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Photo: Reuters
Lag B'Omer bonfire
Photo: Reuters

Postponed Lag B’Omer vacation complicates things for parents and students

Haredi and religious figures asked in April for the Lag B’Omer vacation to be postponed to prevent the desecration of Shabbat, and the Education Ministry agreed to accommodate them—only for the Haredi and religious to then decide to have it on Sunday anyway, creating a problem for many people for no apparent reason.

In April, Minister of Education Naftali Bennett (Bayit Yehudi) decided to postpone the Lag B’Omer vacation by a day to avoid desecrating Shabbat, but now, Haredi education facilities have decided to hold the vacation at its normal date—even though it was the Haredi and religious sectors who had asked for it to be postponed in the first place.

 

 

Both the postponement and the decision to ignore it drew the ire of many parents, especially due to the late announcement of both considering that Lag B’Omer is taking place this Saturday night.

 

Lag B'Omer bonfire (Photo: Reuters)
Lag B'Omer bonfire (Photo: Reuters)

 

"It's unreasonable that the whole country is undecided on how and when to light bonfires," said Amona Shanberg from Ma'ale Hever, who had to cancel a prescheduled family vacation due to the vacation's postponement. "This is foolish behavior. Why did they wait until the last moment?"

 

In addition, families who have multiple children studying in both religious and secular schools had to make arrangements for two days of vacation. "We asked the day care center to follow (the Education Ministry's instruction) and postpone the vacation to Monday, but its staff is Haredi and refused," said Tehilla Rozenbaum, who has three children—two of whom study in a secular school, while the youngest attends a day care. "Both I and my husband will have to take a day off work."

 

The Rozenbaum children (courtesy of the family)
The Rozenbaum children (courtesy of the family)

 

Setting aside that the computer matriculation exam (the “Bagrut”) had to be rescheduled do to the change, another problem of postponing the Lag B’Omer vacation is the difficulties it creates with public transportation. The Ministry of Transport and Road Safety allocated in advance buses that are usually used to transport students, to instead transport participants in the Mount Meron Hilula, which celebrates Rabbi Shimon Bar Yochai.

 

Director General of the Transportation and Road Safety Ministry Karen Terner-Eyal objected to the decision to postpone the vacation. At the same time, the ministry itself asked the police to postpone the end of the Hilula to Monday to allow for better use of the buses, but their request was declined.

 

The Ministry of Education stated yesterday that schools will be open on Sunday, saying that they don’t foresee any problems with transportation, as students can still take city buses to school instead of school buses.

 

(Translated & edited by Lior Mor)

 


פרסום ראשון: 05.13.17, 19:31
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