Lag Ba-omer and Shavuot
t w o  o b j e c t s

Lag Ba-omer

Lag Ba-omer, the 33rd day of the counting of the omer, is reckoned from the second day of Passover until Shavuot. The traditional mourning customs of abstention from hair-cutting, shaving, weddings, and entertainments observed during this period are lifted for this day. According to Talmudic and Midrashic sources, 24,000 disciples of Rabbi Akiva died of plague in this season because they did not treat each other with honor. The plague ceased on that day and consequently it became a holiday. In rabbinic writings, it is said that the manna of the desert wanderings (Exodus 16) began to fall on Lag Ba-omer, another reason for celebration. Observance is very popular in Israel, with the lighting of bonfires, outdoor camping, and weddings. It is useful to have an omer calendar for counting of the days with an appropriate liturgy.

Shavuot

Shavuot, the Feast of Weeks, is celebrated on the 6th of Sivan, one of the Pilgrim festivals (Deuteronomy 16:16). It marked the end of the barley harvest and the beginning of the wheat harvest. This falls fifty days after the second day of Passover. In ancient times, the villagers of Israel would bring their first ripe fruits to the Temple of Jerusalem. Both Passover and Shavuot are connected to the story of the exodus from Egypt.

            The earliest clear references to Shavuot’s being the anniversary of the giving of the Torah are from the third century. In European medieval communities, boys were introduced to Hebrew school on Shavuot. As they would make their first attempts at reading the Hebrew alphabet, they would be given a drop of honey, “That Torah might be sweet upon the lips.” In modern times, in America particularly, Reform congregations set this day aside for the confirmation of boys and girls at age sixteen.

            After the destruction of the Temple, Shavuot was commemorated by the reading of the Book of Ruth in the synagogue, and from Exodus 19-20, the Ten Commandments. The home custom is to serve dairy products because Torah is compared to milk (Song of Songs 4:11).