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(JTA) â Long before COVID-19 arrived in Israel, devastating Israelâs Hasidic communities, the annual Lag bâOmer gathering at Mount Meron was a moment of release for Israelâs 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.
Thousands of haredi Jews died in the pandemic. And on Thursday night, at least 45 more ultra-Orthodox Jews were killed in a stampede at Mount Meron, with dozens more injured.
âThe joy of our heart has ceased, our dancing has turned into mourning,â read the front page of Yated Neâeman, a haredi newspaper, on Friday morning.
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.
Glanz, speaking from the plane as he returned home from Israel, said he attends the Lag BaOmer bonfire at Mount Meron almost every year and is usually one of hundreds – as many as 1,000 – from Kiryas Joel who make the trip. This year, he said, just 50 to 60 people came from the Orange County village because of COVID-related travel restrictions in Israel.
Text and WhatsApp chains buzzed through the night as families sought information on their loved ones who were there.
“You just saw it unfold in real life,” said Rockland County Legislator Aron Wieder, who is from Spring Valley. “I had flashbacks to 9/11,” he said, recalling how posters with pictures and information of missing people popped up throughout Manhattan.
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.
The headline is a verse from Lamentations, the biblical book read on Tisha B’Av, the saddest day on the Jewish religious calendar.