![]() We do not find a large plague in the Holy Land during the lifetime of Rabbi Akiva in reliable historical sources. We cannot return to the world as it was, but we can guide the world to a better place. This brief story reminds us that when a challenging period comes to an end, we need to balance our sense of loss for the past and concern for the future with acceptance and hope. Plagues do not last forever, but by the time they end, the world is often radically changed. The memory of a disastrous epidemic served as a powerful metaphor for the sense of dislocation felt by our ancestors in the Land of Israel in the 2nd century CE. Plagues were not uncommon in the world of late antiquity. With effort, he found more students, and five of them, Rabbi Meir, Rabbi Judah, Rabbi Yossi, Rabbi Shimon, and Rabbi Eleazar ben Shammua, became some of the most important teachers in the Talmudic tradition. (Yebamot 62b Shulchan Orach, Orach Chayyim 493). ![]() According to Jewish tradition, Lag BaOmer marks the day on which a plague that killed 24,000 students of Rabbi Akiva came to an end. One well-known Lag BaOmer legend has particular meaning for us, as we seem to be emerging from the COVID-19 pandemic. We take inspiration from the great sages and their students who preserved Jewish autonomy through their dedication to the study and promulgation of our sacred traditions in a period of persecution. We honor the great sage and mystic, Shimon Bar Yochai, and the depth of the Jewish spiritual imagination. We remember the courage of Bar Kokhba and the failed final revolt against Roman tyranny. Many of these accounts relate to events in the tumultuous 2nd century CE through which Judaism as we know it took on its present form. ![]() We have, however, filled this gap with many stories and legends that express the joys and fears, triumphs and failures of the Jewish people. We have long forgotten why the 33rd day of the Omer is significant. Lag BaOmer is a day for picnics, bonfires, nature walks, and happy occasions. While this is traditionally a time of restricted activity, avoidance of celebration, and cautious consideration, we take a break on the 33rd day of the count, Lag BaOmer, to celebrate life. According to the Jewish calendar, we are currently in the period of the counting of the Omer, the time in which we remember the daily offering of grain to the Temple during the weeks of the harvest between Pesach and Shavuot.
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