April 30, 2021
11:42 am
Hundreds of Orthodox Jews mourn at the Jerusalem funeral for Yehuda Lev Lubin, one of 45 victims from the Mount Meron Lag b'Omer stampede, April 30, 2021. (Olivier Fitoussi/Flash90)
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(JTA) — Long before COVID-19 arrived in Israel, devastating Israel’s Hasidic communities, the annual Lag b’Omer gathering at Mount Meron was a moment of release for Israel’s Orthodox Jews, a festive night marking the end of a religious period of mourning.
And this year, when that release was especially needed after a year of loss, it became yet another tragedy.
“The joy of our heart has ceased, our dancing has turned into mourning,” read the front page of Yated Ne’eman, a haredi newspaper, on Friday morning.