Lag B’Omer is a minor holiday that occurs on the 33rd day of the Omer, the 49-day period between Passover and Shavuot. A break from the semi-mourning of the Omer, key aspects of Lag B’Omer include holding Jewish weddings (it’s the one day during the Omer when Jewish law permits them), lighting bonfires and getting haircuts.
Rabbi Akiva and the Bar Kochba Rebellion
The Talmudic explanation makes most sense when put into historical context. The outstanding sage Rabbi Akiva became an ardent supporter of Simeon bar Koseva, known as Bar Kochba, who in 132 C.E. led a ferocious but unsuccessful revolt against Roman rule in Judea. Akiva not only pinned his hopes on a political victory over Rome but believed Bar Kochba to be the long-awaited Messiah. Many of his students joined him in backing the revolt and were killed along with thousands of Judeans when it failed. The Talmudic rabbis, still suffering under Roman rule and cautious about referring openly to past rebellions, may have been hinting at those deaths when they spoke of a plague among Akiva’s students. Possibly, also, Lag B’Omer marked a respite from battle, or a momentary victory.
A completely different reason for the holiday concerns one of Rabbi Akiva’s few disciples who survived the Bar Kochba revolt, Rabbi Simeon bar Yohai. He is said to have died on Lag Ba’Omer.
Lag B’Omer Customs
Unrelated to Rabbi Simeon, the kabbalists also give a mystical interpretation to the Omer period as a time of spiritual cleansing and preparation for receiving the Torah on Shavuot. The days and weeks of counting, they say, represent various combinations of the sefirot, the divine emanations, whose contemplation ultimately leads to purity of mind and soul. The somberness of this period reflects the seriousness of its spiritual pursuits.
Finally, on yet another tack, some authorities attribute the joy of Lag Ba’Omer to the belief that the manna that fed the Israelites in the desert first appeared on the 18th of Iyar.
Though its origins are uncertain, Lag Ba’Omer has become a minor holiday. (For Jews, the holiday is the day after Lag B’Omer.) Schoolchildren picnic and play outdoors with bows and arrows,a possible reminder of the war battles of Akiva’s students , and in Israel plant trees. It is customary to light bonfires, to symbolize the light Simeon bar Yohai brought into the world. And every year numerous couples wed at this happy time.
Rabbi Akiva and the Bar Kochba Rebellion
The Talmudic explanation makes most sense when put into historical context. The outstanding sage Rabbi Akiva became an ardent supporter of Simeon bar Koseva, known as Bar Kochba, who in 132 C.E. led a ferocious but unsuccessful revolt against Roman rule in Judea. Akiva not only pinned his hopes on a political victory over Rome but believed Bar Kochba to be the long-awaited Messiah. Many of his students joined him in backing the revolt and were killed along with thousands of Judeans when it failed. The Talmudic rabbis, still suffering under Roman rule and cautious about referring openly to past rebellions, may have been hinting at those deaths when they spoke of a plague among Akiva’s students. Possibly, also, Lag B’Omer marked a respite from battle, or a momentary victory.
A completely different reason for the holiday concerns one of Rabbi Akiva’s few disciples who survived the Bar Kochba revolt, Rabbi Simeon bar Yohai. He is said to have died on Lag Ba’Omer.
Lag B’Omer Customs
Unrelated to Rabbi Simeon, the kabbalists also give a mystical interpretation to the Omer period as a time of spiritual cleansing and preparation for receiving the Torah on Shavuot. The days and weeks of counting, they say, represent various combinations of the sefirot, the divine emanations, whose contemplation ultimately leads to purity of mind and soul. The somberness of this period reflects the seriousness of its spiritual pursuits.
Finally, on yet another tack, some authorities attribute the joy of Lag Ba’Omer to the belief that the manna that fed the Israelites in the desert first appeared on the 18th of Iyar.
Though its origins are uncertain, Lag Ba’Omer has become a minor holiday. (For Jews, the holiday is the day after Lag B’Omer.) Schoolchildren picnic and play outdoors with bows and arrows,a possible reminder of the war battles of Akiva’s students , and in Israel plant trees. It is customary to light bonfires, to symbolize the light Simeon bar Yohai brought into the world. And every year numerous couples wed at this happy time.
