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Thursday, May 31, 2007

The Grinch of Lag BaOmer

The Grinch of Lag BaOmer

Call me the Grinch if you must, but I just don’t get this Lag BaOmer business. Sure it is a day to be happy, after all according to the Gemara in Yevamot (62b) this is the day that the students of Rabbi Akiva stopped dying and he was able to begin again to spread Torah sheBa’al Peh with five new students. This day was traditionally celebrated by Ashkenazim with the time honoured ‘not saying tachanun’ (which is always a cause for celebration in its own right). OK, sure, people could get married and cut their hair on this day (and laugh at the Sefardim for having to wait one more day – the annual Ashkenazi leniency ‘laugh at Sefardi’ day – they more than get their own back during Pesach), and even listen to music (which of course I’m doing right now – it is amazing that I can listen to a radio station in Kansas city while sitting here in Jerusalem – and the DJs sound very American, which is another reason to be happy – funny accents day).
But when did it become the pyromaniacs’ holiday? I have searched through many books of minhagim and can’t find anything talking about bonfires on this day. If you are reading this from the USA you may not have heard of bonfires either – it seems to be a peculiar Israeli custom (unless it has been brought over by Israelis or others to foreign soil). The Jerusalem forest takes a year to recover from the fires lit last year, the charred soil turns back to green just in time to do it all again.
The reason given for the fires is that they are a yarzheit candle for Rabbi Shimon Bar Yochai. The only two problem with this are that he didn’t die on this day (I know everyone thinks that he did, but it is a mistake based on later additions by the printers to the kitvei arizal). And if it was his yarzheit we should listen to the Chatam Sofer (Toras Moshe at the end of Bechukosai) who can’t understand why we should be happy on the anniversary of a death. On the yarzheit of Moshe Rabbeinu for example (7th of Adar) it is a fast day for the chevra kadisha and anshei ma’aseh.
The other reason given is that when the Zohar was revealed and Rabbi Shimon taught it to his students a fire descended from Heaven and encircled them. We find many times in the Talmud that when learning the kabbalistic secrets of ma’aseh merkava a fire descends (if you are learning daf yomi you will remember this from Chagiga 13b). But what has that got to do with bonfires?
It is actually worse than it seems, because the kids all stay up way too late with their bonfires, and therefore school is cancelled the next day!!!!! So the way to celebrate the revelation of Torah is to cancel Torah learning! Doesn’t make any sense to me.
Why don’t we just do away with the bonfires, avoid the dangers to people, animals and forests, and learn Torah instead. That much of a Grinch I’m not. If you must learn kabbalah on that night – go for it (even if you haven’t yet filled your belly with Shas and Poskim), just don’t become a Madonnaitic kabbalist.
Even better - today is also the yarzheit of the Rama, so why don’t we celebrate his death by learning Shulchan Aruch? You can’t go wrong with a bit of halacha!
If anyone can tell me the origin or source of the bonfire minhagim I would be very interested to hear it (I suspect some of you are old enough to remember it – I can’t believe that we have been doing this for more than a couple of decades).

And to the Chasidim who decided it was a mitzvah to play loud (and very bad Jewish) music outside my window in the middle of the night, and who woke up my kids – thanks for nothing. Tip for next year – bring along the Israel Philharmonic, or even Jethro Tull, and I’ll be out there rockin’ with you. Until then, keep your gartels to yourselves.

Rabbi David Sedley