At least 45 people were killed in Meron, Israel on Thursday night during Lag BaOmer festivities. It’s the worst mass casualty civilian disaster in Israel’s history and among the dead are Israelis, Americans, Canadians, a Briton and an Argentinian. Nearly 150 people were injured, many critically. Meron is a tiny mountain town located in the woods of northern Israel. Buried there are several famous sages including Hillel, Shammai and Shimon bar Yochai who is thought to have written the Zohar.
In previous years, hundreds of thousands of people have visited the town over the holiday of Lag BaOmer for the anniversary of the death (or yahrzeit) of Rabbi bar Yochai. Thursday night was the first time since 2019 that Meron was opened for worshipers and more than 100,000 had gathered there.
Our thoughts and prayers go out to the victims’ families. May their memories be for a blessing.
Resource and guide to help cope with this tragedy: [ Ссылка ]
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Chapters
00:00 Intro
00:20 What is Merom and Lag BaOmer?
00:56 Rabbi Shimon Bar Yochai and the Kabbalistic Zohar
01:40 Popularity of Lag BaOmer in Israel
02:08 LaBaOmer at Merom in past years
03:00 Tragedy at Merom and Israeli solidarity
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Image and footage credits:
- Arthur Szyk
- Channel 12 News
- Israel Police
- Itamar Cohen, real-time news איתמר כהן, חדשות בזמן אמת
- Kan 11
- Magen David Adom in Israel
- Ministry of Religious Services - The National Center for the Development of Holy Places
- Mizmor Productions Ltd. מזמור הפקות בע"מ
- Moshe Mizrahi, news from all over the world משה מזרחי, חדשות כל העולם
- Tzahi Raz/News 24 - צחי רז - סוכנות הידיעות חדשות 24
- United Hatzalah
- VideobaCoiL
- Ynet
- YT/shiezoli
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#lagbaomer #meron #disaster
