FEATURED JOBS
Comments (0)Today is Lag B’Omer, literally the 33rd day of the counting of the Omer. Since the second night of Passover, tradition-oriented Jews have been in a period of mourning. People haven’t cut their hair, listened to music or held weddings, for example. But today, all that changes: Lag B’Omer is a day for rejoicing and celebration.
Last night, people lit bonfires and held parties. In Israel, many people visit Meron in Northern Israel, the site of the tomb of Rabbi Shimon Bar Yochai, whose anniversary of his passing falls on Lag B’Omer (the 18th day of the Hebrew month of Iyar). Rabbi Shimon bar Yochai is believed to be the author of the Zohar book of Jewish mysticism. It is said that on the day of his passing the rabbi instructed his disciples to mark the date as “the day of my joy.”
Lag B’Omer also is celebrated because it is the day the plague of death that struck the students of Rabbi Akiva ceased. The students were dying because, according to the Talmud, they did not act respectfully to one another. We learn from this how imperative it is to love your neighbor as yourself. A theme of Lag B’Omer is ahavat Yisrael, loving your fellow Jew.