi Shimon is kedai to be relied upon both “b’fanav v’shelo b’fanav—in his presence and not in his presence.” Accordingly, he should rely on Rabbi Shimon shelo b’fanav and fulfill the neder wherever he happens to be.
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