Lag BaOmer
Lag BaOmer | |
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Pesach, Shavuot, Counting of the Omer |
Lag BaOmer (Hebrew: לַ״ג בָּעוֹמֶר, LaG Bāʿōmer), also Lag B'Omer or Lag LaOmer, is a Jewish religious holiday celebrated on the 33rd day of the Counting of the Omer, which occurs on the 18th day of the Hebrew month of Iyar.
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.[1]
According to modern kabbalah, this day is the Hillula of Rabbi Shimon bar Yochai and/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.[2]
Additionally, in modern-day Israel, the holiday also serves to commemorate the Bar Kokhba revolt against the Romans.[3]
Etymology
Lag BaOmer is Hebrew for "33rd [day] in the Omer". The Hebrew letter ל (lamed) or "L" has the numerical value of 30 and ג (gimmel) or "G" has the numerical value of 3 (see Hebrew numerals). A vowel sound is conventionally added for pronunciation purposes.
Some Jews call this holiday Lag LaOmer, which means "33rd [day] of the Omer", as opposed to Lag BaOmer, "33rd [day] in the Omer". Lag BaOmer is the traditional method of counting by some
Origins
The origins of Lag BaOmer as a minor festival are unclear. The earliest clear reference to the observance of Lag BaOmer is a brief statement by
Lag Baomer is commonly said to be the day on which Shimon bar Yochai died. Neither the Chazal nor the Rishonim mention that the date of his death was Lag Baomer.[10] The source for this idea appears to be a passage by Hayyim ben Joseph Vital, which read שמחת רשב"י "the celebration of Rabbi Shimon bar Yochai" but was mistaken printed as שמת רשב"י "when Rabbi Shimon bar Yochai died" - a difference of one letter.[10] The actual origin of kabbalistic traditions of visiting Meron on any of several dates in the month of Iyar date to the Middle Ages; but it is not clear when, by whom, or in what way Lag baOmer was first connected to Shimon bar Yochai.[10]
Nachman Krochmal, a 19th-century Jewish scholar, among others, suggests that the deaths of Rabbi Akiva's students was a veiled reference to the defeat of "Akiva's soldiers" by the Romans, and that Lag BaOmer was the day on which Bar Kokhba enjoyed a brief victory.[9]
During the Middle Ages, Lag BaOmer became a special holiday for rabbinical students and was called "Scholar's Day". It was customary to rejoice on this day through outdoor sports.[11]
According to another suggestion, Lag Baomer was the date on which the reconstruction of the Temple in Jerusalem began under the Emperor Julian. With the failure of this project and the death of Julian, Lag Baomer initially became a fast day. After the Muslim conquest and the end of Christian oppression of Jews in Israel, mourning practices ceased to be observed. The choice to begin the reconstruction on the 33rd day of the omer may have been an anti-Christian polemic, as Jesus was said to have been killed at age 33.[12]
Kabbalistic significance
Lag BaOmer has another significance based on the
Customs and practices
While the Counting of the Omer is a semi-mourning period, all restrictions of mourning are lifted for Ashkenazim on the 33rd day of the Omer. The Sephardic custom is to cease mourning the following day, celebrations being allowed on the 34th day of the Omer, Lad BaOmer (ל״ד בעומר).[13][14] As a result, weddings, parties, listening to music, and haircuts are commonly scheduled to coincide with Lag BaOmer among Ashkenazi Jews, while Sephardi Jews hold weddings the next day.[15] It is customary mainly among Hassidim that three-year-old boys be given their first haircuts (upsherin). While haircuts may be taken anywhere, if possible, the occasion is traditionally held at the tomb of Rabbi Shimon bar Yochai in Meron, Israel, or at the Jerusalem grave of Shimon Hatzaddik for those who cannot travel to Meron.[16]
Families go on picnics and outings. Children go out to the fields with their teachers with bows and rubber-tipped arrows. Tachanun, the prayer for special Divine mercy on one's behalf, is not said on days with a festive character, including Lag BaOmer;[17] when God is showing one a "smiling face", so to speak, as He does especially on the holidays, there is no need to ask for special mercy.[citation needed]
Bonfires
Religious
