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Michael Zoosman

May 6, 2026, 11:31 PM

Knesset’s Second Death Penalty Bill Debases Israel’s Lag Ba’Omer Revelry

The Knesset’s obsession with the death penalty in Israel once again collided with the Jewish liturgical calendar in yet another telling synchronicity, highlighting how that legislative body has upended the Jewish value of life. Many in Israel and across...

Marc J. Rosenstein

May 15, 2025, 7:22 PM

The Jewish Power Blog: Power over the Past (2)

One of the mysteries of the Jewish calendar is Lag Ba’omer (May 16 this year), the 33rd day of the counting of the Omer – the 49 days from the second day of Passover until Shavuot (see Leviticus 23:15-6). ...

Apr 30, 2025, 6:57 AM

Israel’s beautiful nature, in photographs

From the anemone and blue butterflies, to the gazelles, the hoopoes, and the varied terrain, here are 77 reasons to love the land and those that dwell there

Jan 30, 2025, 12:40 PM

Upsherin/Chalaka – The First Haircut In Israel

Why do some Jews wait to cut their son's hair for the first time at age 3? In Yiddish, this first haircut is called an Upsherin. This translates to "cutting off". In modern Hebrew, Israeli's use the word "Chalaka". We compare...

Miriam Simmonds

May 10, 2023, 7:18 AM

The Meron Tragedy: Sparks from the Dark

Lag BaOmer 2021. A tragic night that sparked immense debate on politics, religion, ideological divide. A night that sparked hugely emotive responses from across the country, in the form of anger, blame, hatred, pain undisguised or otherwise. Grief, undisguised...

Apr 25, 2023, 12:22 AM

The Long Overdue Meron Safety Net

It was just about this time of the year in 2021 that Aryeh “The Roaring Lion” Deri felt compelled to guarantee that whoever desired to embrace the spirituality and joy associated with celebrating Lag B’omer at Mount Meron would...

Sam Lehman-Wilzig

May 20, 2022, 8:11 AM

Monotheism Minus

One would hardly think that there is any conceptual connection between Lag B’Omer and Mark Zuckerberg’s Metaverse. But there is – and it strikes at the very heart of what we define as “true Judaism.” The underlying question is to...

May 19, 2022, 7:30 AM

The Unmagical Temple: Gathering

People like to gather. We do so for all sorts of purposes – sporting events, concerts, arts festivals, farmers’ markets etc. – and in each of these cases, part of what we get out of it has nothing to do...

May 13, 2022, 6:44 AM

2 Teachings from Rashbi to Alleviate Economic Anxiety

Do you have an easy time falling asleep while flying? I believe that there are two kinds of people in the world. Some cannot close an eye the entire duration of the flights; others fall asleep without much effort. Don't ask...

May 6, 2021, 8:52 PM

We Are All Meron

I live in New York, but my heart is in Meron. What a difficult week it’s been for the Jewish people — 45 of our brothers killed in a horrific accident on one of the most joyous days of the...

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