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Thursday, May 07, 2015

Lag B'Omer celebrations

ANNUAL EVENT: Tens of Thousands Celebrate Lag B'Omer in Meron. Largest annual Jewish celebration begins at the tomb of Rabbi Shimon Bar Yochai. Watch it happen live on Arutz Sheva.
Tens of thousands of Jewish worshippers are converging on the town of Meron in northern Israel to celebrate Lag B'Omer at the Tomb of the ancient Jewish scholar and mystic Rabbi Shimon Bar Yochai.

The yearly mountaintop gathering at the tomb of the Jewish leader, seen by many as the father of the kabbalistic movement, is believed to be the largest Jewish festive gathering in the world.

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Rabbi Shimon Bar Yochai - also known as "Rashbi" - was a tannaitic sage who lived during the second century in ancient Israel. One of the most eminent disciples of Rabbi Akiva - a leading scholar who also served as spiritual leader of the Bar Kochba Revolt against Roman occupation - Rashbi was himself forced into hiding by Israel's Roman occupiers after criticizing the regime.

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He is also the traditional author of the Zohar (actually a medieval work). More on him and the legends about him here and links.