Eco-Lag B'Omer: 10 Ways to Celebrate "Fire Holiday" Without Pollution
The population of the country has grown greatly and the amount of fires on Lag B'Omer causes air pollution, fires, chemicals emitted into the air from the glue and paint in the trees and inhaled by the children and debris left in the field. So how can you still celebrate the holiday? 10 ecological and fun ways for everyone
Walla!
Tourism
15/05/2022
Sunday, 15 May 2022, 09:38 Updated: 10:04
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What happened to Belg B'Omer (Meir Channel)
Lag B'Omer of our childhood was celebrated with cheerful bonfires and was a holiday we all waited for. Today, many parents want to give their children the same experience, but the environment today is very different than it was 30 or 40 years ago. The combustibles have also long been not pure wood, but wood processed with chemicals (glue, paint, insecticides), which when burned are emitted into the air and inhaled by the children who happily stand around this hazard.
Avital Yogev, director of the Tel Aviv-Yafo and Modi'in and Environment Communities at the Society for the Protection of Nature, notes that the damage from the celebration is not known to everyone: "In addition to the sharp rise in air pollution levels the next morning The annoying spectacle of debris and dirt hills, which remain in the area long after the smoke dissipates, is repeated over the course of the holiday. ", Wild boars, rats, etc. The proliferation of these erupting species, at the height of the breeding season, harms populations of sensitive wildlife such as nesting songbirds, lead and rabbits, which are hunted by an increasing amount of erupting species," she says.
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Fires in Jerusalem following a fire (Photo: The Society for the Protection of Nature, Amir Balavan)
How can one still rejoice and celebrate the holiday?
First, it is possible to preserve the part of going out into nature in the afternoon-evening, and do less routine activities with the children and friends.
We have collected some examples for you.
1. Archery construction
The children are asked in the days before the holiday to collect thin and flexible branches, which are bent into the shape of a bow, and tied with spaghetti thread in a way that determines the shape of the bow.
Shorter branches will be used as "arrows".
You can hold an arrow "shooting" contest and see who gets the farthest.
One can ask the children how they think they fought in the past with the help of a bow and arrow, and whether such a method can work today as well.
2. Signposts
Mark arrows along a particular route, which direct the children from station to station until the end of the route.
Depending on the age of the children, it is advisable to slightly disguise the signs (draw with chalk erasable arrows on trees, build an arrow on the ground from small stones, etc.).
Search for the cache
A more sophisticated version of a landmark game.
Let the children prepare holiday-related puzzles in advance.
The puzzles are buried in stations along the route.
When the children manage to solve a puzzle they are given directions to the next station, where another puzzle awaits them, and so on until the end of the track.
Search for the treasure (Photo: The Society for the Protection of Nature, Tal Gitman)
4. Building a camp
A Chinese tent that opens at this moment is easy.
But what about building a tent from old blankets, branches and ropes?
It's already more challenging.
Let the kids find solutions, they die for it!
Building a camp in nature (Photo: The Society for the Protection of Nature, Shahaf Retter)
5. Class debate
Bar Kochba Camp vs. Camp Yochanan Ben Torati - To Rebel against the Romans or Not?
6. Cleaning operation
The few open spaces that survive around us suffer from the neglect and waste of those who celebrated there before us.
Go out with the kids for a cleaning operation, and on the way talk to them about the problems of getting dirty.
Beach cleaning (Photo: The Society for the Protection of Nature, Shahaf Retter)
7. Games for conveying messages (Morse, Sampur)
Build a cipher in which each letter is marked in a certain way.
Divided into two groups, each group tries to convey a sentence to the other group, which needs to decipher and understand what the sentence is.
8. Watching the stars
Quiet activity.
Wonderful to do it lying on your back on a mat sliced on the ground.
Try to identify constellations (the big bear, the north arrow, etc.).
You can tell star legends, bring a thermos with hot tea and enjoy the quiet of the night.
Watching the stars (Photo: Shimon Buxtein)
9. Lantern Tour
The ultimate replacement for a bonfire!
A guided class tour, with a lantern that illuminates the road slightly, but still allows a sense of a walk in the dark.
Games of darkness and light and acquaintance with nature at night.
An extraordinary experience for all children.
Lantern tours in Ashdod (Photo: The Society for the Protection of Nature)
10. Going out into nature
Nature exists and is active around the clock.
At the same time we are used to going out to it only during the day.
It is worth taking advantage of Lag B'Omer to go to an urban nature site near the house at sunset. Check which senses sharpen in the dark and which weaken. What sounds we hear, and try to recognize them. What sounds close, what sounds far, etc. A different kind of experience.
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