Yad L'Achim accepting names for Lag Ba'omer prayers at Bar Yochai's tomb
Last week, police sealed off the holy site, and only residents will be allowed into the town of Meron until after the Lag Ba’omer celebrations.
By JERUSALEM POST STAFFUltra-Orthodox Jews take part in traditional festivities for Lag Ba'Omer in northern Israel(photo credit: REUTERS)
The grave and pilgrimage site of Talmudic-era sage Rabbi Shimon Bar Yochai on Mount Meron will be closed to the hundreds of thousands of visitors who usually flock to the site every year on Lag Ba’omer due to concerns that the event could create a spike in coronavirus infections.However, Jews can submit their names to the Jewish non-profit Yad L'Achim free of donation and one of their representatives will daven at the site for each name submitted.Prayer requests can be made for all personal needs.Last week, police sealed off the holy site, and only residents will be allowed into the town of Meron until after the Lag Ba’omer celebrations. The cave in which Bar Yochai’s tomb is located will be closed as well.Several rabbis will nevertheless be allowed to light the traditional bonfires on the roof of Bar Yochai’s tomb, including the grand rabbi of the Boyan hassidic community who has lit the first bonfire dating back to the Ottoman era.Bar Yochai’s tomb on Mount Meron is the second most visited holy site in Israel after the Western Wall and it is thought that some half a million religious pilgrims visit every year for the Lag Ba’omer celebrations.An estimated tens of thousands to up to half a million people visited the northern town of Meron for Lag Ba'omer last year. The all-night festivities included a giant bonfire, barbecues, dancing and musical prayer.The minor Jewish holiday celebrates the 33rd day of the counting of the Omer and the life of Rabbi Shimon Bar Yochai, who defied the Roman Empire during the second century, and on this day many make pilgrimages to the resting place of the revered rabbi. The Bar Kokhba rebellion of 132-35 CE, known as the Third Jewish Revolt, was the final of three Jewish uprisings against Roman religious and political persecution. It is estimated that many thousands of Jews died during the revolt, resulting in a massive depopulation of the communities inhabiting the Judean Hills.Jeremy Sharon, Eli Kavon and Daniel K. Eisenbund contributed to this report.
