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Shalom friends,
If you visit Israel on May 21st (2011) night, you will see bonfires everywhere surrounded mostly by children singing Hebrew-language songs, playing games, and baking potatoes on the burning coals. If you check the Hebrew calendar, you’ll find out that this is the evening of the 18th day of the month of Iyar (י"ח בְּאִיָּר) otherwise called Lag Ba’Omer (ל"ג בָּעוֹמֶר).
What is the Omer?
וּסְפַרְתֶּם לָכֶם, מִמָּחֳרַת הַשַּׁבָּת, מִיּוֹם הֲבִיאֲכֶם, אֶת-עֹמֶר הַתְּנוּפָה: שֶׁבַע שַׁבָּתוֹת, תְּמִימֹת תִּהְיֶינָה. (ויקרא כ"ג, ט"ו)
And ye shall count unto you from the morrow after the day of rest, from the day that ye brought the sheaf of the waving; seven weeks shall there be complete. (Vayikra, 23:15)
In the days of the Temple in Jerusalem, the barley was first reaped on the 16th day of Nisan (the second day of Passover). On that day, an Omer-measure (2.2 liter) of barley was offered as a sacrifice in the Temple. From the second day of Passover, the Torah commended to count forty-nine days up until the day before an offering of wheat was brought to the Temple on the holiday of Shavuot.
These 49 days represent the time that the Children of Israel prepared for the giving of the Torah (מַתַּן תּוֹרָה) after they were freed from Egypt. This period is known as the Counting of the Omer (סְפִירַת הָעֹמֶר).
What are the Omer Counting Customs?
On each day of the Omer Counting, the day and week of the Omer is stated, for example:
הַיּוֹם שְׁמוֹנָה וְעֶשְׂרִים יוֹם לָעֹמֶר, שֶׁהֵם אַרְבָּעָה שָׁבוּעוֹת.
Today is twenty-eight days, which is four weeks of the Omer.
The period of counting the Omer is also a time of semi-mourning, during which the Halacha forbids haircuts, shaving, listening to instrumental music, or conducting weddings, parties, and dinners with dancing. Traditionally, the reason cited is that this is in memory of a plague that killed 24,000 students of Rabi Akiva.
What do we celebrate on the 33rd day of the Counting of the Omer (ל"ג בָּעוֹמֶר)?
On the 33rd (ל"ג) day of the Omer count, we have a special celebration that was not mentioned in the Torah and not in the Mishna or Gmara. There are various versions on the origins of this celebration, of which we’ll mention three:
- Sixty five years after the second temple was destroyed, the Romans ruled the land of Judea. They did not allow the Jews to practice their religion, oppressed their independence aspirations, and taxed them heavily. The brave military leader, Shimon Bar-Kochva (בַּר-כּוֹכְבָא) , supported by the inspirational spiritual leader, Rabi Akiva, led a revolt against the Romans. The 33rd day of the Omer count was a turning point of the fights in favor of the army of Bar-Kochva. The Bar-Kochva army was able to repel the Roman army for three years and even built an independent state for a limited time until they were destroyed by a massive Roman legion.
- The students of the sage Rabi Akiva showed lack of respect to each other. Therefore, they were struck with a terrible plague that resulted in the loss of thousands. To commemorate the tragic loss of these Torah Scholars, the Omer days are marked as days of mourning. On the thirty-third day of the Omer, the plague ended and hence we celebrate on this day.
- Rabi Shimon Bar Yochai (בַּר יוֹחַאי) was Rabi Akiva’s scholar who became the greatest teacher of Torah in his generation. Bar Yochai is purported to have authored the Zohar, a landmark text of Jewish mysticism. According to tradition, he got married, became a Rabi and passed away on Lag Ba’Omer. On the day he died he revealed the deepest secrets of the Kabalah. He specifically requested his students to celebrate on Lag Ba’Omer.
How do We Celebrate Lag Ba’Omer?
In Israel, one knows that Lag BaOmer is drawing near when children begin collecting anything made of wood that can burn. The bonfires are erected by the children the day before Lag BaOmer and the fire is set at night. Also, children play with arrow and bows like Bar-Kochva and his soldiers.
On Lag Ba’Omer all the rules of mourning are lifted for one day - weddings, parties, listening to music, and haircuts are commonly scheduled to coincide with this day.
In the Meron Mountain, the burial place of Rabi Shimon Bar Yochai and his son, Rabi El’azar, hundreds of thousands of Jews gather to celebrate with bonfires, torches, songs and feasting as was requested by Rabi Shimon Bar Yochai. Some say that as Bar Yochai gave spiritual light to the world with the revelation of the Zohar, bonfires are lit to symbolize the enlightening of his teaching.
Lag Ba’Omer Bonfires in Tel-Aviv
Photographer: Oren Pelles
ל"ג בָּעֹמֶר שָׂמֵחַ וּבָטוּחַ!
Lag Ba’Omer Sameax u’batu’ax!
Happy and Safe Lag BaOmer
שירה כהן-רגב
Shira Cohen-Regev
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