Monthly Archives: May 2021

As a Jewish believer in Yeshua who has been involved in dialogue with the rabbinic community for the last 50 years, I found Josh Feinbergs May 4 article in Israel Today, titled, Oral Law vs Nice Culture, both disturbing and surprising.

Feinberg wrote his article in response to a recentdebatebetween Messianic Jew Eitan Bar and ultra-Orthodox Rabbi Chaim Shitrit, noting that the debate was called historic by some leaders in the Israeli Messianic community, a claim that Feinberg dismissed.

What Feinberg seems to have missed is that in many ways this debate was historic, since it was conducted in Israel, in Hebrew, between two Jews, focused totally on the Oral Law. Has this happened before in a public setting? Not to my knowledge.

But it is Feinbergs arguments on behalf of the Oral Law that were most concerning, since they are the very same arguments Ive heard from rabbis for decades as to why no Jew should believe in Yeshua.

Feinberg wrote: But the real wonder is why MessianicJewsare still so preoccupied with an issue settled more than two millennia ago. Jews as a whole long ago rejected the Sadducees literal interpretation of the Torah, which among other things lead them to deny resurrection from the dead because, to follow Eitan Bars argument, it is not once mentioned in the text.

Is Feinberg not aware that this is the identical argument we hear when it comes to Yeshua? The Jewish leaders settled this 2,000 years ago. Jesus is not the Messiah.

Or, as an ultra-Orthodox rabbi said to me in the early 1970s, We have an unbroken chain of tradition going straight back to Moses. Who are you to teach me what to believe?

Thats why this is such a major issue to us as Jews. Its a matter of authority. Its a matter of who is following the true interpretation of Scripture. This is hardly a trivial matter.

As an Orthodox Jewish website explains: In many respects, the Oral Torah is more important than the Written Torah. . . . It is even more dear to God than the Written Torah. The Oral Torah is the means through which we devote our lives to God and His teachings.

Of course this is an issue to Messianic Jews who look to Yeshua and the New Covenant writings as our final authority. And it was Yeshua who rebuked some of the Jewish leaders of His day, saying, You leave the commandment of God and hold to the tradition of men. . . . You have a fine way of rejecting the commandment of God in order to establish your tradition! (Mark 7:8-9)

As for the matter of the Oral Law being settled more than two millennia ago, that is hardly accurate, as is evident from ancient Jewish literature dating to the late Second Temple era (such as 4QMMT from Qumran), where there was heated debate between the varied Jewish sects, a debate that was not settled by the universal agreement of the Jewish community but by the destruction of the Second Temple and the eventual triumph of the Pharisees.

Not only so, but it appears clear that in the first 300-400 years of this era, the early Messianic Jews (called Nazarenes) continued to live as Jews (to the consternation of the increasingly Gentile church) while at the same time rejecting the emerging rabbinic traditions, along with rabbinic authority.

As for the idea that Bars rejection of the Oral Law based on it not being found in the Bible parallels the Sadducean rejection of the resurrection because it was not found in the Torah, this too is wrong since:

Feinberg claims that without Oral Law Jesus teaching about resurrection can neither be verified nor justified, by which he apparently means oral traditions. But we only have those traditions today because they were put in writing, and it is the written Word of God that carries ultimate authority.

As for Feinbergs claim that there are Jews today only because their forefathers lived by the Oral Law, that is a serious overstatement. Rather, there are Jews today only because God graciously chose to preserve us. Whether He used these traditions or not is really beside the point, unless you believe Jews could not have observed the Sabbath over the centuries without knowing every detail of the Talmuds 39 divisions of labor.

Feinberg makes the mistaken claim that religious groups that only follow the Scriptures cannot exist for long. To the contrary, the Karaites are still here, more than one millennium after being marginalized by the rabbinic community, while, on the Christian side, Protestant Christians recently celebrated more than 500 years of Reformation, rejecting the traditions of the Catholic Church and holding to sola Scriptura.

