A break in mourning customs in the Omer period honors cessation of death

Lag Ba’omer, the 33rd day of the counting of the Omer (18th day of Iyar), is the major exception to the semi-mourning during the Sefira period.

According to Talmudic and midrashic sources (Yev. 62b), during the period between Passover and Shavuot, 24,000 disciples of Rabbi Akiva died of a terrible plague, which miraculously ceased on Lag Ba’omer.

Plague allusion

The “plague” may refer to the overwhelming defeat suffered by the forces of Bar Kochba, whom Rabbi Akiva strongly supported in the unsuccessful rebellion against the Romans. Tradition suggests that the termination of the plague on Lag Ba’omer may be an allusion to the brief recapture of Jerusalem that is said to have occurred on this date.

The Kabbalists considered Lag Ba’omer as commemorating either the rabbinic ordination (by Rabbi Akiva) of Shimon bar Yochai, the reputed author of the mystical Zohar, or the anniversary of his death. When the Romans outlawed the study of Torah, Shimon bar Yochai spoke out against them and was sentenced to be killed, forcing him and his son to go into hiding in a cave for 12 years.

Lag Baomer bonfire. (credit: MARC ISRAEL SELLEM/THE JERUSALEM POST)

The Talmudic rabbis believed that appropriate attire was especially important when reciting the two major prayers of the liturgy – one must be clothed from the waist down to say the Shema and also cover the top of the body to say the Amidah (Ber. 24b-25a). According to legend, during the 12 years in which Shimon bar Yochai and his son hid in the cave, they had no change of clothes. To preserve their garments from wearing out, they each dug a deep hole, removed their clothes, and buried themselves neck-deep in the sand, wanting to be covered for modesty.

“The whole day they studied; when it was time for prayers, they robed, covered themselves, prayed, and then put off their garments again so that they should not wear out” (Shab. 33b). Finally, Elijah the Prophet came to announce that the Roman emperor had died, the decree was lifted, and Shimon bar Yochai and his son could leave the cave.

Uniting fragments

Believing that many of the broken fragments of creation were finally reunited upon Shimon bar Yochai’s death, Kabbalists and hassidim in Israel hold a festive celebration (hillula) on Lag Ba’omer at the sage’s grave in the village of Meron, near Safed in the Galilee.

Thousands gather there to study mystical texts and to sing and dance around large bonfires to symbolize the light Shimon bar Yohai brought into the world.

The Romans had banned the bonfires used by Jews to signal the new lunar months, but Bar Kochba reinstituted this practice during his rebellion. Because cutting one’s hair is prohibited during the semi-mourning Sefira period, on Lag Ba’omer it became customary, especially among hassidim, for three-year-old boys to have their first haircut in a ceremony called upsheren. This may be an extension of the law that prohibits picking the fruits of a newly planted tree during its first three years.

It is customary to eat foods made from carob on Lag Ba’omer, as Shimon bar Yochai and his son subsisted of carob during their 12 years in hiding. The carob (chariv in Hebrew; bokser in Yiddish) is a slow-growing evergreen tree that is indigenous to the Mediterranean region of Israel, producing a sweet sword-shaped pod. According to the Chatam Sofer (1762-1839), Lag Ba’omer was also celebrated because the manna that fed the Israelites during their 40 years of wandering in the desert first appeared on that day.

Weddings are permitted on this day, adding to the festive character of this semi-holiday.

Another tradition associated with Lag Ba’omer is children playing with bows and arrows. According to legend, the rainbow – which symbolizes peace and has a Hebrew name (keshet) that also means “the bow of an archer” – did not appear during the lifetime of Shimon bar Yochai because he was such a saintly man.

Others associate the bow with the Bar Kochba revolt, maintaining that Rabbi Akiva’s students actually died fighting the Romans and not from the plague.

In addition to Lag Ba’omer, Israel Independence Day (the 5th of Iyar) and Rosh Chodesh (the first day of the months of Iyar and Nisan) are exempt from the restrictions of the Omer period.

Ron Eisenberg, MD, is professor of radiology at Harvard Medical School and has a doctoral degree in Jewish studies.