Mourning Customs During Sefirat Haomer: A Story of Myth, History, and Custom

This is the standard laws of Sefirah we will now spend some time unpacking it

First mention in rabbinic literature of this specific time between pesach and shavuot as somehow special

From Rabbi Dr. Aaron Amit:

Although the term Tanna is employed to introduce the short explanation which says that
the disciples died between Passover and Shavuot, the explanation is not of tannaitic origin.

After careful examination of the parallel sources in the Yerushalmi and in Avot DeRabbi Natan, we are in a position to propose a reconstruction of the literary history of the tale of the death of Rabbi Akiva’s disciples:
1. There is no evidence for the death of Rabbi Akiva’s disciples in the tannaitic corpus.
2. In the earliest recension in ARN, a dispute is cited between Rabbi Akiva and other Tannaim, concerning the interpretation of Ecclesiastes 11:6 ‘Sow your seed in the morning, and don’t hold back your hand in the evening, since you don’t know which is going to succeed, the one or the
other, or if both are equally good.’
3. The editor of the Genesis Rabbah passage fused two traditions regarding the intercalation of the year, one in which twenty-four wagonloads of disciples perish in Lod (PT Sanhedrin 1:2, 18c), and one in which the latter day disciples of Rabbi Akiva convene in Bikat Rimon (PT Hagigah 3:1, 78d), and related them both to Rabbi Akiva, thus illustrating the verse in Ecclesiastes as interpreted by Rabbi Akiva.
4. In stages 1–3, the tradition was recognised as a midrash, and there was no need to provide exact details of when or how the disciples died. The Babylonian Amoraim, who took the story literally, deemed this necessary, and added the motifs of ‘from Passover to Atzeret’ and diphtheria

What doe we notice from this source?

Fom the Geonim it appears that the custom only prohibits marriage during these weeks; it does not entail any other mourning-related practices. (Furthermore, the Geonim seem to apply this prohibition throughout the sefira period, from Pesach through Shavuot. Also this appears as a question of a pre-existing tradition

Under the pontificate of Pope Urban II , the idea of ​​a holy war for the liberation of the Holy Land germinated. At the conclusion of the Synod of Clermont he called on November 27, 1095 for the First Crusade , whereupon in the whole country in sermons for participation in the crusade was called. The call met with enormous response and even before the official papal crusade army had gathered, already in April 1096 in northern France a first disorderly train, the so-called popular or poor crusade, broke out on its own. These "crusaders" were not proud knights, but simple peasants, beggars and criminals, armed only with sticks and peasant implements. A detachment of the train, the German crusade , reached under the leadership of Count Emicho von Flonheim on 10 April, the beginning of the Jewish Passover

On May 3 (8 Iyyar), the train finally reached Speyer . Solomon bar Simeon , a Jewish chronicler, later wrote, according to witnesses, about the crusade's train:

"When they came on their train through the cities where Jews lived, they said, 'See, we are going the long way to visit the tomb and avenge ourselves on the Ishmaelites. And behold, here dwell among us the Jews, whose fathers have innocently killed and crucified Christ! So first let us take their revenge on them and eradicate them among the peoples that the name of Israel will no longer be mentioned. Or they shall become like us and confess our faith.

Although John I , Bishop of Speyer, ordered the defense of the Jewish community, at least 12 Jews were kiled . The Crusaders continued their journey north along the Rhine , in the opposite direction of the actual destination of Jerusalem.

On Sunday, May 18 (23 Iyyar), the hungry armed men stormed the Jewish quarter in Worms . Those Jews who had not previously sought refuge in the palace of the bishop were attacked by the enraged mob and cruelly murdered when they refused baptism, which most did by conviction. The Jewish quarter was plundered by both the crusaders and the inhabitants of Worms. After a week of asylum, the Crusaders also stormed the episcopal palace and put the Jews who had fled first to death or baptism . In Worms some 800 Jews were murdered by the crusaders or chose to commit suicide.

On May 25, 1096 (3 Sivan), the entourage finally reached Mainz. After two days of siege in front of the closed city gates, the murderous crowd was let into the city, presumably against the orders of Archbishop Ruthard II. The Mainz Jews had armed themselves to defend their neighborhood and the episcopal palace. They were, however, clearly outnumbered by the hatred of the Jews. The original Crusaders set up a bloodbath in the city. The Jewish community was almost completely destroyed, according to Rolf Dörrlamm, 600 community members died. One of the surviving conscript-baptized Jews lit a few days later first his house, then the synagogue and himself, so as to purify himself of the shame, to have betrayed his faith. Many more followed his example, the Jewish quarter was burnt down. Many survivors preferred suicide to a life as a baptized Christian.