Yet theres even a caption to a photo in the article which reads, The Oral Law, now written down as part of the Talmud, is the focus of ultra-Orthodox learning, even more so than the Bible, which irks Messianic Jews. Well, it should irk Messianic Jews, since:

How then does Feinberg justify his embrace of the Oral Law? He points to the common phrase, the Lord said to Moses, speak to the Israelites, then claiming, This means that the covenant between God and Israel, that was made soon after the crossing of the Red Sea, was based entirely on the Torah that Mosesspoketo Israel.

This is patently false, as passages like Exod 24:1-8; Deut 17:18-20; 31:2429; and Josh 1:8, among others, make perfectly clear. (Please take a moment to read these passages for yourself; for an in-depth study, see volume five of my series, Answering Jewish Objections to Jesus.)

Exodus 34:27 also makes this explicit: And the LORD said to Moses: Write down these commandments, for in accordance with these commandments I make a covenant with you and with Israel.

Yet Feinberg actually quotes this verse, citing a rabbinic interpretation that turns the meaning of the text upside down, as if it supports the Oral Torah rather than the written Torah.

Indeed, the Talmudic interpretation is purely homiletical and completely unsustainable exegetically and grammatically; Feinberg even acknowledges it sounds farfetched. Why on earth cite it, then?

For Feinberg, however, the Torah cannot be observed without the Oral Law. Without it, he writes, the people of Israel cant be obedient to God. Without the Oral Law, Israel cant be united as one distinguishable nation.

But how is it, then, that these same rabbis, the guardians of the nation, can be trusted to tell us how God wants us to build a sukkah, allegedly passing on the exact dimensions that God gave to Moses on Sinai, yet they cannot be trusted to recognize the real Messiah? And how is it that these sages could know every detail of Sabbath observance, including that you can only use a soft brush on your hair on the Sabbath, but they could be so wrong about the Messiah, and for 2,000 years, at that?

In keeping with this, an ultra-Orthodox rabbi pointed out to me that the Oral Law is a living tradition with living rabbinic authorities. If you, as a Messianic Jew, told him you upheld the Oral Law, he would ask you, First, who is your current, rabbinic authority, the one whose rulings you submit to? Second, you are an idolator and you need to repent.

In other words, you dont get to say, I adhere to rabbinic teaching and the authority of the Oral Law, but not when it comes to the most essential areas of my faith.

As for Messianic Jews today picking and choosing which customs they may follow, thats what other Jews do as well, from Reform to Conservative to Modern Orthodox to Haredi. There is nothing unusual here.

Feinberg ends his article with a lengthy quote from Rabbi Ouri Amos Cherki, culminating with these words: the essence of the covenant God made with Israel is seen through the life shaped in the Beit Midrash, a life of Oral Law.

Unfortunately, that life is one without Yeshua, one that would spit on the New Covenant writings, one that is an enemy of the gospel (Rom 11:28).

Yet I do not disparage the rabbis of the Talmud nor do I denigrate our traditions. I simply say the obvious: there is not an unbroken chain of tradition going back to Moses on Mt. Sinai.

Where those traditions contradict the letter or the spirit of the Law, or where they misunderstand the person of the Messiah or the nature of redemption, we do well to ignore those traditions and follow what is written. That alone is the path of life.

Dr. Michael L. Brown is a noted Messianic Jewish apologist and the author of more than forty books. His website is AskDrBrown.org.

Israel Today reached out to Josh Feinberg and he sent the following reply to Dr. Browns essay:

I am flabbergasted by the sheer audacity of this dogmatic essay, which assumes that all the wisdom of Israels sages combined is no match for one luminary who doesnt even realize that it is the Oral Law that preserved the Hebrew language without which the Hebrew Bible cannot be understood, and the true meaning of the language would be lost.. But he knows the truth and they dont. Why? Because they have rejected Jesus. Oh, that Dr. Brown would understand that the way he portrays Judaism and Jews is identical to the infamous image of the blindfold Synagoga standing humiliated before the triumphant Ecclesia. Oh, and for heavens sake, that Dr. Brown would learn something from Paul, who was not so proud to stand silent in the face of the mystery of Israel.

