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A scholar of Jewish history explains why the annual Lag BaOmer pilgrimage to Mount Meron in Israel has such power and meaning.

A scholar of Jewish history explains why the annual Lag BaOmer pilgrimage to Mount Meron in Israel has such power and meaning.

The annual Lag BaOmer pilgrimage to Mount Meron in Israel attracts as many as half a million visitors every year. Because of COVID-19, this year’s event was less crowded, but even so, over 100,000 people were packed into a space with a capacity for perhaps 15,000. This overcrowding reportedly contributed to the recent tragedy, in which at least 45 people, mostly ultra-Orthodox Jews known as “Haredim” in Hebrew, died in a stampede. This is by far the largest pilgrimage of Jews to what is believed to be the gravesite of the second-century Talmudic sage Rabbi Shimon Bar Yochai. I have par...

Skip to main content Currently Reading Lag BaOmer pilgrimage brings Orthodox Jews closer to eternity - I experienced this spiritual bonding in years before the tragedy Joshua Shanes, College of Charleston May 7, 2021 FacebookTwitterEmail Eds: This story was supplied by The Conversation for AP customers. The Associated Press does not guarantee the content. Joshua Shanes, College of Charleston (THE CONVERSATION) The annual Lag BaOmer pilgrimage to Mount Meron in Israel attracts as many as half a million visitors every year. Because of COVID-19, this year’s event was less crow...