Friday, May 20, 2022
Mount Meron festivities pass peacefully, but pilgrims gripe at new safety measures
The success of this year's Lag B'Omer festivities is in the eye of the beholder: To the government and the organizers, Wednesday night was a resounding triumph, with all of the tens of thousands of pilgrims who ascended to the tomb of Rabbi Shimon Bar Yochai safely making their way back down. To most of those pilgrims, however, the event, known as the Hillula, was a pale shadow of its former self, lacking all the joy and vibrancy of the past.
Last year's gathering saw 45 people trampled to death in a mass panic in the worst civil disaster in Israel's history, prompting sweeping — arguably draconian — changes to the format of the event to ensure the safety of the participants. So far that aim has been achieved.
"Thank God, as of now the Hillula has passed peacefully. Tens of thousands of people celebrated the Hillula of Bar Yochai on Meron tonight," Deputy Religious Services Minister Matan Kahana said in a video statement on Thursday morning.
A small number of pilgrims clashed with police on Thursday morning in protest of the new safety precautions, but the incident was relatively minor and ended quickly.
The event began on a somber note on Wednesday evening before sundown with a memorial service for those killed at the site last year; their names were read out and 45 candles were lit in their memory. But after nightfall and the recitation of evening prayers, the Lag B'Omer celebrations began to look much as they did in previous years, albeit with far fewer people and far more barricades and guardrails. This included a set of two rails that led next to Bar Yochai tomb but prevented worshipers from actually approaching the grave as they normally would be able to. These rails, resembling those used to direct livestock, prompted some pilgrims to accuse the organizers and police of treating them "like animals."
Despite these initial grumblings, shortly after 8 p.m., the head of the Boyan Hasidic sect lit the ceremonial bonfire to mark the start of the holiday and a Klezmer band immediately launched into a traditional song about Bar Yochai, prompting the 16,000 people on the mountain to break into a frenzied dance.
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