Yom Haatzmaut and Lag B’Omer

History has its ironies or quirks. Perhaps, it would be better to say that God guides the world’s destiny and within it His moving hand can be seen. The juxtaposition of the two Jewish holidays, which we celebrate this month, point in this direction - Yom Haatzmaut and Lag B’Omer. Yom Haatzmaut (Israel Independence Day) is a very new Jewish holiday. It celebrates the phoenix-like rebirth of the Jewish State in 1948. Among Jews the world over, this day has taken upon itself religious significance. Among most religious circles, this holiday is celebrated by reciting Hallel (the Jewish prayer of Thanksgiving reserved for special holidays like Passover, Chanukah, etc.). And, it is looked upon as a partial fulfillment of God’s promises to Israel, a sign of the first step toward the Messianic era which, in God’s own time, will surely follow, and a proof that God does guide the destiny of the Jewish people.

It is interesting to note where, in the Jewish calendar, this holiday falls. It falls between Passover and Shavuos, a time of semi-mourning, a time when no weddings are performed (except for a few specially designated days, Rosh Chodesh, and Lag B’Omer) and when personal merrymaking is held to a minimum. The reason for this mourning (at one time, this period was a very joyous one) is the destruction of the last Jewish sovereign state (132-135 C.E. under the leadership of Bar Kochba) and the great loss of life and havoc that this unhappy event wrought -especially to institutions of Jewish learning. Only Lag B’Omer, the 33rd day of this 49 day period, is a happy. one. It was on this day only, our Rabbis tell us, that Rabbi Akiva’s pupils (he was the greatest Rabbi and teacher of his day who had 24,000 pupils all of whom were in the army fighting for Jewish independence) stopped dying. It was the loss of this short-lived independence and the ruthless suppression of this revolt by Rome which finally sealed the fate of the Second Jewish Commonwealth (much more than the destruction of the Second Temple) and caused us to go into exile. Now with the establishment of the State of Israel, the results of this holiday of Lag B’Omer and the period it symbolizes, are finally being reversed and our days of mourning are being turned into days of joy.

Let us hope and pray that this really is so and that it will continue to be so. It seems that the coincidence of the Yom Haatzmaut, falling within this period of mourning for Israel’s last independent State, is no quirk of history but part of God’s plan for the redemption of Israel, and that God will, surely as we pray everyday in the Shemoney Esrey, remove from us sadness and groaning and rule over us, He, Himself, with kindness, mercy and justice.