Hundreds of thousands of devout Jews flocked to a holy site in northern Israel to celebrate Lag B’Omer. Police posted 3,000 personnel at Rabbi Shimon Bar Yochai’s tomb near the northern town of Meron to secure Sunday’s annual celebrations, at which pilgrims danced around bonfires and three-year-old boys had their first haircuts. Lag B’Omer commemorates Bar Yochai, a miracle-worker who evaded capture during the Roman occupation of ancient Israel, as well as his Talmudic master Rabbi Akiva. The festival also ends the Omer mourning period that begins after Passover.
The Archive of the Jewish Telegraphic Agency includes articles published from 1923 to 2008. Archive stories reflect the journalistic standards and practices of the time they were published.
