From the Liveblog of
Thursday, May 15, 2025
Tens of thousands of Haredi revelers flock to Mount Meron for Lag B’Omer celebrations
Add ToI as a Preferred Source on GoogleMasses of Haredi Jews are kicking off Lag B’Omer festivities at the tomb of Rabbi Shimon Bar Yochai on Mount Meron tonight.
After the first ceremonial bonfire of the holiday is lit soon after nightfall, tens of thousands of revelers break out into dance, jumping up and down.
The celebrants are dancing to a song — “In Honor of the Holy Tanna” — honoring Bar Yochai, the 2nd-century Jewish sage who is said to have died on Lag B’Omer.
After lighting the bonfire, Rabbi Nachum Dov Brayer, the spiritual leader of the Boyan Hasidic dynasty, stands and claps rhythmically before the exuberant crowd as the flame burns onstage.
The massive crowds that tightly pack the Mount Meron complex have posed a major challenge to authorities year after year.
In 2021, a crowd crush killed 45 people and injured over 100 as they traversed a slippery walkway at the holy site, causing Israel’s deadliest peacetime disaster.
Organizers say police are limiting the number of celebrants allowed at the shrine to 63,000 at once, to prevent another fatal accident.
Haredi revelers dance at the tomb of Shimon Bar Yochai atop Mount Meron to mark the Lag B’Omer holiday on May 15, 2025. (Charlie Summers/Times of Israel)
The Times of Israel Community.