Lag BaOmer

WHAT IS LAG B’OMER AND WHEN DO WE CELEBRATE IT?

Every Jewish letter has a number value depending on its position in the Hebrew alphabet. The Hebrew word lag is written with the Hebrew letters lamed and gimmel which, together, have a nember value of 33. Thus Lag baOmer means 'the 33rd [day] in the Omer'. This always works out to be on the 18th day of the Hebrew month Iyar.

Lag baOmer is a joyous holiday. On Lag baOmer we remember two important events: the end of a plague of sickness which had killed 24,000 students of the famous Rabbi Akiva and also the death of a brilliant student of Rabbi Akiva's, Rabbi Shimon bar Yochai.

THE STORY OF LAG BAOMER

Over 2,000 years ago an army of Romans invaded Israel and destroyed the second Holy Temple in Jerusalem. The Romans were cruel to the Jewish people and wouldn't let them study or teach the Torah. However, some brave and very clever rabbis refused to obey the Roman rules and taught Torah in secret.

One famous rabbi named Akiva continued to teach his students lessons from the Torah. The Romans heard about Rabbi Akiva and began to look for him. So Akiva thought of a way to protect himself and his students while still teaching Torah.

He told his students to carry bows, arrows and picnic lunches. Then the students should go to the fields. It would look like they were there to hunt, not study with the rabbi. When the Roman soldiers saw the Jews going out to hunt they let them pass. But each day when the students reached the fields Rabbi Akiva met them and they would learn and study together.

WHO WAS RABBI AKIVA?

Before becoming a rabbi, Akiva was a poor shepherd who married a woman named Rachel. She convinced him to study and he became a very learned and well-respected rabbi.

Rabbi Akiva and his students (dressed up as hunters) would go to a cave deep in the woods and there they would study Torah.

WHO WAS RABBI SHIMON BAR YOCHAI?

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