obituaries

Obituaries from page 68

RHODA SILLS,

84, of Bloomfield
Hills, died April
25, 2013.
She is survived
by her daughters
and son-in-law,
•
A Susie and Michael
Sills
Sills-Levey of
Bloomfield Hills, Claudia Sills of
Birmingham; son, Douglas (Todd
Murray) Sills of Calif.; brother, Dr.
Joseph Nemeth; grandchildren, Adam,
Nicki, Tedi and Andrew Milgrom.
She is also survived by her devoted
caregivers, other family members and
friends.
Mrs. Sills was the beloved wife of
the late Arthur "Archie" Sills; mother
of the late Dr. Lawrence D. Sills; sister
of the late Helene Rothstein.
Contributions may be made to
the Dr. Lawrence D. Sills Children's
Fund at JARC or to the Sills Family
Young Leadership Fund at ADL.
Interment took place at Clover Hill
Park Cemetery in Birmingham.
Arrangements by Dorfman Chapel.

TOBY TRAGER,

80, died April 23,
2013, in Bellaire,
Mich.
She is survived by
her beloved husband
of 61 years, Lawrence
R. Trager; daughter,
Trager
Toni Trager-Bradley;
five grandchildren, Robbie (Ashley),
Ryan (Laura), Jamie, Max, Sam; sister,
Ilean (Pinney) Kanter of Woodland
Hills, Calif.; brother-in-law, Morrie
Gold of Florida; sister-in-law, Beverly
Krause; daughter-in-law, Marcy Trager
of Ann Arbor; many nieces and neph-
ews.
Mrs. Trager was preceded in death
by her son, Scott A. Trager; sister,
Diane Gold; and brother-in-law, Earl
Krause.
Interment was at Clover Hill Park
Cemetery. Arrangements by Bellaire
Chapel of Mortensen Funeral Homes.

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70

May 2 • 2013

JN

Obituaries

Lag B'Omer Miracles

I

Anav Silverman

Tazpit News Agency/Ynetnews

M

ore than 200,000 people gath-
ered Sunday in the tiny north-
ern Israel town of Meron to
commemorate the Jewish holiday of Lag
b'Omer, which marks the anniversary
of the passing of the great mystic Rabbi
Shimon Bar Yochai and the Bar Kochba
revolt against the Romans.
Police were expecting up to 400,000
people to visit Meron and the tomb of
the rabbi, also known as the Rashbi,
by the end of the two-day celebration.
The Rashbi, who passed away on Lag
b'Omer, is attributed as the author of the
Zohar, the foundation for Jewish mystical
thought or Kabbalah.
A fierce opponent of the Roman
regime, Rabbi Shimon Bar Yochai lived
in ancient Israel after the destruction of
the Second Temple in 70 C.E. and was
forced into hiding for over 12 years with
his son, Rabbi Elazar. During that time,

the two immersed themselves in Torah
study and the Rashbi became one of the
forefathers of the Kabbalah movement.
A central part of the Meron celebra-
tions, in addition to bonfires and danc-
ing, is a 24-hour nonstop prayer vigil
conducted by tens of recognized rabbis,
most of them authorities in the mystical
study of Kabbalah.
"On Lag b'Omer, the 33rd day after the
conclusion of Passover, our global focus
as a people turns to miracles," said Rabbi
Cohen, leader of Or Harashbi, a movement
named after Rabbi Shimon Bar Yochai.
"Of course, many are skeptical when
miracles are discussed; but this is the day
when they happen intensely," said Cohen.
"We don't mind the eye-rolling or
snickering," the rabbi added. "In fact, our
prayers at Meron on this day in recent
years have resulted in well over 2,000
personal miracles happening for people
for whom we prayed there:' Adherents
firmly believe that prayer in the rabbi's
memory can make miracles come true.

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