| The origins of the holiday begin with the
time of Rabbi
Akiva. The Talmud
(Yevamot 62b) states that 24,000 of Rabbi Akiva's students died
from a mysterious divine-sent plague. The Talmud then goes on to say that
this was because they did not show proper respect to one another,
befitting their level. Jews celebrate Lag Ba’omer as the traditional day
that this plague ended. This is the view recorded in the Kitzur Shulchan
Aruch, 120:1-10.
Others say that these students were killed in the Bar
Kokhba revolt (in which Rabbi Akiva was a major figure), the plague
being the Roman occupation. As an act of censorship, the Talmud attributed
their deaths to lack of respect to one another, afraid attributing their
deaths to resisting the Roman empire would be viewed as treachery. Viewed
in this context, the lighting of bonfires on this evening seems logical,
since in ancient times bonfires were used as signals in wartime.
There is some conjecture that the holiday marks the temporary victory
of Bar
Kochba’s men over the Romans. The holiday became a symbol
emphasizing the struggle for national liberation and freedom. The bonfires
and the bow&arrow games coincide with Bar Kocvha's revolt.
The day is also the Yortsayt,
the anniversary of the death, of the Tanna
Rabbi Shimon
bar Yohai who is believed by some to have authored the Zohar,
a landmark text of Jewish
mysticism. However there are those who dispute that this day is indeed
his Yortsayt on the basis that it appears that in the original texts of
Shaar HaKavanot by Hayyim
Vital it refers to the day as being 'Yom Simchato' ('Day of his
happiness'), rather than 'Yom SheMet' ('Day that he died') - implying that
it has either been a scribal or printing error that has led to this
misconception. The Ben
Ish Chai, and the Chida
both confirm that he did not die on this date – additionally the Chasam
Sofer discouraged the idea of celebrating on the day even if it
hypothetically were in fact his Yortsayt.
During the Middle
Ages, Lag Ba'Omer became a special holiday for rabbinical
students and was even called the "Scholar's festival." It was
customary to rejoice on this day through various kinds of merrymaking. |