« back to album

Festival Lag BaOmer

That is the Festival Lag BaOmer… According to some of the Rishonim, it is the day on which the plague that killed Rabbi Akiva’s 24,000 disciples came to an end, and for this reason the mourning period of the Counting of the Omer concludes on Lag BaOmer in many communities.[2] According to modern kabbalah, this day is the Hillula of Rabbi Shimon bar Yochai or the anniversary of his death. According to a late medieval tradition, Simeon ben Yochai is buried in Meron, and this association has spawned several well-known customs and practices on Lag BaOmer, including the lighting of bonfires and pilgrimages to Meron.[3] Additionally, in modern-day Israel, the holiday also serves to commemorate the Bar Kokhba revolt against the Romans.[4]