Lag B'Omer Right After Shabbat

The kids in the area have been very busy collecting wood and preparing their bonfire. Lag B'Omer is coming right after Shabbos. Great excitement .... However, with all excitement comes the need to exercise a little control. Please make sure you wait for Shabbos to finish completely before lighting your bon fire.

Shabbos comes out in Yerushalayim (Jerusalem) at 19h57. For Shabbat times elsewhere in the world, you can take a look at chabad.org

If you have children, please take good care of them. Keep them a safe distance from the fire. Make sure not to throw any plastic or other items in that can blow out of the fire in the direction of anyone passing by. I hope your bonfire is a safe distance from any grass, trees or other foliage.

 Enjoy Lag B'Omer, if you can, send us a pic of your bon fire and we can all enjoy together.

Remember, Lag B'Omer is about the great light that Rebbi Shimon Bar Yochai revealed, so take a few moments or half hour or more to study some Torah. If you can manage to learn a story of teaching from either the Zohar or Chassidus, so much the better.

 Shabbat Shalom

The Children are Busy in Israel

Pesach has finished. The Afikomen was found, G-d willing. The questions were asked and answered on Sedar night. We completed our 7 days of eating Matzah and abstaining from Chometz (leavened foods). However, the children are not still or bored. They are on to the next exciting activity - collecting wood in large quantities for their bon fire to celebrate Lag b'Omer.

While moms, dads and all others over the age of Bar Mitzvah are dilligently counting the Omer, G-d willing, the younger children look forward to Lag B'Omer which falls on the 33rd day of the counting of the Omer. ל being 30 and ג being 3, making up 33rd of the Omer. This auspicious day marks the anniversary of the day Rebbi Shimon Bar Yochai left this world and for his revealing the Zohar. The soul of man is likened to a candle or light and the Zohar is also light. Hence the bon-fires.

As we excitedly look forward to Lag B'Omer, we will be posting a few safety tips. First and foremost, please guide your children as to the most appropriate place for your Lag B'Omer bon fire. Make sure there is no grass that will be too close or overhanging trees or other foliage. We want to enjoy the light, not to cause the fire to get out of hand, G-d forbid.

Oh, and another thought. If you have a wooden chair, table, picture frame, wood for your sukkah or any other piece of wood that you do not want placed in the community bon-fire, do keep it in doors until Lag B'Omer is over. Otherwise, you might just find that piece of wood you fancied, in whatever form it might be now ............. well, going up in flames to add more fuel to the fire and greater light for this special day.