Great music, tons of dancing, and good energy� was what 200 hundred residents of Boro Park Center (BPC) experienced outside on Lag B�Omer on May 19, said Raizy Pavlov, BPC�s recreation director.
Last Thursday, residents� families were invited to join in the fun and inspiration, when the Boro Park Center Rav Rabbi Aron Waijsfeld lit up residents� neshamos with simcha and kedusha with his divrei Torah, as he lit the flames of BPC�s hadlakah.
Remembering the 45 kedoshim who tragically died last year on Lag B�Omer in Meron, in their honor, BPC�s residents sang, �Ani Maamim,� which participants said was a moving highlight of the day.
Despite remembering and honoring the tragic events of last year, Rabbi Waijsfeld said that before we can experience the simcha, we have to �smile and then start singing,� before leading the crowd in a liebidig rendition of �Reb Shimon.�
�Lag B�Omer is a happy day,� said Rabbi Waijsfeld, who stood in front of a beautiful backdrop that depicted the kever of Rabbi Shimon bar Yochai. �Why?�
�Because on Rabbi Shimon�s yarzheit, the availus stops because Rabbi Akiva�s students stopped dying.
�Similarly everyone�s sadness, unpleasant things, suffering, and heartbreak also should stop.
�From now on, we will see freilachkeit and happiness.�
Rabbi Waijsfeld also added to the warm, inviting, and uplifting atmosphere by wishing, �Happy Birthday� to two BPC residents: one whose birthday was on Lag B�Omer, and another�s whose birthday was the day after.
One resident said it was the most meaningful Lag B�Omer he ever had experienced,� remembered BPC Associate Administrator Nachman Feig.
�The patient said that had never before felt the kedusha and the happiness until he was a resident here,� Feig said. �It was really wholesome and meaningful. Our staff made sure everyone was there and everyone�s needs were met and we held residents� hands, sang with them, and danced with them. It was a beautiful, uplifting moment.�
