This Weekend is Lag B'Omer.
What is Lag B'Omer you ask? strictly speaking it marks the 33 day of the counting of the Omer--the time beween the second day of Passover and the first day of Shavuot. We at the end of the evening service we count the Omer. This specifically refers to a measurement of a sheaf of barley that is brough to the Temple priests as an offering.
This special day, however has taken on additional meaning. Because of the timing on the Jewish calendar, this period of time represents the physical liberation from Egypt to the spiritual liberation by being revealed the Torah on Shavuot.
These 49 days is considered a period of mourning remembering a plague that befell students of the famous Rabbi Akiba. The 33 day is a reprieve in this period when weddings take place as this is when the deaths ceased. One of the surviving students was Shimon Bar Yochai who was a brilliant man who revealed some of the hidden mystical secrets of the Torah through Kabbalah and the Zohar.
In addition, boys often get their first haircut at the age of 3 on this day. It also commemorates the Bar Kokhba revolt in the year 132 CE against the Romans.
During the Roman period and the revolt...a common form of communication was through fire. Smoke and mountain top flames was used to communicate and help the Jews keep safe from their oppressors.
Today, Lag B'omer is celebrated in part through camp fires. So...this Sunday...at the Tenafly Nature Center we will enjoy this tradition.
Also...on Sunday during Hebrew school during the final period we will have some activities to commemorate this holiday...Since it will be in the Gym...parents can join in while they shoot baskets.
