Lag Ba’Omer, the 33rd day of the Omer, is a festive day on the Jewish calendar, celebrated with outings (on which children traditionally play with bows and arrows), bonfires, and parades. Many visit the resting place of the great sage and mystic Rabbi Shimon bar Yochai, in Meron, who passed away on this day.
Rabbi Shimon bar Yochai, who lived in the 2nd century C.E., was the first to publicly teach the mystical dimension of the Torah known as Kabbalah, and is the author of the classic text of Kabbalah, the Zohar. On the day of his passing, Rabbi Shimon instructed his disciples to mark the date as “the day of my joy.” Chassidic masters explain that the final day of a righteous person’s earthly life marks the point on which all his deeds, teachings, and work make the greatest impact on our lives.
The Talmud relates that in the weeks between Pesach and Shavuot, a plague raged among the disciples of the great sage Rabbi Akiva (teacher of Rabbi Shimon bar Yochai), “because they did not act respectfully towards each other.” These weeks are therefore observed as a period of mourning, with various joyous activities curtailed by law and custom. On Lag Ba’Omer the deaths ceased. Thus, Lag Ba’Omer also carries the theme of love and respect of one’s fellow man.
Beginning in the 1950s, the seventh Lubavitcher Rebbe, Rabbi Menachem Mendel Schneerson, encouraged Jewish children to join together in grand Lag Ba’Omer parades as a display of Jewish unity and pride. Held in front of the Lubavitch World Headquarters in Brooklyn, New York, the parades attracted – and still attract – thousands of children from all walks of life.
In 1980, the Rebbe gave instructions that Lag Ba’Omer parades and children’s rallies should take place not only in New York, but across the world, especially in Israel. Thousands of children participated in the dozens of rallies that took place that year and continue to take place to this day.
Celebrating Lag Ba’Omer in Meron is quite an experience. Watching the day and night events on the news from far away does not do them justice.
Weeks before Lag Ba’Omer, people from all over the country start heading over to the mountain top and setting up camp. A day or two before the special day, the entire mountain is closed off.
On this day, weddings and other celebrations forbidden during the Sefirat Ha’Omer are now permitted. Children who turned three get their first haircut on this day. It’s a day of great spiritual happiness and joy.
Meron is a tiny town situated on a mountain in the woods of northern Israel. It barely has a main street, let alone a strip mall or hotel. Perhaps its only claim to fame is that it serves as the final resting place of such famous rabbinic figures as Hillel, Shammai, and Shimon bar Yohai. Every year on Lag Ba’Omer, this small town is overrun by nearly a million people joining together in celebration.
It is a diverse crowd of male and female, old and young, ultra-religious and completely secular. In the area near the top of the mountain, tents pop up everywhere. The hundreds of thousands of visitors build bonfires and pray. Benevolent people give away thousands of homemade sandwiches and salads. Everyone is welcome to partake.
Young religious Jews dance to trance music or to the sound of their own drums. Chabad chassidim are out in force seeking fellow Jews who have not yet put on tefillin. The entire mountainside is transformed into a promenade where superstars of the Israeli religious music scene participate in impromptu jams with tourists. The festive meals – often picnics or barbecues – are yet another opportunity to break into song, tell stories, pray, share jokes, or simply spend time with family and friends.
These Lag Ba’Omer events teach us about love and unity in a way that a million classes and holy books could not. The students of Rabbi Akiva who perished between Pesach and Shavuot died from lack of respect. It so fitting that on the day this awful plague stopped there should be lots of love and respect demonstrating that we truly internalized the message that was passed down to us from generation to generation since the days of Rabbi Akiva.
The greatness of Rabbi Akiva was that after his students stopped dying, he immediately set up a new yeshiva with five great students, including Rabbi Shimon Bar Yochai. So, clearly, this is a day of continuity and growth.
We learn on this special day that no matter how low or bad things are, we must always get up and start again. And we also see what great heights Rabbi Shimon Bar Yochai reached as all of Israel still benefits from his teachings.
This past week the entire Jewish nation suffered a great loss; 10 young people horribly drowned in a flood in the south. May their sudden and tragic deaths serve as an atonement for all of Israel, and may we all grow closer and better from this event as a people. Rabbi Akiva didn’t give up; after the tragedy, he started building a new light and hope for the world. So too may the bereaving families, to whom we send we send our deepest condolences, see better times from now on.
