By Rabbi Dr. Israel Drazin
BOCA RATON, Florida — The following is from my book Mysteries of Judaism without the footnotes.
The semi-holiday Lag B’omer is based on an unsubstantiated and unlikely tradition. Lag B’omer means the thirty-third day since bringing the barley harvest (omer) to the tabernacle and later temples to thank God for the barley harvest. An omer is a certain weight of the grain such as an ounce or pound. The Torah states in Leviticus 23:15 that the sheaf of barley was brought to the tabernacle “after Shabbat” and the rabbis interpreted this as “on the day after the first day of Passover.” The thirty-third day therefore occurs on the eighteenth day of the Jewish month Iyar, corresponding to May 22-23 of this year.
The Encyclopedia Judaica, Vol. 10, states that the day has been “celebrated as a semi-holiday since the time of the geonim.” A practice had existed of engaging in mourning during the period after Passover until the holiday of Shavuot, although different communities began and ended the grieving at different times. Jews who observed the practices during the seven weeks did not cut their hair and beards, celebrate marriages, or listen to music. The mourning practice may have begun some time before the Talmudic period but, as previously mentioned, was modified during the gaonic period when Lag B’omer began to be observed.
What is the source for this period of grief?
Midrash Genesis Rabbah 61:3, edited around 400 CE, reports: “Rabbi Akiva [who died around 135 CE] had twelve thousand disciples, from Gabbath to Antipatris, and all of them died during the same time. Why [did they die]? Because they differed with each other.” The Babylonian Talmud, Yevamot 62b, edited around 600 CE, tells the story somewhat differently. “Rabbi Akiva had twelve thousand pairs of disciples, from Gabbath to Antipatris, and all of them died during the same time because they didn’t treat each other with respect.” Neither source mentions the mourning practices. Because the Talmud was copied in the early days by hand, there are some minor variations in the different copies. One copy of the Talmud adds that they died during the same period “until close to Shavuot.” Jews interpreted this addition as signifying the deaths stopped on the thirty-third day after Passover, Lag B’omer, the thirty third day after the omer was brought.
There is no plausible reason for selecting the thirty-third day rather than any other day since the text states “until close to Shavuot,” but doesn’t give a date. However, some rabbis supposed that the manna began to fall in the desert during the days of Moses on this day. This may account for the selection of this day; the rabbis liked to say that several events occurred on each special day. Additionally, Kabbalists imagine that the second century Rabbi Simeon bar Yohai, who they say composed the thirteenth century CE book Zohar, died on this day, and these mystics usually celebrate the anniversary of deaths as a joyful occasion. It is possible, but unlikely, that the tradition of bar Yohai’s death existed before Lag B’omer was selected as the day the disciples ceased dying.
Rabbi Akiva was convinced that Bar Kokhba, the leader of the revolt against Rome during the war in Israel between 132 and 135, was the messiah who would defeat Rome which, under the generalship of Pompey in 63 BCE, had annexed Judea to Rome. Rabbi Akiva was certain that Bar Kokhba would restore Jewish sovereignty to Israel and was very vocal about his support of Bar Kokhba.
Scholars believe that when the Midrash and Talmud talk about disciples they are referring to the men who enlisted into Bar Kokhba’s army because of this “teaching” of Rabbi Akiva. Ancient wars were frequently fought in the spring after the rainy season, when the ground was firm, after Passover.
Bar Kokhba lost the war and thousands of his soldiers died. This is what was meant by the death of twelve or twenty four thousand students. Bar Kokhba’s final battle was at the fortified city Beitar and many scholars believe that some Judeans informed the Romans how they could breach the fortifications. This is hinted in the words “because they differed with each other” and “because they didn’t treat each other with respect.”
Why, then is Lag B’omer celebrated as a semi-holiday? It is a custom developed by Jews based upon the defeat of the Judeans by Rome in 135 and the cessation of hostilities, but virtually all Jews forgot the real reason. Instead, they substituted a myth to explain its origin, a day when scholars stopped dying from a plague.
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Rabbi Dr. Israel Drazin is a retired brigadier general and author of more than 50 books.