In the Torah, the Omer is a period of seven weeks that we count from Passover to Shavu'ot (Leviticus 25:15-16). In the Talmud, we learn about something else that happened during the Omer:
שנים עשר אלף זוגים תלמידים היו לו לרבי עקיבא מגבת עד אנטיפרס וכולן מתו בפרק אחד מפני שלא נהגו כבוד זה לזה. והיה העולם שמם עד שבא רבי עקיבא אצל רבותינו שבדרום ושנה להם: רבי מאיר ורבי יהודה ורבי יוסי ורבי שמעון ורבי אלעזר בן שמוע והם הם העמידו תורה אותה שעה. תנא כולם מתו מפסח ועד עצרת. אמר רב חמא בר אבא...: כולם מתו מיתה רעה. מאי היא? אמר רב נחמן: אסכרה.
Rabbi Akiva had twelve thousand pairs of students in an area of land that stretched from Gevat to Antipatris in Judea, and they all died in one period of time, because they did not treat each other with respect. And the world was desolate of Torah until Rabbi Akiva came to our Rabbis in the South and taught his Torah to them. This second group of disciples consisted of Rabbi Meir, Rabbi Yehuda, Rabbi Yosei, Rabbi Shimon, and Rabbi Elazar ben Shamua. And these are the very ones who upheld the study of Torah at that time...With regard to the twelve thousand pairs of Rabbi Akiva’s students, the Gemara adds: It is taught that all of them died in the period from Passover until Shavu'ot. Rav Ḥama bar Abba said...: They all died a bad death. The Gemara inquires: What is it that is called a bad death? Rav Naḥman said: Diphtheria (a disease also called whooping cough).
1. What happened to Rabbi Akiva's first group of students? When did it happen?
2. How many students did Rabbi Akiva have? Does a group of this size sound to you like something different than a group of students?
3. Toward the end of Rabbi Akiva's life, the Jews in the Land of Israel rebelled against the Roman Empire. It was their third rebellion against Rome and was called the Bar Kochba Revolt (132-136 CE). By the end of the war, over half a million Jews had been killed, more sold into slavery, and the Jewish towns and villages of Judea burnt to the ground. The Romans executed many rabbis, including Rabbi Akiva. Who might Rabbi Akiva's "students" really have been and what might have happened to them?
According to the 13th century scholar, Menahem Me'iri, the day that Rabbi Akiva's students stopped dying was the 33rd day of the Omer, Lag Ba'Omer. What are your ideas about what we might be celebrating on Lag Ba'Omer?