Tonight is Lag BaOmer, the 33rd day of the Omer in which we commemorate the death of the great Rav, Shimon Bar Yochai. In Israel it is commemorated by lighting huge bonfires everywhere.
Let me tell you, when it comes to Lag BaOmer bonfires, size matters. People built huge pyres to burn--all we needed was someone to burn at the stake and it would have been perfect.
Of my three kids, Tali was the one most involved in her event. A bunch of the girls organized themselves. They've been collecting wood for weeks, and everyone was bringing something to the medura. There were hotdogs, burgers, marshmellows (and of course S'mores), corn, potatoes, onions and well, that's about it. The bonfires were held everywhere, in open fields. People came in groups and families. There were lots of teenagers, from what I saw acting pretty responsibly. (Of course, we left at 11, I don't know what's going to happen now).
When I asked Tali who exactly was in charge of the fire, the pyromaniac told me not to worry, everything was under control.
I was worried.
It turned out okay, though. Even though we were embarrassing, a couple of adults went down to the bonfire, and hung out to make sure things went smoothly. And they did. The kids had a great time, they sang and joked and laughed alot.
It was a nice way to celebrate this chag. (Better than the annual "Do I have to go on the Lag BaOmer trip? No one is going." Of course, the kids always went, but I did sympathise with them. The trip was usually games in a hot field with little shade).
In any case, I hope your Lag BaOmer was as pleasant as mine was.
6 comments:
Your pictures are great, hope you closed the windows and brought in the laundry before you went out!
It's 11:30 pm, and my 8 year old just called to ask if he had to come home yet. We told him that as long as there was still an adult at his class medura, he could stay.
I can't remember one Lag BaOmer when i was a child when it did not rain. You always looked so forward to going to the park with your school and then.....rain. And don't you know it rained here today, although it cleared up by afternoon.
sz
looks like fun. it's cold and non-fire-y here but tomorrow i'm hoping to get everyone out for a picnic!
someone to burn at the stake
Oy! I'm just waiting for someone to take this out of context and make a suggestion.
Enjoyed the pics. Glad you had fun.
I think it's getting out of hand...we need a greener solution for Lag BaOmer...
Driving down out of the Shomron to Gush Dan on Lag BaOmer morning, a layer of smoggy pollution was clearly visible -- the remains of all night smoke outs.
Loved your 60 Israel list!
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