Lag B’Omer bonfires burn throughout the country
With the smell of smoke in the air and potatoes and marshmallows in the flames, Israelis celebrate Lag B’Omer with traditional bonfires.
Masses around the country celebrate Lag B’Omer Sunday evening and set out to light bonfires, roast potatoes and enjoy marshmallows for desert.
At Shabbat’s end on Saturday night, hundreds of busloads transported tens of thousands of ultra-Orthodox Jews from throughout the country to the tomb of Rabbi Shimon bar Yochai on Mount Meron in the North. They took part in the annual festivities commemorating the great sage’s death, known as a hillula. Twenty-two bonfires took place.
The events of Lag B’Omer in Jerusalem begin Saturday in a rather jarring tone: In the Mea Shearim neighborhood of Jerusalem, ultra-Orthodox extremists burnt Haredi IDF soldiers in effigy to protest ultra-Orthodox conscription. They also burned Israeli flags.
These fiery demonstrations are something of an annual custom, in which an effigy symbolizes the “enemy” du jour of the Haredi community. Past recipients of the dubious honor include Yesh Atid leader Yair Lapid and former Knesset member Yossi Sarid.
Preparations for the Meron hillula did not run smoothly this year. The Chief Rabbinate announced the postponement of Lag B'Omer celebrations from Saturday to Sunday to avoid the desecration of Shabbat. Accordingly, the Education Ministry postponed the school vacation from Sunday to Monday.
However, the hillula itself was not postponed, as the ultra-Orthodox organizing it insisted on holding it in its original date. This left some 70,000 people with no way to get to the hillula as the 300 buses meant to ferry them to Meron were instead used to transport students to school on Sunday morning.
The burning of the bonfires and the revelations in Meron are connected to the passing of Rabbi Shimon bar Yochai (also known as the Rashbi) who was buried on the Galilean mountain. The main reason for lighting the fire near his grave and all over the country is to hint at the great light that he brought with him to the world with the kabbalah, which is also a kind of memorial candle for the sage.
