The following is a brief summary of some of thoughts said over by R' Frand on the parsha this evening. I have attempted to reproduce these vorts to the best of my ability. Any perceived inconsistency is the result of my efforts to transcribe the shiur and should not be attributed to R' Frand.
R' Frand began his parsha vorts by referring to the Mikallel - the person who cursed Hashem. This is a serious sin which carries with it a death penalty and is not an act done out of passion. The Torah writes in Vayikra 24:11 that the Mikallel was the son of an unnamed Egyptian man and a woman name Shelomis Bas Divri. The gemara explains that her husband had left their home in Egypt in the early morning and the Egyptian came into the dark house and pretended to be her husband and as result the Mikallel was fathered.
Rashi explains that the Mikallel was angry because he came to the tribe of Dan (the family of his mother) and asked to live there. They told him no - we cannot let you live here as the tribal lineage runs through the father and your father is Egyptian. This angered the Mikallel so much that he got into a fight and he cursed Hashem.
The Torah then writes that they did not know what to do with the Mikallel and they put him in a prison until Moshe told them that Hashem had said that the Mikallel should be taken out and killed. (Vayikra 24:12-14). However, he is not immediately killed. The Torah then inserts a discussion of people who are liable to being killed or punished civilly for certain acts in Vayikra 24:16-22, before stating in 24:23 that the Mikallel was taken out and killed.
So why is there a gap in between this man being placed in prison and the discussion of his being killed?
R' Frand answered based on a Sefer Ma'asei Hashem by R' Eliezer Ashkenazi which someone had called R' Frand and told him about. R' Frand remarked that the break is to underscore that this is a "teachable moment." The lesson is that this person sinned because he lost his temper and got into a fist fight and that led him to curse Hashem. This was not a sin of desire for food or other vices - it was uncontrolled anger. Thus Hashem said - this is the time to teach about anger - a person can get so angry that he kills another, or breaks his windshield, or hits him with a baseball bat. This needs to be incorporated in the teaching of the punishment for cursing Hashem.
R' Frand remarked that while there are many stories of people doing wonderful things for other people and recognizing front line workers, there are also stories of rage brought on by frustration over social distancing and home confinement.
Seeing that the Mikallel acted out of anger, the Torah chose this moment to teach the dangers of anger.
R' Frand then spoke about Lag B'Omer and why we celebrate. One of the reasons is that the students of R' Akiva stopped dying on this date. But why is that a reason to celebrate? If a person lost relatives would they make a holiday on the day that the last relative died?
R' Frand answered based on the Chida who teaches that on the day the students stopped dying, R' Akiva went to the South and gathered five students and they were the genesis of the new Chachmei HaTalmud. The Chida explains in the Sefer Maris Ha'Ayin that the celebration was because the students resurrected the Torah She B'al Peh which had been devastated by the deaths and because of them we have the Gemara.
R' Frand quoted the Gemara in Shabbos 135 which has the statement (recently made popular by a Beri Weber song) Ki Lo Si Shachah Torah M'Zaro - the Torah will not be forgotten from the Jewish people. R' Frand explained that this not just a statement - its a mandate that we must ensure that it will not be forgotten. Therefore R' Akiva said that he had to keep on going despite the losses.
R' Frand said that he can't imagine what R' Akiva felt after losing 24,000 students, but he is certain that most people would go into a deep depression. But R' Akiva did not and he went and restarted Torah with his five students.
R' Frand remarked that the more modern personification of this was the Ponovich Rav who lost his wife and children and yeshiva in Lithuania to the Nazis and then went to Israel and restarted a life and built a major yeshiva. The former yeshiva building still stands, but now it is a bakery with a plaque on the wall. But he continued as did R' Akiva.
R' Frand explained that this was the life motif of R' Akiva that he never gave up hope. R' Frand quoted the gemara in the end of Chaggiga with the story where R' Akiva and other Rabbanim saw the Beis Hamikdash in destruction and foxes were running through the Kodesh HaKodashim. While the other rabbis cried, R' Akiva laughed. They asked him why he was laughing and he told them that he saw that since the prophecy of the destruction came true, so would the prophecy that elders will sit and learn in Jerusalem. To this they told him - Akiva N'Chamtanu - Akiva you have comforted use.
R' Frand gave another example based on a Mishna in the end of Yoma which states that R' Akiva said praiseworthy are the Jews as to before Whom they are mitaher and to Whom is mitaher them. R' Akiva saw the Beis Hamikdash and he saw Yom Kippur after the destruction of the Beis Hamikdash. Even living post destruction, he was able to see the beauty in the purification process of Yom Kippur.
This was the life motif of R' Akiva to see the good among the bad and light among the darkness. At is no wonder as he was a talmid of Nachum Ish Gamzo whose famous line was Gam Zo L'Tova - this is also for the good.
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