On Monday at 20:00, the first bonfire will light • Tens of thousands of barrels of oil, prayer names and even hair sent by ultra-Orthodox Jews from Israel and around the world
Northern District Commander in Meron // Photo: Eyal Margolin - Ginny
Mount Meron, which in the normal year reaches hundreds of thousands, will be empty tomorrow night (Monday). Only hundreds of people will participate in the smallest reverence that ever occurred on Lag Ba'omer near the grave of Rabbi Shimon Bar Yochai.
Lag Baomer, ironically, has been excellent for thousands of years, marking the end of a huge pandemic that has consumed tens of thousands of Rabbi Akiva's disciples. This year another pandemic, which has killed hundreds of thousands worldwide and threatens the lives of millions more, has almost completely canceled the festivities on the mountain.
At 8pm, the Rebbe from Buyan will light the first fire near the tomb marking in Meron, with several dozen participants next. Then, at around 10pm, former Chief Rabbi Shlomo Amar will light a bonfire with Rabbi Arush and Rabbi Benyahu Shmueli, and finally, at around 24: 30 The last bonfire was lit by Rabbi Eliyahu, Rabbi Druckman and Rabbi Dodkwitz.
It is absolutely forbidden to light fires across the country. The ministry issued a call yesterday on two of the fireside fireplaces in Meron in an attempt to prevent the ignition of pirated fires. Rabbi Shmuel Eliyahu made it clear that "this year's mitzvah is not to reach Meron because of public health concerns." Rabbi Amar, now the Sephardic Chief Rabbi of Jerusalem, published a holy cry in which he said: "I will be there on your mission. I will bring your sorrow before Rabbi Shimon."
In order to allow the many celebrants who were forced to stay in homes and not go to Meron, to celebrate the special holiday, huge trucks in the ultra-Orthodox concentration last week gathered around 60,000 liters of oil, thousands of candles and more than 100,000 names to read and pray near the fires in Meron. This is an initiative of the Rashbi Hospitality Organization, which is usually trusted for hosting the hundreds of thousands. Yesterday at midnight, the trucks arrived and unloaded the boxes with the names for prayer and the barrels of oil and candles for the lighting. The organizers point out, among other things, that "Halkah" ceremonies were held on trucks. "Y, after the family members refrained from conducting the first hair-cutting ceremony for the three-year-old on Mount himself.
And there are those who are held to delight the masses of Israelis despite the plague. Over the years, Chabad parades in Lag Ba'omer became a common practice throughout Israel under the slogan 'Together All the Children of Israel', and this year Chabad youth organizations also decided to carry out the parades, in a format adapted to Corona. If the children cannot attend the parade, they said, The procession will come to the children.
On Tuesday morning, huge trucks and vehicles will be well equipped with traditional displays invested in convoys on the streets of the city, bringing the joy of Lag Baomer straight to the balcony and the living room. Next to them, the beloved children's stars Yuval confused, Moral and Shai and Roy have been recruited to produce a new video on Lag Baomer And its messages, and it will be broadcast on Loop throughout Lag Ba'Omer every day on social networks for the benefit of children who have not been able to learn this year from almost anything about the day, due to the corona learning constraints.
"Despite the great challenges, it is precisely during this period that our dedicated messengers are doing everything to please and encourage the children," says Rabbi Yosef Aharonov, the head of the Chabad mission in Israel. "We will do everything when all the people of Israel have at least a taste of this wonderful thing called Lag. In Omer. "