Lag BaOmerל״ג בָּעוֹמֶר

Lag BaOmer (Hebrew: ל״ג בעומר), also Lag B’Omer, is a Jewish holiday celebrated on the 33rd day of the Counting of the Omer, which occurs on the 18th day of the Hebrew month of Iyar. One reason given for the holiday is that it is the day Rabbi Shimon bar Yochai passed away. Modern Jewish tradition links the holiday to the Bar Kokhba Revolt against the Roman Empire (132-135 CE). In Israel, it is celebrated as a symbol of the fighting Jewish spirit. Lag BaOmer functions within the Jewish calendar as a single bright day of celebration set inside the more solemn Counting of the Omer. The name itself is a numeric reading of the Hebrew letters lamed (30) and gimel (3), which together total 33, for the 33rd day of the Omer. Tradition holds that a deadly plague among the thousands of disciples of Rabbi Akiva, which raged throughout the Omer period, ceased on this day, and so Lag BaOmer carries themes of ahavat Yisrael, loving and respecting one's fellow. It is also traditionally observed as the yahrzeit (anniversary of death) of Rabbi Shimon bar Yochai, the second-century sage to whom the Zohar is attributed, and the day is therefore linked to the revelation of the mystical, inner dimension of Torah. Practically, it relaxes the semi-mourning customs kept during the Omer, though communities differ: many Ashkenazim end the mourning on Lag BaOmer, others lift it for this day only and resume it afterward, and many Sephardim keep it until the morning of the 34th day.

Lag BaOmer falls on the 18th of Iyar, the 33rd day of the Counting of the Omer, in spring, usually in May. Like all Jewish observances, it begins at sundown the prior evening (17 Iyar) and ends at nightfall on 18 Iyar. The date is the same in Israel and the Diaspora, since it is not a pilgrimage festival with an added Diaspora day. The main practice difference is rite-dependent and concerns the surrounding Omer mourning rather than the date: many Ashkenazi communities lift the mourning restrictions (weddings, haircuts, live music) on Lag BaOmer itself, while many Sephardic communities continue mourning through this day and resume celebrations only on the 34th day of the Omer.

Lag BaOmer is a minor, festive holiday rather than a biblically mandated festival, so it has no special Torah reading, Haftarah, or Megillah of its own. It falls only on a Sunday, Tuesday, Thursday, or Friday, so the only Torah reading it meets is the regular Thursday reading, chanted in the usual weekday trope. As a result, there is no distinctive trope or chanting system unique to Lag BaOmer, unlike Tisha B'Av (Eicha trope), Purim (Esther trope), or the High Holidays (their special trope). The only liturgical changes are in the surrounding prayers: Tachanun (the penitential prayers) is omitted, beginning already at Mincha on the afternoon before (17 Iyar), and full Hallel is not added.

The most iconic custom is lighting bonfires, symbolizing the spiritual light of Torah revealed by Rabbi Shimon bar Yochai. Where the Omer mourning is lifted on this day, it is popular for weddings, parties, live music, and haircuts. Children traditionally play outdoors with toy bows and arrows, linked both to the Bar Kokhba Revolt and to a tradition that no rainbow appeared during Rabbi Shimon's lifetime. Hundreds of thousands of pilgrims travel to the Tomb of Rabbi Shimon bar Yochai in Meron in the Galilee, where three-year-old boys often receive their first haircut (upsherin). In Israel the day brings outings, picnics, and tree-planting, alongside study of the mystical dimensions of Torah. Minor folk customs include giving tzedakah in multiples of 18 (the gematria of chai, matching the 18th of Iyar) and reciting Psalm 33, the 33rd psalm for the 33rd day.