45, 45, 45. 45.
Meron. A place of mysticism, of leaping flames, mass crowds, music and prayer. Lag BaOmer, a day to commemorate Rabbi Shimon Bar Yochai’s legacy, by coming to his kever. A day where even the skeptics among us pay homage to the mystical and celebrate the light of the Torah.
If you would have asked me before Friday morning what images I associated with Mount Meron, I would have described to you what I had seen in the official Meron livestream I watched on Thursday night. A sea of swaying figures in black, singing and dancing with joyous fervor, highlighted against the glow of the bonfires. A scene both fascinating and foreign to me.
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4 Americans believed killed in festival stampede in Israel
Ultra-Orthodox Jews mourn during the funeral of Moshe Ben Shalom at a cemetery in Petah Tikva, Israel, Friday, April 30, 2021. Moshe Ben Shalom and dozens of others died during a stampede at a religious festival attended by tens of thousands of ultra-Orthodox Jews in Mount Meron, northern Israel, early Friday. It was one of the country s deadliest civilian disasters. (AP Photo/Oded Balilty)