Lag B’Omer and Bonfires

This upcoming Sunday is Lag B’Omer. On Lag B’Omer we celebrate the end of a plague which raged among the disciple of the Great Sage Rabbi Akiva.  The reason for the plague was because Rabbi Akiva’s students did not act respectfully towards each other. Lag B’Omer is also the date of the passing of the great sage, Rabbi Shimon Bar Yochai who was the first person to publicly teach the mystical dimensions of the Torah known as the Kabbalah and is the author of the basic work of Kabbalah called the Zohar.

Rabbi Shimon Bar Yochai was a Tzaddik (righteous person) that displayed extraordinary powers. The Talmud tells us that he had the power to free the world from G-d’s judgement.  Indeed his tomb located in the Northern Israeli village of Meron has become one of the busiest holy sites in Israel where people come to pray for their needs. On Lag B’Omer hundreds of thousands visit Meron where they light bonfires and join the round the clock celebrations and dancing.

The reason the day of Rabbi Shimon’s passing is celebrated as a joyous day is because Rabbi Shimon’s most significant revelations of the Kaballah came about on the day of his passing when he expounded for many hours on the most intimate secrets of the divine wisdom and he instructed his disciples to mark the date as the “Day of My Joy”. This is the reason the tradition is to light bonfires on Lag B’Omer since it commemorates the immense light that Rabbi Shimon bar Yochai introduced into the world via his mystical teachings.

Boulder County Center for Judaism would like to invite you to a Lag B’Omer celebration and barbecue Sunday, May  14, 4:00 – 6:00 pm!  A Great Place to celebrate with your mother or by yourself!  Attendees will enjoy Great Guests, Great Food, and Great Shmoozing!  RSVP @ http://boulderjudaism.com/registration-form/ or email boulderjudaism@gmail.com 720 422 6776.