Lag Baomer

Lag BaOmer, the 33rd day of the Omer count, is a festive day on the Jewish calendar that honors the anniversary of the passing of Rabbi Shimon bar Yochai, author of the Zohar. It is celebrated with outings, bonfires, parades, and other joyous events. Many visit his resting place in Meron, northern Israel.

This year, Lag BaOmer begins at nightfall tonight, May 15, 2025, and ends at nightfall on Friday, May 16, 2025.

Rabbi Shimon bar Yochai, who lived in the second century of the Common Era, was the first to publicly teach the mystical dimension of the Torah known as the Kabbalah, and is the author of the classic text of Kabbalah, the Zohar. On the day of his passing, Rabbi Shimon instructed his disciples to mark the date as “the day of my joy.”

The chassidic masters explain that the final day of a righteous person’s earthly life marks the point at which all their deeds, teachings, and work achieve their culminating perfection and the zenith of their impact upon our lives. So each Lag BaOmer, we celebrate Rabbi Shimon’s life and the revelation of the esoteric soul of Torah.

Lag BaOmer also commemorates another joyous event. The Talmud relates that in the weeks between the Jewish holidays of Passover and Shavuot, a plague raged among the disciples of the great sage Rabbi Akiva, “because they did not act respectfully towards each other.” These weeks are therefore observed as a period of mourning, with various joyous activities proscribed by law and custom. On Lag BaOmer the deaths ceased. Thus, Lag BaOmer also carries the theme of loving and respecting one’s fellow.

Beginning in the 1950s, the Lubavitcher Rebbe encouraged Jewish children to join in grand Lag BaOmer parades to show Jewish unity and pride. Held in front of 770 Eastern Parkway in Brooklyn, New York, the parades attracted- and still attract- thousands of children from all walks of life.

In 1980, the Rebbe instructed that these parades and children’s rallies should also be arranged worldwide, especially in Israel. And to this day, Chabad organizes hundreds of parades around the world every year.

To learn more about Lag Baomer, please visit LagBaomer.org

Wishing you a Shabbat Shalom!

Candle lighting time in NYC is Friday, 7:50 PM.