Read more:

The Truth About the Oral Law - A Response to Josh Feinberg - Israel Today

An Ilhan wind blows

Regarding IDF braces for combat as rockets target Jerusalem (May 11), as I write this letter, Hamas has fired some 300 rockets into civilian areas in the past 24 hours, causing injuries, property damage and fear. Like many Jews in my region, my family spent a somewhat restless night punctuated by explosions in a bomb shelter last night.

The reasons Hamas has so far failed to kill innocent people include: 1) the Iron Dome 2) citizens reacting responsibly by staying in protected areas and 3) prevention (by intercepting the Karine A weapons ship, for instance) of some of the most advanced weaponry from reaching Hamas terrorist hands.

As no country would tolerate having their civilians be randomly targeted and exploded as Hamas is doing to Israel, one would expect all nations and individuals to condemn this obvious war crime/ crime against humanity. But no. Scan Twitter and you will find that many people are perversely outraged at Israel, falsely accusing it of terrorism, genocide, apartheid, colonialism and just about every other evil imaginable.

Prominent US Democrat Ilhan Omar calls to condemn Israel! She just tweeted, Israeli air strikes killing civilians in Gaza is an act of terrorism. Palestinians deserve protection. Unlike Israel, missile defense programs, such as Iron Dome, dont exist to protect Palestinian civilians. Its unconscionable to not condemn these attacks on the week of Eid, ignoring facts such as: 1) Only Gazans are shooting rockets at civilians and 2) Israel developed its Iron Dome for defense from rocket terrorism.

Arabs rocketing Israeli civilians brings to mind Nazis in World War II rocketing British civilians. Hamas has tens of thousands of missiles; Hezbollah has hundreds of thousands of rockets and then there are millions of people and even leaders like Omar who begrudge Israel the basic human right to defend itself.

Israel is at a severe disadvantage. Hopefully it will find a way to achieve resilience and prevail.

MICHAEL MEIRI

Ashkelon

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As rockets from Gaza pound Israeli homes, schools and more, totally disrupting our lives and serenity, the Arabs know that any Israeli military response will only work to their benefit in the propaganda war to demonize Israel. They win no matter what.

One wonders whether the Israelis should do something totally unexpected in return nothing!

Maybe we should go to the United Nations and our allies in the world and say, The Arabs are doing this evil thing to us. We have the capability to deliver a devastating response, but we will refrain entirely to give you a chance to stop the rain of terror from Gaza. We will give you several days to force them to stop and impose suitable condemnation and punishment on an international scale.

If you fail to do so, we will have no other option than to conclude that we have no choice but to act militarily but do not dare to criticize us when we do.

LEV FOGEL

Ramat Aviv

Two of the many disturbing pictures in the paper from Jerusalem Day (May 11)?

1) The Jewish man trying to defend himself from a Palestinian lynch mob after his car was attacked and 2) Arabs cheering the rockets as they are fired at civilians.

We gave away all of Gaza and this is what we got. What sane person could possibly entertain the thought of giving away even more of our homeland?

IRENE MOYAL

Ashdod

Emily Schraders article (How Palestinians lost Jerusalem, May 11) keeps repeating that the Palestinians never had Jerusalem. Of course not. They did not exist and remain a bogus nation.

Just as the eastern neighborhoods of Jerusalem were illegally occupied by Transjordan, so was all they grabbed of Judea and Samaria. No part of the land or city belonged to the so-called Palestinians.

Schraders article suggests that those intransigent Arab leaders who instill hatred in their children, pay their people to slaughter Jews, stir up revolts like the present one in Jerusalem, fire rockets into civilian territory, and refuse any compromise with Israel because they insist that all the land is Arab land, have rights to the land they occupy. Not one inch of the land is theirs, not even Gaza, and they are no better than squatters. While Israel is willing to come to peaceful terms with them, they remain intractable.

Shame on our American allies for siding with these people. Do the Democrats want to lose their friendship with Israel? That, Im afraid, is where they are heading.

