Why Is Lag BaOmer Celebrated? Lag BaOmer is celebrated for two different reasons. One is the end of a deadly plague that is believed to have killed a whopping 24,000 students of Rabbi Akiva Ben Yosef.

Ultra-Orthodox Jewish children prepare a giant bonfire before lighting it in the Mea Shearim neighborhood of Jerusalem on May 25, 2016 during the celebration of Lag BaOmer . The Lag BaOmer bonfire is ...

“Fire is never neutral. It warms, it cooks, it illuminates—or it destroys. The same flame can kindle Torah or consume our unity.” —Inspired by Rabbi Jonathan Sacks As the sun sets over Israel, ...

According to Jewish tradition, the 49 days that separated the Exodus from Egypt (Pesach/Passover) and the Giving of the Torah on Mt. Sinai (Shavuot) is a solemn time in the Jewish calendar. It is ...

Hundreds of thousands of people are on their way to the Galilee town of Meron, where the “Divine Tannaitic Sage” Rabbi Shimon bar Yochai is buried, for Lag BaOmer commemorations. The minor holiday of ...

A few weeks (years, now) back DovBear discussed why we mourn during the sefira period (and why the currently espoused reasons may not be historically accurate). He then mentioned that the entire idea ...

Lag BaOmer is approaching, and many Israelis commemorate this holiday by having a big bonfire in their backyard. Unfortunately, the benign intentions of those fires may have malignant consequences ...

Tents can be seen dotting the hills around the hilltop of Meron, which faces the mystical city of Tzfat (Safed), in Israel's Galilee region. Nestled in a ridge behind the tomb of Rabbi Shimon bar ...

Joshua Shanes does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organization that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond ...

(The Conversation) — A scholar of Jewish history explains why the annual Lag BaOmer pilgrimage to Mount Meron in Israel has such power and meaning. (The Conversation) — The annual Lag BaOmer ...