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Ohaiv Yisroel of Blueberry Hill
Resources for Lag B'Omer
Safed
Lag B'Omer is also the anniversary of the death of Rabbi Shimon Bar Yochai, author of the first Kabbalistic work, the Zohar. When the ARI, the great Kabbalist of the 16th century, came to Tzfat, one of the customs that he instituted was that of visiting the tomb of Rabbi Shimon Bar Yochai on Mt. Meron on Lag B'Omer. In the 19th century, a new tradition was added -- taking a Torah scroll from the home of the Abu family in Tzfat and walking it to Mt. Meron.
Today, the Abu Torah scroll is ceremoniously taken to the Central Bus Station of Tzfat and driven to Meron, and with that the festivities of Lag B'Omer begin.
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Chabad
the 33rd day of the Omer, a minor festival falling between Passover and Shavuot, commemorating the end of a plague which killed thousands of Rabbi Akiva’s students; also the yahrzeit of Rabbi Shimon bar Yochai, author of the Zohar
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Orthodox Union
Lag Ba’Omer in Krakow: The Life and Times of the Rama on His Yahrtzeit
By Rabbi Daniel Glatstein
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My Jewish Learning
Anthropologists say that many peoples have similar periods of restraint in the early spring to symbolize their concerns about the growth of their crops. But the most often cited explanation for the Jewish practice comes from the Talmud, which tells us that during this season a plague killed thousands of Rabbi Akiva's students because they did not treat one another respectfully. The mourning behavior is presumably in memory of those students and their severe punishment.
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