An article in the Haaretz newspaper this morning (Sunday) calls for "cancelling the holiday of Lag BaOmer.".
The author of the article, Amotz Asael, a research fellow at the Hartman Institute, claims that it is unclear what Israel is celebrating when it abandons its children to a "pagan celebration of vandalism, gluttony, filth, and smoke-filled celebrations," as he puts it.
The author of the article ignores throughout the celebration of the Day of Rejoicing of Rabbi Shimon Bar Yochai, author of the book 'The Zohar,' and why the custom of lighting bonfires took root.
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And so he begins his remarks: "Once again, the bonfires are about to cover the earth, and once again no one asks what, in fact, all this pyromania is good for. Well, the Israeli fire festival is bad in every way - aesthetically, safety, environmentally and nationally. The stench of smoke causes thousands to lock themselves in their homes, but even after they wake up to the sight of scorched fields, felled trees and looted construction sites, the Lag BaOmer detractors are silent, as if behind this night of flames lies an ancient, deep and important tradition.
""And what else could justify the vandalism of property and the burning of children's tongues with charred potatoes and marshmallows, not to mention the annual crop of burn victims who are rushed to hospitals on this night? Surely there is a reason, people say, something like, say, the defeat of Haman or the victory of the Maccabees. Well - there is no reason, certainly not a good reason.".
According to him, "The roots of the Israeli Lag BaOmer are not somewhere among the sages of the Talmud and Kabbalah, but rather it is a bizarre invention of Zionist educators who hoped that the glorification of Bar Kochba, the lighting of bonfires and the shooting of arrows from bows would contribute to the shaping of a new Jew. The thought of a fierce-looking and fearless Jew who stormed the Roman army with his soldiers rightly ignited the Zionist imagination, but in Lag BaOmer it gave birth to a cultural caricature, an environmental hazard and an educational monster.".
""Lighting bonfires in the open air was unthinkable until the rise of Zionism, and in the Diaspora, Lag BaOmer is ignored to this day. In Israel, on the other hand, the holiday shuts down kindergartens and schools, even though Israeli society makes no attempt to explain what it is actually celebrating when it abandons its children to a pagan celebration of vandalism, gluttony, filth, and smoke-filled groves.".
He concludes his remarks with the following words: "It's true, the Israeli Lag BaOmer doesn't kill. It only wounds; wounds the landscape and property, wounds children, and when combined with Bar Kochba, it may also wound the soul. The time has come to extinguish the foreign fire in which this absurd holiday is immersed, and to bid it farewell.".
