it is symbolic to the fact that a keshes (rainbow) did not appear throughout the lifetime of Rashb”i, because of the great source of zechusim he had for his entire generation.
Sam, I was just baiting the wolf. He is so pliable to fall for such gags. If I wouldn’t have told you this, he would have been sure to tell us what an apikorus he is since he would never kill an Amaleiki. Now I better protect myself before he tries to bite me.
That is correct tzaddiq. The rainbow did not appear during Rebbi Shimon Bar Yochai’s lifetime, because it did not rain during the day. It only rained during the night (when people were at home, not in the markets, fields). The great Zechut is that the agriculture flourished in his lifetime on account of the nighttime rain.
Shmoel: Interesting. That should be Lifnei Iver, no? You attempted to get someone to admit that he would be Mevatel a Mitzvah.
R.T.: That’s an interesting P’shat. I always thought it was just a Nes that even when nature called for a rainbow, HKBH made one not show up. Yours makes more sense though, and doesn’t decrease the necessary Yad Hashem (because HKBH chooses when it rains). I like your P’shat actually. A lot. Thank you.
Thank you Sam2. But I give credit to one of my Rabbeim, R’ A.Y. Eisenberger who gave a shiur on this topic (a decade ago) and that’s where I learned this answer.
1) I heard the reason is that it is the Rema’s Yohrtzeit and he holds Ba’omer.
2) The name was coined by the Ba’omer people.
3) La’omer makes sense while you’re counting, since you are announcing where you got up to. Ba’omer makes sense to describe a specific date of the Omer when that is your goal.