Lag B'Omer Day in Mitzpe Ramon - The Chabad Party

Lag B'Omer day was quiet in Mitzpe Ramon. People who spent the night at their bonfires or who went to Mt. Meron, the site of Rabbi Shimon bar Yochai's grave, were asleep. Few tourists were in town. The quiet was heightened by the absence of school children, Lag' B'Omer being a school holiday. The only small bit of excitement was the group of anglo-Israeli IDF recruits doing map reading training in Mitzpe Ramon, and that didn't last long.

Things started to heat up around 4:00 when the Chabad children's Lag B'Omer party began. There were several hundred children partying, playing, eating and learning on the large lawn in front of Chabad.

Playing on the Jolly Jumpers at the Chabad Lag B'Omer party.

There were games like bowling...

 Bowling knocks over the Yetzer Ha'rah. I had no idea! I wonder if R. Shimon bar Yochai played?

...and the traditional bows and arrows...

Tradition holds that during R. Shimon bar Yochai's lifetime no rainbow appeared, hence children play with bows and arrows on Lag B'Omer. 

The rainbow is a sign of G-d's displeasure with the world, which He told Noach he would show rather than destroy the world again. In the merit of R. Shimon bar Yochai, none appeared during his lifetime. There is also a tradition that on Lag B'Omer a special rainbow in a new hue will appear to announce the coming of Moshiach. Unfortunately, none was seen over Mitzpe Ramon yesterday. But I am sure that is where it will first be seen, and I will report it here!

There was a raffle for toys at which Rabbi Slonim, the Chabad shaliach in Mitzpe Ramon, presided over while leading the children in various Torah pesukim.

 Leading the children in Torah pesukim.

The Lubavitcher Rebbe asked children to hold parades on Lag B'Omer to show their Jewish pride and unity, especially since Rabbi Akiva's students perished in a plague because of their lack of respect for each other. And so, it was off to the Great Mitzpe Ramon Children's parade to climax the party.

The great Mitzpe Ramon Lag B'Omer children's parade!

   

Bonfire of the Humanities - Rhymes with Vanities

Lag B'Omer (the 33rd day of the Omer) - not your American-style Lag B'Omer with polite, sedate BBQs, baseball and basketball games in the park. No, here in Israel it starts with huge, raging bonfires everywhere as soon as the day begins (At sunset, as all days do in the Jewish calendar, but since the 32nd was Shabbos, it took a while for things to get wound up.) It seemed that everywhere you looked there were bonfires, families and students gathered to spend the night (the entire night) feeding the flames and celebrating. During the early part of the evening the lone volunteer fire truck in Mitzpe Ramon made the rounds of the bonfires to make sure all was safe.

Sparks fly from Lag B'Omer bonfires in Mitzpe Ramon

In addition to commemorating the end of the plague that killed 24,000 of Rebbe Akiva's students, Lag B'Omer also commemorates the yahrzeit (anniversary of the death) of Rabbi Shimon bar Yochai, the author of the Zohar, the principle text of Kabbalah. So great was the light that shone from Rabbi Shimon bar Yochai's death bed, because of the secrets of the Torah he revealed that day, that it is said that those present could not behold him because of the dazzling light. This is one of the reasons that great bonfires are lit on Lag B'Omer. Sephardic Jews celebrate the yahrzeit with a Hillula, a great festive feast and party. The main Sephardic shul in Mitzpe Ramon was the site of this celebration last night. We stopped by to participate for a short time. I love the Sephardim. Everything they do is over the top!

Hillula celebration at the main sephardic shul in Mitzpe Ramon on Lag B'Omer

Of course, there were bonfires on the rim of the Machtesh, with a spooky, nearly full moon rising into the sky.

Lag B'Omer bonfires at the edge of the Machtesh

In Israel it is customary to visit the burial site of Rabbi Shimon bar Yochi on Mt. Meron in the north of the country. This year, 500,000 people showed up, or nearly 7% of the population!