EDMUND JONAH

Rishon Lezion

As the headline actually contradicts the content of the article, one has to believe either that 1) the headline writer didnt have time to carefully read the article or that 2) The headline was written intentionally inaccurately for a reason we can only guess at.

JESSICA ROSEN

Jerusalem

I have long ago given up on journalists being exact in their reporting if not outright distorting the news for their own interests. The Posts bias against many topics (from Netanyahu to certain religious streams) is evident and now there is nothing to expect in the lost field of objective reporting of events.

Therefore I was not surprised by the headline Kanievsky: Meron tragedy due to womens immodesty (May 5), a case study in how a paper can distort statements and events to achieve a desired results. I must give credit to the reporter for accurately quoting what Rabbi Kaneivsky actually did say which wasa decree from Heaven and we cannot know the considerations of Heaven.

As always, when we receive a slap from Heaven we automatically try and use the slap to better ourselves in serving Hashem and therefore the rabbi was asked what needs to be rectified how can we better ourselves in serving Hashem and the rabbi answered that each should strengthen their fulfillments of their obligations which is studying Torah for men and modest clothing for women.

I do not expect your journalists to understand this because 1. This is not the way they think or relate to anything that is publicized in the haredi public and more importantly 2. It just is not interesting for them or for your readers, so the truth must be distorted to elicit strong reactions.

Nevertheless, I must protest the injustice, the bias, the inaccuracies and the downright purposefully distorting of statements and events just to drive an agenda.

YOSEF TUCKER

Jerusalem

Regarding Jerusalem Day: Temple Mount to be closed to Jewish visitors (May 10), I could, perhaps, understand closure of Har Habayit (The Temple Mount) to Jews if it were closed to Muslims as well.

Regardless of the fact that this might save lives, in what tortured-logic universe is the trouble-maker rewarded and the blameless punished?

This situation is just one more reason to question the notion that these are people with whom a peace deal could ever be made.

CHAIM A. ABRAMOWITZ

Jerusalem

Regarding A dangerous left-wing govt (May 10), I always enjoy Susan Hattis Rolefs articles. I learn a great deal from them and always accept her invitation to Think about it.

I was fascinated to read about the origin of the expressions Left and Right in politics. Unfortunately, there is a loose end. When Sulla and Marius were squabbling about how best to run the Roman republic, about a century before Julius Caesar, Sulla was designated right and Marius left. The Latin for left hand is sinistra, the root of the English word sinister. Apparently, this is not an accident. To tie this to the French Revolution requires time travel, which involves science fiction.

Rolef also emphasizes the connection between social democracy and the welfare state. While this is true, one should also give credit where credit is due. The first modern welfare state was introduced by that arch-conservative Otto von Bismarck. He had a good reason, which he explained by the following quote: Give a working man a pension and he looses his interest in revolution. Bismarcks system is the model for all the modern Western European welfare states.

I have read that socialist thinker Karl Marx did not like these nasty reactionary tricks since they delayed his expected proletarian revolution.

ALBERT JACOB

Beersheba

In the front-page article Israel on high alert following weekend of violence (May 9), the US State Department referred to Sheikh Jarrah and Silwan without mentioning their Hebrew names, Shimon Hatzadik and Kfar Hashiloach, respectively (though they did use Haram al-Sharif/Temple Mount).

My recollection is that The Jerusalem Post itself rarely uses the Hebrew names of these two areas. Why not? It might even start referring to the Hebrew names of Yehudah and Shomron, instead of the term West Bank, a relic of Jordans illegal occupation of those areas.

As a publication that is read widely outside of Israel, surely it is incumbent on it to adopt this practice.

MERVYN DOOBOV

Jerusalem

Hannity is a known supporter of Israel in fact more supportive than many American Jews. Just because he is critical of Bernie Sanderss communistic approach does not make Hannity antisemitic.

Dont fall into the PC trap of other news organizations and adopt the liberal narrative; look at the facts and actions of Hannity.

