Mount Meron tragedy

Celebrating Lag Ba’omer, a heroic chapter in Jewish history - opinion

During Bar Kochba’s revolt against the Romans, a terrible epidemic struck Rabbi Akiva’s students, and 24,000 men lost their lives. The epidemic suddenly stopped on Lag Ba’omer.

|ByDVORA WAYSMAN
The real festivities begin when a huge bonfire is lit at midnight on Lag Ba'omer.
Rabbi Elimelech Biderman with his followers celebrate the jewish holiday of Lag Ba'Omer, in Meron. May 9, 2023

C'mtee decides to limit bonfires at Mt. Meron ahead of annual pilgrimage

Last year, the event was cancelled due to Israel’s conflict with Hezbollah.

|ByJERUSALEM POST STAFF
Israeli soldiers guard the bodies of victims of an attack following a mass infiltration by Hamas gunmen from the Gaza Strip, in Kibbutz Kfar Aza, in southern Israel, October 10, 2023.

The True conception: We continue to be endangered by our own assumptions

Let's at least be honest with ourselves: the conception is still here. We already know its price. See, we've been warned.

|ByMOSHE KLUGHAFT
Ultra-Orthodox Jews look at stairs with waste on it in Mount Meron, northern Israel, following the Mount Meron tragedy. April 30, 2021.

Mount Meron disaster is a tragedy, but also a cautionary tale - editorial

Israel – especially its government – must learn from its mistakes; otherwise, the next disaster may be just as tragic or worse.

|ByJPOST EDITORIAL

Shabtai: I will not let the police be a scapegoat for Mount Meron

Public Security Minister Amir Ohana said that members of the media have attempted to drive wedges between police and government officials.

MAY 8, 2021ByJERUSALEM POST STAFF
Public Security Minister Amir Ohana with Israel Police chief nominee Kobi Shabtai

One week after Mount Meron, Chief of Police discusses the tragedy

In a conversation with N12, Kobi Shabtai recounts why he decided not to call for a commission of inquiry • The Police knew there were dangers and weaknesses, but couldn't do anything about it.

MAY 8, 2021ByJERUSALEM POST STAFF
Rabbi Avigdor HAYUT and his son Shmuel meet the Bedouin police officer, Rami Alwan, who helped save them at Mount Meron. The family was sitting shiva for Yedidyia, 13, who died in the disaster.

Mount Meron disaster: Behind the scenes of the Abu Kir investigation

HEALTH AFFAIRS: ‘They came from a big festival and suddenly, death’

MAY 8, 2021ByMAAYAN JAFFE-HOFFMAN
NEXT OF KIN of the victims of last week’s tragedy at Mount Meron arrive at the Abu Kabir Forensic Institute in Tel Aviv to identify the bodies of their loved ones.

Meron tragedy throws up questions of faith

And the most pervasive question of all: Why did God allow this to happen?

MAY 7, 2021BySTEWART WEISS
PEOPLE CELEBRATE the lighting of a bonfire on Mount Meron during Lag Ba’omer last month.

Senator Chuck Schumer to Meron mourners: 'I have deep faith in Hashem'

The families of the victims sitted for the week of shiva, the Jewish rituals of mourning during which the bereaved receives visits and attentions in the memory of the lost ones.

MAY 7, 2021ByJERUSALEM POST STAFF
Sen. Chuck Schumer at a news briefing with new Democratic senators at the US Capitol, Jan. 21, 2021.

The power of civic solidarity after tragedy to bring us together - opinion

The Arabs understand the pain of the ultra-Orthodox. They experience the same contempt from the police and the minister of public security.

MAY 7, 2021ByGHAIDA RINAWIE ZOABI
A CROWD at Rabin Square in Tel Aviv lights candles on Sunday for the 45 victims who died in a crush during Lag Ba’omer celebrations at Mount Meron.

Mount Meron tragedy: Night of unity, respect, helping others - opinion

Our students never blamed the police or the hassidim. They showed concern for everyone.

MAY 7, 2021ByJEFF SEIDEL
United Hatzalah medics work to help injured at Meron, April 30, 2021

Mount Meron tragedy shows need for bolstering religious Jewish unity

Over and over again, the same refrains were uttered: “We must unite,” “We all share the same fate” and “We must learn to live together with one another despite our differences.”

MAY 7, 2021ByMICHAEL FREUND
PERHAPS WE should view our collective goal not as promoting unity per se but a sense of fraternity

Is Rabbi Shimon Bar Yochai really buried at Meron? It’s complicated

On one hand some rock cut burials dating back to the time of the Mishna are present in Meron. On the other, no archaeological evidence linking them to the Rabbi Shimon Bar Yochai was ever found.

MAY 7, 2021ByROSSELLA TERCATIN
Ultra-Orthodox Jewish man prays outside the Tomb of Rabbi Shimon bar Yochai on Mt. Meron in northern Israel on May 6, 2020

The Mount Meron tragedy is the ultra-Orthodox's Chernobyl disaster

MIDDLE ISRAEL: Who will be part of the commission of inquiry, what will they investigate, what will it find and what will these findings mean?

MAY 6, 2021ByAMOTZ ASA-EL
Ultra-Orthodox Jews look at stairs with waste on it in Mount Meron, northern Israel, where fatalities were reported among the thousands of ultra-Orthodox Jews gathered at the tomb of a 2nd-century sage for annual commemorations that include all-night prayer and dance, April 30, 2021.