Lag b’Omer—Keep on Counting!

This week (sundown May 25 - May 26) marks Lag B’Omer, the thirty-third day of the counting of the Omer, a minor holiday whose origins are shrouded in mystery. It is a day of celebration in the midst of the more solemn mood of the rest of the days of the Omer. Why is this so?


The Talmud records that one year, through the first weeks of counting of the Omer, twelve thousand pairs of disciples of Rabbi Akiva died until the 33rd day, when the deaths ceased (Yevamot 62b).  Historians conjecture that this story is based on the terrible persecutions that Akiva’s generation endured at the hands of the Roman emperor Hadrian, after the Bar Kokhba revolt (132-135 CE). Tradition teaches, however, that this plague came upon the disciples of Akiva because they treated each other with disrespect, a powerful reminder of the importance of treating each other with honor, even when we disagree.  Because of this tragic association, the custom is to refrain from weddings and merriment during the days of the Omer, until the 33rd day, which is a day of joy.

Five of Akiva’s disciples, including Shimon bar Yochai, survived the plague to become leaders of their generation. Bar Yochai and his son, Rabbi Elazar, were forced into hiding by the Romans, as the Hadrianic persecutions continued, and were freed on Lag B’Omer. Years later, Bar Yochai died on Lag B’Omer, which paradoxically became a day of rejoicing.

In modern Israel, the eve of Lag B’Omer is marked by lighting bonfires, usually made these days of discarded building materials and other scraps. Children make toy bows and arrows, and have a great time with mock battles. Both the bonfires and the archery may stem from the period of the Bar Kokhba revolt and afterwards, when the Jews had to maintain vigil in the face of Roman persecution. Some mystical rabbis see the bow as a reminder of the rainbow, a symbol of the redemption to come.

I’ll add another explanation of Lag B’Omer. It marks the two-thirds point through the counting of the Omer – two-thirds of the way between the rescue from Egypt and the arrival at Mount Sinai to receive Torah, two-thirds of the way from Messiah’s resurrection during Passover and the outpouring of the Holy Spirit at Shavuot.

The counting of the Omer is a time of spiritual intensity and the great challenge in such times is to lose our concentration. We can see this problem in the account of the Exodus, when our forefathers quickly forgot about their miraculous deliverance and began to kvetch about the difficulties of daily like. Most of us can probably recognize the same tendency in our own lives, as we undertake a new practice of prayer or some other spiritual discipline. So, Lag B’Omer serves as a reminder to persevere. We’re two-thirds of the way there; let’s go into high gear for the remainder of the journey!

“Command the children of Israel that they bring to you pure oil of pressed olives for the light, to make the lamps burn continually. Outside the veil of the Testimony, in the tabernacle of meeting, Aaron shall be in charge of it from evening until morning before the LORD continually; it shall be a statute forever in your generations. He shall be in charge of the lamps on the pure gold lampstand before the LORD continually” (Leviticus 24:2-4).

Note that “continually” – tamid – appears three times in these three verses. The repetition reminds us that all things, and especially holy things, tend to deteriorate, to fall into disuse, and to become neglected. Instead, the priests are to see that the lamp does not flag, but burns continually.

So may our efforts be steady and continual before the Lord. Through the days of the Omer and beyond, may we “never flag in zeal, [but] be aglow with the Spirit, serve the Lord. Rejoice in hope, be patient in tribulation, be constant in prayer” (Romans 12:11-12).

By Rabbi Russ Resnik