The most well-known custom of Lag BaOmer is the lighting of bonfires. The custom may originate in symbolizing the "spiritual light" brought in to the world by Simeon ben Yochai.[18] Some have speculated a connection between the bonfires of Lag BaOmer and the festivals of May Day and Beltane which are celebrated by some European cultures around halfway between the spring equinox and summer solstice on 1 May, and are also celebrated through large bonfires. In Germany it is also not uncommon to see rural men go out in the woods to shoot arrows at demons on May Day, similar to how the bow and arrow is used on Lag BaOmer.[19]
Throughout the world celebrants gather on the night and during the day of Lag BaOmer to light fires. A large celebration is held at the
For many years, New York based Rabbi
Zionist
For Zionists (see section below), the bonfires are said to represent the signal fires that the Bar Kokhba rebels lit on the mountaintops to relay messages,[23] or are in remembrance of the Bar Kokhba revolt against the Romans, who had forbidden the kindling of fires that signalled the start of Jewish holidays.[24]
Bows and arrows
Religious
Historically, children across Israel used to go out and play with bows and arrows, reflecting the Midrashic statement that the rainbow (the sign of God's promise to never again destroy the earth with a flood; Genesis 9:11–13) was not seen during Bar Yochai's lifetime, as his merit protected the world.[18][25]
In Israel
In Israel, Lag BaOmer is a holiday for children and the various youth movements. It is also marked in the Israel Defense Forces as a week of the Gadna program (youth brigades) which were established on Lag BaOmer in 1941[dubious ] and which bear the emblem of a bow and arrow.[23]
Parades
The Lubavitcher Rebbe, Rabbi Menachem Mendel Schneerson, encouraged Lag BaOmer parades to be held in Jewish communities around the world as a demonstration of Jewish unity and pride.[26] Chabad sponsors parades as well as rallies, bonfires and barbecues for thousands of participants around the world each year.[27]
Songs
Several traditional songs are associated with the holiday; these are sung around bonfires, at weddings, and at tishen held by Hasidic Rebbes on Lag BaOmer. The popular song "Bar Yochai" was composed by Rabbi Shimon Lavi, a 16th-century kabbalist in Tripoli, Libya, in honor of Shimon Bar Yochai.[28][29] Other songs include "Ve'Amartem Koh LeChai", a poem arranged as an alphabetical acrostic, and "Amar Rabbi Akiva".[30]
Tish meal
Most Hasidic Rebbes conduct a
Rabbinic controversy
Some rabbis, namely
Other rabbis responded to the aforesaid opposition by explaining that it has been observed by many great rabbis and that expensive clothes are never burned. They relate what happened on the day of Rabbi Shimon bar Yochai's death as evidence that the day is very holy and should be celebrated.[35]
Zionism
In modern Israel, early Zionists redefined Lag BaOmer from a rabbinic-oriented celebration to a commemoration of the
This interpretation of the holiday reinforced the Zionist reading of Jewish history and underscored their efforts to establish an independent Jewish state. As Benjamin Lau writes in Haaretz:
This is how Lag Ba'omer became a part of the Israeli-Zionist psyche during the first years of Zionism and Israel. A clear distinction became evident between Jews and Israelis in the way the day was celebrated: The religious Jews lit torches in Rashbi's [Shimon bar Yochai's] honor and sang songs about him, while young Israelis, sitting around an alternative bonfire, sang about a hero "whom the entire nation loved" and focused on the image of a powerful hero who galloped on a lion in his charges against the Romans.[36]
In modern Israel, Lag BaOmer is "a symbol for the fighting Jewish spirit". The Palmach division of the Haganah was established on Lag BaOmer 1941,[dubious ] and the government order creating the Israel Defense Forces was issued on Lag BaOmer 1948.[37] Beginning in 2004, the Israeli government designated Lag BaOmer as the day for saluting the IDF reserves.[38]
See also
- Hebrew numerals
- Jewish and Israeli holidays 2000–2050
- Sephirot, the 10 attributes/emanations found in Kabbalah.
- Significance of numbers in Judaism
- Hillula of Rabbi Shimon bar Yochai
References
- ^ Walter (2018), p. 192.
- ^ Brodt, Eliezer (May 19, 2011). "A Printing Mistake and the Mysterious Origins of Rashbi's Yahrzeit". seforimblog.com. Archived from the original on May 13, 2020. Retrieved May 7, 2015.
{{cite web}}
: CS1 maint: bot: original URL status unknown (link) - ^ Embassy of Israel to the United States, "About Israel: Holidays and Observances: Lag BaOmer," Accessed 05/06/2022.
- ^ "Count D'Omer". Ohr Somayach International. Retrieved April 28, 2013.
- ^ Cohen, Rabbi Tzvi (1985). Bein Pesach L'Shavuos (Hebrew). Chapter 17: Lag BaOmer, p. 301.
