Shut Out of Meron, Israelis Bring Lag BaOmer Home

JERUSALEM—In a normal year, hundreds of thousands of people from across Israel would be boarding buses bound for Meron to celebrate Lag BaOmer, which begins this year Monday evening, May 4.

The day marks the passing of the Talmudic sage and Kabbalist Rabbi Shimon bar Yochai, who asked that his yahrtzeit be a day of celebration. In the centuries since, his mountaintop tomb in Israel’s north has welcomed countless Jews seeking to do just that, 24 hours of joy and fiery passion, including bonfires, dancing and hospitality on a scale that is hard to match anywhere in the world.

But this year, the IDF Homefront Command ordered that gatherings at the site be limited to a few hundred people per bonfire lighting.

With the ceasefire with both Iran and Lebanon still fragile, officials determined that concentrating hundreds of thousands of civilians in a single northern location posed an unacceptable security risk. Three official bonfire lightings have been approved, each capped at 200 attendees.

“Of course, I am really disappointed not to go to Meron this year,” says Yechiel Feldman, who has spent the last several Lag BaOmers helping to feed tens of thousands of people at the site throughout the day. “We believe that Rabbi Shimon himself advocates for those who come to be with him, and that their prayers are answered. Missing that this year is heartbreaking.”

Then he pauses and reconsiders it from another perspective.

“When I think about what is going to happen instead—people making more bonfires in their own cities, families opening their homes, and the joy of Rabbi Shimon being dispersed across the country more than ever—I actually think more Jews will gain that zechut [‘merit’] this year.”

FILE PHOTO: Israeli children drag wood for a local Lag BaOmer bonfire and celebration in Ofra, Israel.

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Beginning in the 1950s, the Rebbe, Rabbi Menachem M. Schneerson, of righteous memory, encouraged grand Lag BaOmer parades as a demonstration of Jewish unity and pride, drawing thousands of children from across backgrounds into the streets. By 1980, he was calling for those celebrations not only in New York, but in Jewish communities across the world.

The Rebbe’s vision saw Lag BaOmer celebrations spread far beyond their previous confines, children marching in Brooklyn and Boston, Los Angeles and Leningrad, and in cities and towns across Israel. While Meron may see far smaller crowds this year, those parades and gatherings throughout will go on.

Daniel Isaacman has made the trip to Meron nearly every year since moving to Beit Shemesh from New Jersey 22 years ago. This year, he is staying home.

“We are having a massive event right here in Beit Shemesh,” he says. “There is something really holy about the city coming together like this. I think a lot of people who would otherwise never celebrate Lag BaOmer are going to come and experience it for the first time.”

Miriam Gutman, a teacher of Chassidut in Jerusalem, sees something deeper in the shift. “Rabbi Shimon gave us the inner dimension of Torah,” she says. “The deeper understanding he gave us of our relationship with G‑d is not limited just to Meron on this special day. We have to bring it into every part of our lives, especially in challenging times, wherever we find ourselves.”

Feldman, back in Jerusalem, arrives at a similar place. “The message, teachings and joy of Rabbi Shimon will actually be reaching more people this year, in their own cities. That’s a beautiful thing.”

FILE PHOTO: The joy of Lag BaOmer in Meron is felt at a celebration in Jerusalem.

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