#LagBOmer starts in Jewish communities on Monday night: the 33rd day b/w Passover & Shavuot.
Traditionally, the 33 days are period of grief for 24,000 students of Talmud scholar Rabbi Akiva (c 130 CE) who died in a plague.
Will today's plague also end? Celebrations are out.
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In modern days, Lag B'Omer is commemorated by mass pilgrimages to the graves of scholars such as High Priest Simon the Just in Jerusalem or Rabbi Shimon bar Yochai in Meron (the Galilee).
Bonfires are lit across the country, & weddings are held.
Pics: Jer'm school outing 1918. 2/
3/ Lag B'Omer pics in the tomb of Shimon Hatzaddik (the Just) in Jerusalem, circa 1930 and today.
4/ The "counting of the Omer" is a biblical commandment. "Omer" is a sheath of barley brought to the Tabernacle over 49 days.
The festival of Lag B'Omer is much later & heavy in Kabbalistic background. Rabbi Shimon Bar Yochai is revered for his teachings. Pics at his grave, 1925
5/ The ancient Jewish community on the Tunisian island of Djerba celebrates Lag B'Omer, with pilgrims coming from Tunisia, Libya, and even Europe.
(pics from Harvard/Central Zionist Archives)
6/ Does Lag B'Omer have political roots? Both Rabbis Akiva & Shimon Bar Yochai opposed Rome's rule over Jerusalem & Judea. Akiva was executed; Shimon hunted.
Akiva supported the Jewish Revolt (132-136) led by Bar Kochba, & considered him to be the Messiah.
Remember that plague?
7/ The Romans crushed the Jewish Revolt killing 10,000s. Were Akiva's 24,000 students killed by Roman swords?
Remember the Pesach Haggadah story of rabbis sitting w Akiva in Bnai Brak telling the Egypt story all night? The rabbis were from Lod & Pekiin. Were they talking revolt?
8/ Bar Kochba issued this coin "to the freedom of Jerusalem" during the revolt. One side shows the Temple destroyed 60 y earlier. The other a picture of a Lulav & Etrog, arranged per Akiva's halachik ruling (not accepted).
Hadrian erased Judea & renamed it Syria Palaestina.
9/End. In the 1920s, Lag B'Omer took on a new meaning for religious (who formed Bnai Akiva) and nationalist youth (Beitar) -- empowering Zionist youth.
This year, the ceremonies will be banned -- no public gatherings or air pollution from bonfires.
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