Holidays and Traditions: Almaty Jewish Community Prepares to Celebrate Lag B’Omer

It is customary to celebrate the Jewish holiday, which symbolizes renewal and rebirth, in nature – to arrange picnics. This spring, after two years of the pandemic, there is again an opportunity to celebrate the holiday according to all the rules of tradition.

As the community center “Rimon” notes, the history of the ancient holiday intersects with recent events of our time: the events of Lag B’Omer are connected with the end of the plague epidemic, which affected the disciples of the Jewish sage Rabbi Akiva. It happened in ancient times. Among the survivors was Rabbi Shimon Yochai, a student of Rabbi Akiva, the founder of the Kabbalistic teachings.

Then the people who survived the epidemic were able to look at life in a new way, they realized how important it is to take care of each other and bring joy to each other.

At that time, a tradition arose to arrange picnics for the holiday. Today, the community plans to organize a field trip to celebrate the holiday in accordance with all the rules of tradition.

During a picnic, it is customary to arrange games, quizzes, talk about the holiday – to recall the biographies of Rabbi Akiva and Rabbi Shimon bar Yochai, whose works have become a treasure trove of Jewish theological thought.

This year Lag B’Omer is celebrated on May 19.