May 06, 1966 • Page Image 19
… when thinking of Lag b'Omer. The holy capital Jerusalem, the thriving port Haifa, cosmopolitan Tel Aviv, all give precedence on Lag b'Omer to the little townle t of Meron, in Upper Galilee, two miles…
… from Safad. For one whole day all Israel turns to wards Meron. Oblivious of its proximity to the frontiers and the innumer- able border incidents, men and women, Ashkenazim and Sephar- dim, Hassidim and…
… Mithnagdim, Sabras and Yemenites, converge on the white-domed tomb of Rabbi Simeon bar Yochai and his son Eliezer. Psalms are recited, pass- ages from the Zohar are quoted. All eyes are directed to the ele…
…- vated pillars on which there stands a large stone basin full of olive oil. Kerchiefs of silk and pieces of embroidered cloth are given by I devout pilgrims and immersed in the oil. At the stroke of twelve…
…, Bar Yochai, Bar Yochai, Happy One, annointed with the oil of Joy. Blessed by the mouth of God, Blessed from the Day of Creation." The pilgrimage to Meron is an old - established tradition. Rabbi Isaac…
… regarded as a waste of money. Being of Mithnagdic tradi- tion, they felt that a celebration on a Yahrzeit was both unseemly and irreverent. Lag b'Omer is rich in historical associations. The Talmud records…
… that Rabbi Akiba "had 12,000 pairs of disciples from Gabbatha (Dan) to Antipatris (N.W. of Jerusalem), and all of them died at the same time." Rabbinical authorities in- form us that the plague ceased on…
… the 18th of Iyar (Lag b'Omer). According to tradition, it was on that day that manna, the miracu- lous food which sustained the Israelites for a period of forty years, descended for the very first time…
… haircut on Lag b'Omer, and we do allow a little festivity on this day•" A happy interlude is not out of place in the cheerless Omer period with its sombre memories for our people. It recalls the heroic re…
… of Rabbi Akiba, he made a distinct contribution to the development of both the Halacha and the Hagada. In the Mishna alone he is mentioned on more than 325 occasions. He felt a passionate love for…

















































