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78 Detroit Jewish News

people could use the new grain
plague because they
of the spring harvest.
did not treat each
In verse 15, God commands that
other with respect.
the Jews begin counting, starting
This season of
with the omer offering and continu-
tragedies followed with a series of
ing for 49 days. On the 50th day,
massacres of Jewish communities in
they were to mark another holiday,
the Rhineland during the Crusades
Shavuot. (Although an offering from
in 1096 and 1146, and then dur-
the new wheat harvest was brought
ing the Chmielnicki massacres of
on that day, Shavuot is the celebra-
1648-49.
tion of the giving of the Torah at
Consequently, Torah-observant
Mt. Sinai. Interestingly, Shavuot is
Jews to this day refrain from haircuts
the only major Jewish hol-
iday whose observance
is not governed by a cal-
endar date.)
But then the Temple
was destroyed, so of
course the Jewish people
could no longer bring
sacrifices. Yet they contin-
ued to perform the count-
ing commandment.
To this day, Torah-
observant Jews count the
days between Passover
and Shavuot. The count-
Celebrating the holiday with bonfires in Israel.
ing is done in a simple
ritual, usually within the daily
(some men also do not shave), do
evening service. A blessing is recit-
not have weddings and other cele-
ed ("Blessed are you, God our
brations, and do not play or listen
Lord, king of the universe, who has
to live music during the period.
sanctified us with his command-
Jewish mystics, called kabbalists,
ments and has commanded us
saw great spiritual significance in the
regarding the counting of the
49 days between the holidays of
omer"), and then the relevant day%
Passover and Shavuot. They regarded
count is stated. The count includes
each day as a passage out of the 49
both the day and the week of the
gates of Egyptian degradation to the
omer, as directed by the Torah.
purity of the Torah. And so they
Thus, one would say, "Today is 19
endowed each week and each day
days, which are two weeks and
with its own Ara, or mystical numeri-
five days of the omer."
cal significance. For example, the
All this counting might be giving a
12th day of the omer is "glory that is
headache to those of us who never
in strength."
made it past basic math. But there's
Despite all the seriousness and
much more here. In post-biblical times,
anguish, the omer period is not
the period has come to incorporate
without its moments of joy. One
both mourning and mysticism.
great occasion — Israel Indepen-
What does tragedy have to do
dence Day — comes on the 20th
with the omer?
day of the omer. And the 33rd day
During the first 33 days of the
is regarded as a semi-holiday
omer, 24,000 of Rabbi Akiva's stu-
known by its numerical designation
dents died. According to the Tal-
of Lag b'Omer ("lag" is an acronym
mud, these young men died in a
formed by the two Hebrew letters

that make up the
numeral 33).
This year, Lag
b'Omer begins on
the evening of Tuesday, May 4.
The origins of Lag b'Omer are
shrouded in mystery. Some see it as
the celebration of the end of the
plague that killed Rabbi Akiva's stu-
dents.
Kabbalists celebrated the day as
relating to Rabbi Shimon Bar
Yohai, traditionally
3 regarded as the author
of the Zohar, the main
book of Kabbalah.
§ Lag b'Omer marks the
rabbi's yahrtzeit (the
day he died), the time
he was ordained by
Rabbi Akiva, and the
date when he
emerged from a cave
where he had been
hiding from the
Romans (not all the
events occurred on the
same Lag b'Omer).
Today, Lag b'Omer is celebrated
in many ways. In Israel, thousands
of Jews gather in the northern Israeli
town of Meron for prayer and fes-
tivity at the tomb of Shimon Bar
Yohai. Others go to the tomb of
another ancient sage, Shimon Ha-
Tzadik, in Jerusalem.
For reasons no one knows, peo-
ple light great bonfires and children
play with bows and arrows. They
also commemorate Bar Kokhba and
his rebellion against the Roman
occupation of Israel in 1 32-1 35
C.E. Why Bar Kokhba is associat-
ed with Lag b'Omer is a matter of
scholarly debate.
In Israel and throughout the Jewish
world, the festive atmosphere of
Lag b'Omer is enhanced by the
many weddings that take place.
Parents will give their 3-year-old
sons their first haircuts (another kab-
balistic tradition) on Lag b'Omer,
along with hosting a party to cele-
brate the event. ri

K