JONATHAN BLINKEN

Englewood NJ

Your newspaper delivered a major insult by accusing Sean Hannity of antisemitism. It is quite the opposite. Hannity has always been a defender of Israel. Thank God for his presence in the US media.

The real antisemitism comes from Bolshevik Bernie Sanders and there is absolutely nothing wrong by stating what that Vermont senator is and stands for.

Currently in the US there seems to be a limitation on free speech thanks to Sanders, the media and big tech. I just hope Israel does not copy the current painful trends in the US. That would be a disaster for the Jewish state. Freedom of speech is in the US Constitution although there are some who want to change this.

Israel should cherish Sean Hannity, who is better to the Jewish people than many Jewish people are to their own!

LORRAINE KUPITZ

New York

Canadian Foreign Minister Marc Garneau should study Article 80 of the United Nations Charter, an international treaty that his country and every other one of the 193 members of the United Nations is bound by. (Canada, Quartet Slam Jerusalem Violence, Intl Pressure Grows On Israel, May 9)

Article 80 preserves rights granted to the Jewish people under the British Mandate and recognizes what today is Israel as the reconstituted homeland of the Jewish people, including Jerusalem, going back 4,000 years. The charter is an international treaty and supersedes any vote of the UN Security Council or the General Assembly, and is therefore the controlling international law. Article 80 prohibits the UN from transferring this land to a non-Jewish entity. This land is vested in the Jewish people. Article 80 protects Article 6 of the mandate, which authorizes Jewish people to establish settlements thereon.

If the Canadian foreign minister is going to cite international law, he should be citing Article 80 of the United Nations Charter.

RICHARD SHERMAN

Margate, Florida

Regarding Sensing victory, Jerusalem shabab turn Sheikh Jarrah dispute into major crisis (May 9), over 4,000 Arabs have bought homes in Jewish Jerusalem suburbs such as Ramot Eshkol, Armon HaNetziv and French Hill and no one cares, but if a Jew moves into a predominantly Arab neighborhood, then left-wing radicals are roused to action.

Property ownership is based on title. The Arab neighborhood of Silwan, was originally Kfar HaShiloah or Shiloach, a Jewish Yemenite village founded in 1882, long before any Arabs lived there. It housed 150 families until Arab riots wiped most of them out in the 1920s and 30s. In 1938, British police, who did nothing to protect the Jews, forced out the remaining Jesish families and Arabs moved in.

In both Shiloach and the Shimon Hatzadik neighborhood, now called Sheikh Jarrah, Jewish title is clear.

Today Jewish life is growing in Jerusalems Old City, the City of David, the Mount of Olives, Silwan and Sheikh Jarrah.

Conversely, under PA law, it is a capital offense to sell land to Jews, few would deny Jews the right to live in peace among their Christian and Muslim neighbors in any part of Jerusalem.

No international laws have been violated except by the Arabs who have been illegally squatting on Jewish property and the PA, which punishes Arabs who dare sell to Jews.

LEN BENNETT

Ottawa, On.

In Meron tragedy underscores dangerous divisions in Israel (May 6) Dan Perry uses the loss of 45 lives as a hook on which to hang hatred of haredi Jews. Yet it is he who is advocating division! He writes, Secular people... cannot truly be expected to respect the haredi way. He uses broad brush strokes in his condemnation of all ultra-orthodox and totally distorts the lifestyle of his fellow Jews.

They simply do not care essentially about the other he claims, when Torah-observant Jews actually live by the mitzvah Love your neighbor as yourself.

The Talmud teaches us how to disagree without being disagreeable. It reminds us that we do not have to say everything we think out loud; out of respect for others it is sometimes more appropriate to remain silent. The Talmud also suggests that even while respecting others, we can still turn our heads away from opinions we do not accept; we can show both respect and also discretely and politely remain true to our own beliefs.

We must seek to expand the definition of we and shrink the definition of they. We must examine our own faults and shortcomings before searching for them in others. Perry would be well advised to remember that the antisemitic world does make a distinction between one Jew and another.

