London firefighters scold British synagogue for lighting holiday bonfire indoors
'Though we are keen to see communities enjoying the festival of Lag b’Omer, we don’t want to see anyone harmed as a result,' wrote the London Fire Brigade
Lag b’Omer
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Culture Why there is no holiday more tragic than Lag B’Omer for my family
79 years ago, much of Ann Weiss’ family was murdered by the Nazis
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News ‘Wishing it was all a bad dream’: A family copes one year after the Mount Meron disaster
Yossi Reit, now 16, survived the crowd surge, but will likely never be the same
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News ‘His voice was the sound of music:’ An American Hasid lost on Mt. Meron
Rabbi Shragi Gestetner was born to make music. He started composing when he was 12. He sold his first song at 18. His debut album, Shragee, pulsates with the joy of a man who has found his calling. The year after it came out, Tablet called Gestetner one of the “rising talents of the current…
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Opinion How to grapple with the Lag B’Omer tragedy? Remember fate is random.
Every tragedy seems to cry out for an explanation. Initial explanations are practical and outline the worldly reasons why a terrible event occurred. For believers there is an additional burden — the question of how God could allow such suffering. The deaths on Lag B’Omer at the tomb of Rabbi Shimon Bar Yochai on Mount…
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News What is the meaning of Lag B’Omer? An explainer
Editor’s note: Dozens of ultra-Orthodox Jews were killed in a stampede on April 29, 2021, while celebrating Lag B’Omer in the city of Meron in northern Israel. As details of the horrific incident are still unfolding, we are republishing this 2017 article with background on the festival. What is Lag B’Omer? Lag B’Omer is one…
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Fast Forward Lag B’Omer is traditionally a day of weddings but now there’s social distancing
(JTA) — In late April, police in London and Chicago broke up splashy Jewish weddings that far exceeded the number of people allowed under social distancing rules. Since then, no weddings have made the Jewish news — but that could change in the next day. That’s because tonight begins Lag b’Omer, a holiday when observant Jews get…
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Yiddish World How Sephardic Culture Shaped Ultra-Orthodox Judaism
This article originally appeared in the Yiddish Forverts. Sephardi Jews often complain that Ashkenazim dominate Jewish culture to the point that they are losing aspects of their own cultural identity. The way one studies in a typical Yeshiva, the type of food eaten in honor of the Sabbath, the music, the men’s clothing, everything symbolizing…
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