What is Lag Ba'omer?

Origins

If Pesach and Rosh Hashanah are first division festivals, and Chanukah and Purim second, Lag Ba’Omer belongs to the third. Its name means the 33^rd day of the Omer and marks an interlude two thirds of the way between the Omer offering for the barley harvest at Pesach in ancient Israel and the celebration of the wheat harvest at Shavuot.

But the precise origins of the festival remain a mystery. According to talmudic legend, the disciples of the great sage Rabbi Akiva were ravaged by a plague because they failed to show respect for another, but this ceased on the 33^rd day of the Omer period. Hence its alternative name as “The Scholars’ Festival”. Very probably, it is linked in some way with Bar Kochba’s revolt against Roman rule in the second century, which was supported by Rabbi Akiva but eventually crushed. One theory is that Lag Ba’Omer commemorated a day when the battle might have gone the way of the Jewish rebels.

It became the custom for scholars to arrange archery contests with their students on that day, perhaps reflecting the historic fight against Rome. Nowadays, children may play with toy bows and arrows.

How is it celebrated?

Whether the disciples of Akiva actually died of a plague, or whether they perished in the uprising against Rome, the Omer became a season of semi-mourning, during which public entertainments and weddings were prohibited. But on Lag Ba’Omer, weddings are permitted and in some communities it marks the end of the mourning period altogether.