He also alleges that haredim have contributed to one of the highest infection rates in the world. He is experienced in disseminating fake news, having been chief of the associated press in the Middle East. Actually the yeshivot (haredi study institutions) became centers of herd immunity.

No anti-haredi subject is spared, even the birthrate, which he suggests will in a few generations bring about the collapse of the house of cards an apparent metaphor for the State of Israel.

He belittles the Meron disaster by quoting some who did not place any importance on Israels national tragedy but place more importance on the stampede at the Mecca haj and the European soccer stadium accident. The article is dripping with hate.

WALTER BINGHAM

Jerusalem

The rest is here:

Letters to the Editor May 12, 2021: An Ilhan wind blows - The Jerusalem Post

Apart from the moons Enceladus of Saturn and Europa of Jupiter that contain lunar water, Earth is the only solar object known to have plenty of water on its surface. About 71% of the Earths surface is covered by water bodies such as oceans, seas, lakes, rivers, streams, gulfs, and bays. However, oceans are the largest of the water bodies, covering about 361 million km2. The World Ocean carries rich historical, cultural, and economic significance and has been the source of numerous mythologies and legends. One of the phrases linked to the world's oceans and related seas is the Seven Seas.

Today, the Seven Seas concept is often linked to pirates and their ventures, with pirates in popular culture referring to sailing the seven seas. In various past and present cultures, the Seven Seas referred to regional water bodies, exotic water bodies, or water bodies used as trade routes. However, the origin of the phrase Seven Seas is not well-known, although popular references point to the pieces of literature dating back several centuries.

The phrase was popular in Chinese, Hindu, Roman, and Persian ancient literature, with most of these cultures frequenting the Mediterranean Sea and the seas around the Middle East like The Black Sea and the Red Sea. The phrase came into use long before Eurasian inhabitants discovered some of the oceans known today. The list of water bodies that were part of the Seven Seas varied from culture to culture and changed over time. Moreover, the seas were not seven in a literal sense because the number may have been used by other cultures to represent many.

In some cultures, the Seven Seas represented the various trade routes within their reach. Others used the phrase to refer to any known seas, bays, gulfs, and parts of oceans they had access to. In yet other cultures, it referred to waterways that were distant and strange. Moreover, the word seas was also used to refer to the seas that never existed. Thus, there has never been a universal list or meaning of the Seven Seas.

According to the Arabs and their neighbors, the Seven Seas were water bodies to the East that facilitated their voyage, trade, and spread of Islam. These seas included the Bay of Bengal, Arabian Sea, Gulf of Thailand, Singapore Strait, Strait of Malacca, South China Sea, and the Persian Gulf. For the Greeks, the seas included the Caspian, Mediterranean, Adriatic, Aegean, Black, and Red Seas, and the Persian Gulf.

In Medieval Europe, the concept of Seven Seas referred to the Arabian, Red, Black, Mediterranean, Caspian, and the Adriatic Sea, including some of their marginal seas. After the Europeans discovered North America, the concept also included the North Sea, Atlantic Ocean, Pacific Ocean, Arctic Ocean, Indian Ocean, Gulf of Mexico, and the Caribbean Sea. For the Persians, the term referred to the streams that formed the Oxus River. According to the Babylonian Talmud, the seven seas, along with four rivers, surrounded Israel, as recorded in Psalm 24:2. These seas are the Sea of Galilee, Dead Sea, Red Sea, Lake Hula, Sea of Aspamia, Birkat Ram, and the Mediterranean Sea.

From the 19th century to today, the phrase "Seven Seas" has been used to refer to the world's oceans. In the early modern days, the phrase referred to the four traditional oceans, Atlantic, Arctic, Indian, Pacific Oceans, alongside the Gulf of Mexico, the Mediterranean, and the Caribbean Sea. However, the last three bodies of water are part of the Atlantic Ocean. The Pacific and Atlantic Oceans are divided into two basins each, with the Southern Ocean also added to the list. Thus, the modern definition of the phrase includes Arctic, Indian, North Atlantic, North Pacific, South Atlantic, South Pacific, and the Southern Ocean. However, the World Ocean is geographically divided into five portions, Southern, Indian, Arctic, Atlantic, and Pacific Oceans.

