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Mount Meron
The windmill plaza in the Mishkenot Sha’ananim neighborhood of Jerusalem, which was first established in 1860. (Shmuel Bar-Am)
October 5, 2019, 8:01 am
Tombs, palaces, poverty and plague: Follow Montefiore’s early Holy Land travels
The British-Jewish philanthropist’s 1839 visit to pre-state Israel helped inspire his establishment of Mishkenot Sha’ananim, Jerusalem’s first modern Jewish neighborhood
By Aviva and Shmuel Bar-Am
Rabbi Eliezer Berland lights a bonfire during the celebrations of the Jewish holiday of Lag Baomer on Mt. Meron in northern Israel on May 3, 2018. (Shlomi Cohen/Flash90)
May 22, 2019, 1:34 am
Sex convict rabbi set to be honored with bonfire-lighting, perhaps for last time
Amid protests, Religious Affairs Ministry says there’s no law to bar Eliezer Berland from Lag B’Omer ceremony, but signals it will draw up rules to exclude him in the future
By Marissa Newman
Ultra-Orthodox Jews gather around the bonfire during celebrations of the Jewish holiday of Lag B'Omer in the ultra-Orthodox city of Bnei Brak, outside of Tel Aviv, on May 17, 2014. (photo credit: Yaakov Naumi/Flash90)
May 20, 2019, 7:05 pm
Ahead of heat wave, Israelis urged to hold their fire on Lag B’Omer
Fearful of forest fires, authorities issue restrictions on bonfires during this week’s holiday
By Melanie Lidman
Uri Berger, an archaeologist in the Upper Eastern Galilee, filed a complaint with the police for the vandalism at the Mt. Meron Nature Reserve on March 4, 2019. (Nadia Azar/Israel Antiquities Authority)
March 4, 2019, 4:43 pm
Graffiti spray-painted on 1,800-year-old synagogue on Galilee’s Mount Meron
For the second time in four years, the 3rd-century house of prayer is vandalized by religious extremists near the tomb of the Talmudic sage Rabbi Shimon bar Yochai
By Amanda Borschel-Dan
Ultra-Orthodox Jews dance around a bonfire in Jerusalem's Mea Shearim neighborhood on May 2, 2018, during celebrations for the Jewish holiday of Lag BaOmer. (AFP PHOTO / MENAHEM KAHANA)
May 3, 2018, 11:20 am
Hundreds of thousands flock to Galilee tomb for Lag B’Omer celebrations
Annual bonfire holiday draws over 250,000 largely ultra-Orthodox Jews to burial site of ancient sage; celebrations marred by honor accorded to convicted sex offender
By Tamar Pileggi
Rabbi Eliezer Berland covers himself with his talit (prayer shawl) at the Jerusalem Magistrate's Court during his trial for sexual assault charges on November 17, 2016. (Yonatan Sindel/Flash90
May 2, 2018, 2:14 pm
Sex offender rabbi to be honored at Lag B’Omer festival
Outrage as Eliezer Berland, who served time for indecent acts and assault, including of minor, set to light bonfire in Meron
By Marissa Newman and TOI staff
Illustrative: A police officer confronts an ultra-Orthodox protester at a construction site in Meron, northern Israel, on August 16, 2017. (David Cohen/Flash90)
September 13, 2017, 3:19 pm
Police officers charged for assaulting man at Lag B’Omer festival
Yoav Pundaki and Guy Ohayon accused of badly beating plaintiff, cursing him and stomping on his kippa
By TOI staff
Ultra-Orthodox Jews at a big bonfire during celebrations of the Jewish holiday of Lag B'Omer in the Mea Shearim neighborhood in Jerusalem on May 14, 2017. (Flash90)
May 14, 2017, 10:15 am
Hundreds of thousands flock to Galilee mountain for Lag B’Omer festival
Huge crowds defy state rabbinate’s delay of holiday to celebrate the ancient sage Rabbi Shimon Bar Yohai near his tomb on Mount Meron
By TOI staff
The faithful pray on Mount Meron on May 26, 2016as an ambulance stands by (Courtesy Magen David Adom)
May 26, 2016, 9:15 am
150 people treated for injuries at annual Lag B’Omer festival
Tens of thousands flock to Mount Meron for celebration marked by bonfires; 17 people hospitalized, two in moderate-to-serious condition
By Sue Surkes
Ultra-Orthodox Jews seen near a big bonfire, during celebrations of the Jewish holiday of Lag B'Omer in the neighborhood of Mea Shearim in Jerusalem on May 25, 2016. (Yonatan Sindel/Flash90)
May 26, 2016, 1:13 am
Thousands at Mt. Meron as Lag B’Omer bonfires lit throughout Israel
Health and fire authorities on alert to treat injuries and blazes during annual celebration
By Daniel Stieglitz
Residents near a big bonfire during celebrations of the Jewish holiday of Lag B'Omer in Jerusalem on May 6, 2015. (Yonatan Sindel/Flash90)
May 7, 2015, 6:50 am
92 injured in Lag B’Omer revelries on Mount Meron
Police estimate 60,000 people participated in celebration of minor holiday, marked with bonfires, at Galilee tomb
By TOI staff
Lag B'Omer celebrations on Mt. Meron in 2013. (photo credit: Yaakov Naumi/Flash90)
May 6, 2015, 1:06 pm
Throngs to mob tomb, set country on fire for holiday
Hundreds of thousands expected at Meron burial site of Rabbi Shimon Bar Yochai, as others mark Lag B’Omer with bonfires
By Rahel Jaskow
Ultra-Orthodox Jews gather around the bonfire during celebrations of the Jewish holiday of Lag B'Omer in the ultra-Orthodox city of Bnei Brak, outside of Tel Aviv, on May 17, 2014. (photo credit: Yaakov Naumi/Flash90)
May 18, 2014, 1:25 pm
300 treated at Mount Meron during Lag B’Omer celebrations
100,000 people converge on site for Jewish holiday marking kabbalist sage’s death
By TOI staff
An ultra-Orthodox man watches a bonfire celebrating the Lag B'Omer holiday in May 2013. (photo credit: Photo by Flash90)
May 17, 2014, 10:32 pm
300,000 head to Mount Meron for Lag B’Omer celebrations
50 people treated so far for injuries suffered during festivities
By TOI staff
Ultra-Orthodox men set light to a massive bonfire during celebrations of the holiday of Lag B'Omer in Jerusalem on Saturday, April 27, 2013. (photo credit: Yonatan Sindel/Flash90)
April 29, 2013, 6:20 am
Lag B’Omer takes its fiery toll
500 receive treatment in Meron celebrations; 600 fires break out in 24 hours nationwide; record-breaking air pollution monitored
By Ron Friedman
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