Thousands of worshippers flocked to a Jewish holy site in northern Israel to light bonfires, pray and dance Wednesday under heavy police presence, a year after a stampede there left 45 people dead.
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This year's Lag B'Omer festivities at Mount Meron appeared orderly, but were overshadowed by last year's deaths, the largest civilian disaster in the country's history. A prominent rabbi lit 45 candles in memory of those who perished at the festival, held on the 33rd day of the Omer count at the grave of Rabbi Shimon bar Yochai. Lag B'Omer marks the passing of bar Yochai, the author of the Zohar, and the end of the plague suffered by students of Rabbi Akiva.
The Zohar is a basic work of Kabbalah authored by Rabbi Shimon bar Yochai and his students in the 2nd century CE. The Zohar is arranged according to the weekly Torah readings, enabling its daily study alongside each week's portion. It is considered the most important book in the history of Jewish mysticism and all later Kabbalah is based on it to one degree or another.
Highways leading to the mountain were gridlocked hours ahead of the celebrations. Police said around 8,000 officers were stationed at the site to maintain order.
Attendance to the event was limited to 16,000 people who had to secure their tickets in advance. Sources on the ground, however, said that at least 20,000 people were there.
United Hatzalah, Magen Dovid Adom and other first-responder units were at Meron as an extra precaution in order to provide medical treatment for anyone needing assistance.
On Tuesday, police said they stopped a minibus near Mount Meron carrying members of a radical ultra-Orthodox sect in possession of box cutters, wire cutters, paint bombs and other tools that officers suspected were meant to vandalize infrastructure at the site. At least three people were arrested.
Prime Minister Naftali Bennett said ahead of the holiday's commencement at sundown Wednesday that "the government of Israel has made a large investment in order to allow wide and safe participation."
"I ask the public to act according to the published guidelines and to arrive with a ticket in order that we can hold the festival safely," he said.
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