Originally posted here:

The Seven Seas - World Atlas

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(THE CONVERSATION) The annual Lag BaOmer pilgrimage to Mount Meron in Israel attracts as many as half a million visitors every year. Because of COVID-19, this years event was less crowded, but even so, over 100,000 people were packed into a space with a capacity for perhaps 15,000. This overcrowding reportedly contributed to the recent tragedy, in which at least 45 people, mostly ultra-Orthodox Jews known as Haredim in Hebrew, died in a stampede.

This is by far the largest pilgrimage of Jews to what is believed to be the gravesite of the second-century Talmudic sage Rabbi Shimon Bar Yochai.

I have participated twice in the pilgrimage once in 1994 as a newly observant Jew seeking religious meaning, and again in 2001 as a scholar of Jewish history. What fascinates me about this pilgrimage is the way it weaves together Jewish mysticism, folk practices and modern-day nationalism.

Early history

The Jewish practice of worshipping at the graves of holy men is at least a thousand years old. Many Jews particularly those whose ancestry comes from the Arab world, called Mizrahim or Sephardim believe that these saints can act as their advocates in the celestial court. They pray at their gravesites for everything from children to good health to a livelihood.

The pilgrimage to Meron, in the hills of the Galilee near Safed in the northern part of Israel, initially focused on the graves of other holy figures said to be buried there, particularly the early rabbinic sages Hillel and Shamai, whose debates on Jewish law helped lay the foundation for rabbinic Judaism 2,000 years ago.

In the aftermath of the Jewish expulsion from Spain in 1492, Safed grew into an important center of Jewish mysticism, known in Hebrew as Kabbalah. The most important and influential of these mystics was the 16th-century scholar Isaac Luria, whose innovative teachings transformed Judaism and Jewish history. Under his influence, the focus of the Meron pilgrimage shifted to Shimon, whose burial place was among the many such graves of ancient rabbis that Luria identified with supernatural guidance.

Shimon is by tradition credited with the composition of the Zohar, the core text of all subsequent Jewish mysticism, though scholars have determined it was actually composed in 13th-century Spain.

Sixteenth-century mystics, and the Jews who follow in their footsteps, are thus particularly interested in connecting to him. They are especially interested in doing so on the anniversary of his death, when the Zohar states he revealed the deepest secrets about God, and pilgrims expect to experience a taste of that revelation. Since at least the 18th century, that date has been accepted as Lag BaOmer.

The pilgrimage

The Hebrew name of the holiday Lag BaOmer literally reflects its date in the Jewish calendar, the 33rd day of the Omer, the ritual counting of 50 days from the holiday of Passover, commemorating the exodus from Egypt, to Shavuot, commemorating Gods revelation and giving of the Torah, the Jewish holy canon.

These seven weeks are traditionally days of mourning commemorating the death of 24,000 students of the great sage Rabbi Akiva in the second century by plague, seen as a punishment by God. Only five people survived, including Shimon. Haircuts, music, weddings and all celebrations are prohibited during that seven-week period.

On Lag BaOmer, the restrictions are lifted in accordance with the tradition that on this day the plague ended. Mystical tradition credits this to Shimons death, which was understood as having the power to eradicate the decree of the plague. According to that tradition, Shimon instructed that the day of passing be celebrated rather than mourned, and thus was born the celebration we know today.

Rituals and prayers

In the 20th century, even before the founding of Israel, the Lag BaOmer pilgrimage to Meron grew into a mass event.

Pilgrims light bonfires symbolizing the light of Torah revealed by Shimon, or perhaps the literal fires that the Zohar states surrounded him at the moment of his death. In fact, they are lit not only at Meron, but throughout Israel and the world, although for some secular Zionists it evokes not Shimon but instead the Bar Kochba military rebellion against Rome that occurred around the same time.

