Lag BaOmer is a minor, festive holiday that falls on the 33rd day of the seven-week period between Passover and Shavuot, a period of time is known as the Omer. (The numerical value of the Hebrew letter lamed is 30, and the value of gimel is three; lamed and gimel together are pronounced “lahg.”) This holiday gives us a break from the semi-mourning restrictions (no parties or events with music, no weddings, no haircuts) that are customarily in place for some Jewish communities during the Omer.
The Omer has both agricultural and spiritual significance: it marks both the spring cycle of planting and harvest, and the Israelites’ journey out of slavery in Egypt (Passover) and toward receiving the Torah at Mount Sinai (Shavuot). An omer (“sheaf”) is an ancient Hebrew measure of grain. Biblical law forbade any use of the new barley crop until after an omer was brought as an offering to the Temple in Jerusalem. The Book of Leviticus (23:15-16) also commanded: “And from the day on which you bring the offering…you shall count off seven weeks. They must be complete.” This commandment led to the practice of the S’firat HaOmer, or the 49 days of the "Counting of the Omer,” which begins on the second day of Passover and ends with the celebration of Shavuot on the 50th day. Lag BaOmer commemorates a variety of historical events, including the end of a plague that killed many students of Rabbi Akiva (c. 50-135 C.E.), the yahrzeit of 2nd-century mystical scholar Shimon bar Yochai, and a Jewish military victory over Roman forces in 66 C.E. In remembrance of these events, some people celebrate with picnics and bonfires. Many couples in Israel choose to get married on Lag BaOmer, and many people also choose to wait until that day to get a haircut or beard trim.
---- www.Reformjudaism.org
There are various explanations for why this particular date is special. One suggests that a plague that caused the death of thousands of Rabbi Akiva's students ended on Lag BaOmer. The plague ostensibly was brought about by the students’ lack of respect for one another. Another explanation claims that Lag BaOmer is the yahrzeit of one of Rabbi Akiva's most famous students – Rabbi Shimon bar Yochai (Rashbi), who is said to have authored the mystical writings of the Zohar, the text of Kabbalah (Jewish mysticism). It is also said of him that he was so righteous that no rainbows – a sign of the covenant between God and creation – appeared during his lifetime. According to Rashi, the great Torah scholar, there were, in fact, entire generations that did not require a sign of the covenant, and Rabbi Shimon Bar Yochai's generation was among them. Thus, Lag BaOmer also can be seen as a tribute to scholars. Most notably, it has become a day of celebration and joy amidst the mournful seven weeks that surround it.
--- Shira Kleinman, "Lag BaOmer Turns Tragedy into Triumph"
[T]he kabbalists [mystics] also give a mystical interpretation to the Omer period as a time of spiritual cleansing and preparation for receiving the Torah on Shavuot. The days and weeks of counting, they say, represent various combinations of the sefirot, the divine emanations, whose contemplation ultimately leads to purity of mind and soul. The somberness of this period reflects the seriousness of its spiritual pursuits.
Finally, on yet another tack, some authorities attribute the joy of Lag Ba’omer to the belief that the manna that fed the Israelites in the desert first appeared on the 18th of Iyar.
Though its origins are uncertain, Lag Ba’omer has become a minor holiday...School children picnic and play outdoors with bows and arrows — a possible reminder of the war battles of Akiva’s students — and in Israel plant trees. It is customary to light bonfires, to symbolize the light Simeon bar Yohai brought into the world. And every year numerous couples wed at this happy time.
--- Francine Klagsbrun, Jewish Days: A Book of Jewish Life and Culture
MESSAGE FROM JNF REGARDING LAG BAOMER (2021)
Fires seriously endanger our forests! KKL-JNF reminds the public of fire safety rules that must be followed. The public must light fires only in designated areas and must not build fires in the forests, as fire can spread and conflagurate into wildfires, as we saw with the November fires in 2016, that ended up burning over 3,758 acres of forests and open spaces in Israel. Bonfires lit on Lag Baomer in 2016 (26th May) caused scores of wildfires that year, including five of them in forests around Jerusalem. Hundreds of dunams of Jerusalems beautiful Arazim Valley went up in flames, leaving behind burnt shells of trees and scorched earth.
Every year the smoke from bonfires causes environmental damage, because the air gets filled with toxic particles released by the bonfires, and there is an increase in the carbon dioxide levels that cause global warming. Air pollution surveys last Lag Baomer in the Jerusalem vicinity indicated an increase in the concentration of particles that pollute the air – 500 micrograms of toxic particles, compared with 50 on a regular day, a health hazard increased tenfold.
KKL-JNF asks the public to minimize the number of bonfires and to combine them, for example to make a school bonfire instead of a class bonfire or to make only one neighborhood bonfire.
Reflection Questions:
1. Have you heard of Lag BaOmer before?
2. What does it mean to set aside a day for joy in a period of mourning?
3. What can we learn about observing Lag BaOmer today? Is this a practice we might want to take on as a community, in some way?