- ^ Lebovits, Moishe Dovid. "Lag BaOmer" (PDF). Halachically Speaking. p. 6. Archived from the original (PDF) on May 12, 2013. Retrieved April 27, 2010.
- ^ Mitchell First, The Mysterious Origin of Lag Ba-Omer, Hakirah 20 (2015), pp. 205-218 (available at hakirah.org)
- ^ Sefer HaManhig, Jerusalem, 1976-7 (5737), section 106, page 144, https://hebrewbooks.org/pdfpager.aspx?req=14615&st=&pgnum=144
- ^ a b Feldman, David M. (2008). "Omer". Jewish Virtual Library. Archived from the original on December 27, 2010. Retrieved April 28, 2013.
- ^ a b c Brodt, Eliezer (May 19, 2011). "A Printing Mistake and the Mysterious Origins of Rashbi's Yahrzeit". seforimblog.com. Archived from the original on May 13, 2020. Retrieved May 7, 2015.
{{cite web}}
: CS1 maint: bot: original URL status unknown (link) - ^ ISBN 3-16-148076-7.
- ^ The Byzantine Prehistory of Lag ba-Omer
- ^ Orach Chayim 493:2.
- ^ Travis, Rabbi Daniel Yaakov (April 29, 2010). "Mourning's End – Understanding Sefira and Lag B'Omer". Beyond BT. Archived from the original on May 1, 2013. Retrieved May 2, 2010. Also here
- ^ "Lag B'Omer: A day for weddings". Jewish Wedding Network. 2009. Archived from the original on January 26, 2013. Retrieved December 5, 2005.
- ^ Rossoff, Dovid. "Meron on Lag B'Omer". The Jewish Magazine. Retrieved April 28, 2010.
- ^ "Jewish Prayers: Tahanun". Jewish Virtual Library. jewishvirtuallibrary.org. Retrieved April 11, 2019.
- ^ a b Silberberg, Naftali (2008). "6 Lag BaOmer Customs and Traditions You Should Know". chabad.org. Retrieved December 5, 2011.
- ^ "Lag ba-Omer".
- ^ Horowitz, Y. F. and Morgenstern, Ashira (November 24, 2010). "Seasons: The Bostoner Rebbetzin remembers and reflects on the occasion of the first yahrtzeit of Grand Rabbi Levi Yitzchak HaLevi Horowitz, ztz"l, 18 Kislev 5771". Mishpacha, Family First supplement, p. 52.
- ^ "Satmar Kiryas Joel Rabbi Aaron Teitelbaum Speech Against Lag BaOmer". YouTube. 1995. Archived from the original on December 13, 2021. Retrieved May 15, 2014.
- ^ Amdurski, Noam (May 9, 2012). "50,000 Expected at Lag Ba'omer Celebration Tonight in Kiryas Yoel". matzav.com. Retrieved May 15, 2014.
- ^ a b "Lag BaOmer". The Knesset. 2010. Retrieved April 3, 2014.
- ^ "Lag Ba'Omer". Jerusalem Municipality. May 27, 2005. Archived from the original on June 1, 2012. Retrieved December 5, 2011.
- ^ Prero, Rabbi Yehudah (2007). "Lag B'Omer". torah.org. Retrieved April 28, 2013.
- ^ "Parades in Central Israel Draw 1,000 Children". chabad.org. May 12, 2009. Retrieved April 28, 2010.
- ^ Grodnitzky, Reuvena Leah (April 28, 2010). "From South Africa to Finland, Excitement Builds for Unity Parades". chabad.org. Retrieved April 28, 2010.
- ISBN 0899064884.
- ISBN 978-0549956112.
- ISBN 978-3631584521.
- ^ Responsa Chasam Sofer, Yoreh Deah 233. Cited by Walter 2018.
- ^ Responsa Shoel Umeishiv, volume 5, chapter 39. Cited by Walter 2018.
- ^ Walter 2018, p. 195.
- ^ Walter 2018, p. 196.
- ^ Walter 2018, p. 197.
- ^ Lau, Benjamin (May 3, 2007). "Portion of the Week / The fires of Lag Ba'omer". Haaretz. Retrieved April 16, 2013.
- Ynetnews. May 13, 2008. Retrieved May 5, 2012.
- ^ "Cabinet Communique". Israel Ministry of Foreign Affairs. May 6, 2007. Retrieved December 5, 2011.
Sources
- Walter, Moshe (2018). The Making of a Minhag: The Laws and Parameters of Jewish Customs. Jerusalem: Feldheim Publishers. ISBN 9781680253368.