Its earliest pilgrims were mostly Moroccan Jews who arrived in Israel intent on continuing their tradition of graveside visits to saints, convinced of the possibility of magical remedies and blessings through their holy intervention.

Many pilgrims celebrate the kabbalistic custom of giving a boy his first haircut, leaving behind the sidelocks, at 3 years of age. In recent years, ultra-Orthodox Jews of European ancestry especially Hasidim have increasingly dominated the site, although all sectors of Jewish society are represented there.

The pilgrimage is one of the only truly widespread expressions of folk religion in Judaism today. As anthropologist Edith Turnerwrote in her classic essay on Meron, pilgrims come to Meron with deep faith in its power to bring blessings to them. This is a popular celebration, with a long history that shimmers through the events at various points.

The celebration is an intense, highly packed event that offers participants an ecstatic experience of communing with God in a collective of tens, even hundreds of thousands, of fellow Jews.

I can certainly attest to this effect. In 1994, at the start of my journey into Orthodox Judaism, I joined the Lag BaOmer pilgrimage to Meron. At that time, the festival hosted many Moroccan Jews, who camped outside the main grounds. Several among them had live animals ready to be slaughtered and eaten to celebrate their sons first haircuts. The Ashkenazic Hasidic Jews sects of Jews from Eastern Europe deeply influenced by Jewish mysticism and devoted to their leaders dominated the inner spaces of the compound.

Everywhere I walked, people offered me free drinks, convinced of the promise that it would bring blessings to their family. Meanwhile, gender-segregated crowds sang and danced in unison for hours into the night, creating a palpable sense of euphoria and connection to a collective eternity. Some of us pushed inside to approach the gravesite and prayed for blessings of success, while others pushed to reach closer to the bonfires.

There were several fires, each representing a different Jewish community, although by custom the main fire is lit by the head of the Boyan Hasidim, so called because their leaders originally lived in the city of Boyan in Ukraine. It was in the area of a different Hasidic group, known as Toldos Aharon, that the tragedy on April 30, 2021, occurred. This group can be seen dancing this year, just before the tragedy.

By the time I returned in 2001, I had become a full-fledged Hasid myself and was living in Betar Illit, a massive Haredi settlement south of Jerusalem. I recall far fewer Moroccan families camping in tents. But the number of Haredim, joined by Sephardim, modern Orthodox and even secular pilgrims seemed to have exploded, serving to enhance that sense of eternal community, of Jewish connection across time and space.

I have long since left that Hasidic world, for a variety of reasons. But I do not for a moment discount the very real experience of divinity and eternity enjoyed by Meron pilgrims, and their deep need to return to it each year.

Political overtones

The events leading up to the deadly stampede need to be viewed in context of Haredi society in Israel today about 12% of the population, but growing rapidly and the power wielded by its leaders. Israels first prime minister, David Ben Gurion, granted Haredim extensive autonomy in their education system, military deferments, welfare funding and more. Israels parliamentary system, which offers small political parties disproportionate power, has carefully protected and expanded that autonomy.

As a result, Haredi leaders have successfully fought enforcement of government oversight and safety regulations, from COVID-19 restrictions to the Meron festival. Aryeh Deri, the interior minister and leader of the Sephardic Shas party, said on the eve of Lag BaOmer: This is a holy day, and the largest gathering of Jews [each year]. Bad things, he promised, dont happen to Jews on religious pilgrimage: One should trust in Rabbi Shimon in times of distress.

Similar sentiments were voiced by Haredi leaders when they prematurely opened their schools last year, promising that Torah study would hold the plague at bay. Countless officials had warned that Meron was a disaster waiting to happen.

One hopes that this tragedy will lead Haredim and other Israelis to accept government oversight and limits at the site.

One should not for a moment, however, discount the vital need of members of this community to bond with one another and God at this place, any more than we would discount the legitimacy of other religious and secular communities finding it elsewhere.

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Lag BaOmer pilgrimage brings Orthodox Jews closer to eternity I experienced this spiritual bonding in years before the tragedy - Alton Telegraph