All observant, the prayers resided in their souls.
With a start, I realized that they were dressed in the same black trousers and white shirts as the boys and men who had died in Meron.
Who was this Rabbi Shimon bar Yochai anyway, I asked myself? Why does Israel risk forest fires and injuries to “celebrate” his yahrzeit?
He lived in the 1st century, C.E. and it said, rescued torah study by re-establishing yeshivas in Yavne after the destruction of the Second Temple.
He is described as a humanistic, visionary and an ultimately rational rabbi. “If you are holding sapling in your hand,” he reportedly said “and someone tells you ‘Come quickly, the Messiah is here!’ first finish planting the tree and then go to greet the Messiah”.
Lag B Omer Tragedy - Jewish Ledger jewishledger.com - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from jewishledger.com Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.
Please note that the posts on The Blogs are contributed by third parties. The opinions, facts and any media content in them are presented solely by the authors, and neither The Times of Israel nor its partners assume any responsibility for them. Please contact us in case of abuse. In case of abuse,
Memorial Lights (Image from (https://pixabay.com/photos/tea-lights-candles-candlelight-3612508/)
It was particularly challenging to prepare my sermon this past Shabbat. On Friday, the news of the unfolding tragedy in Meron was like a black storm cloud that hovered over us all day. The pain still cuts so deep.
From Across the Oceans
From Montreal and Manchester, Buenos Aires and Teaneck, each of these very different people had made their own way to the same destination
As the outpouring of grief across Israel and beyond has made clear, Meron 2021 will go down as a tragedy of the entire Jewish People 45 holy souls, Jews of all types, who died minutes after beseeching kera ro’a gezar dineinu.
But of the many thousands drawn to the elevation of Rabi Shimon last week, and the hundreds who entered the horror that was the tunnel of death, one group stands apart.
From different cities, countries, and continents, they’d waved goodbye as they boarded a plane to learn in yeshivah and grow in kollel, to spend time in Eretz Yisrael or go directly to Meron. From Montreal and Manchester, Buenos Aires and Teaneck, each of these very different people had made their own way to the same destination.