Tragedy, tears – and bonfires
After the Tears, We Dance: A Lag B’Omer That Defies Grief
After deadly attacks in Hebron and Meron, Lag B’Omer celebrations continued—because in Jewish life, even grief must make room for joy.
On the eve of Lag B’Omer, in a land still trembling from tragedy, the heart is heavy and furious. Another morning of bitter news, another attack too painful to bear and yet, the calendar moves forward. Joy is expected. Bonfires are waiting to be lit.
And that’s when a story returns. A memory passed down like a psalm, carried from Hebron to Meron, and now back again.
It was 1980. On Shabbat, the 17th of Iyar (May 2) terrorists opened fire near Beit Hadassah in Hebron. Six young men were murdered. The city descended into grief.
And in the home of Hasidic artist Baruch Nachshon, grandfather to tour guide Yoni Attia, plans for a children’s Lag B’Omer parade were suddenly shadowed by death.
Nachshon turned to the Lubavitcher Rebbe with a plea: “Should we cancel the parade?”
The Rebbe replied with halachic clarity and timeless conviction: “We remove the deceased from before the bride.” In other words, yes, we bury our dead. But afterward, the celebration must go on.
So they marched. Baruch and his children, through a city of mourning, lifted their voices in song and joy. In Hebron. After Beit Hadassah. On Lag B’Omer.
Years later, an Arab resident of Hebron reflected, “After the attack, we thought the Jews would flee. That we had won. But then we saw the parade. You marched and sang. And we understood, you are here to stay.”
The story doesn’t end there.
In 2021, after the horrific Meron disaster that claimed 45 lives on the same sacred date, Chabad faced the same question: Can we celebrate now?
Searching the archives, they found the Rebbe’s original letter to Baruch Nachshon. The answer was unchanged. “We remove the deceased from before the bride.”
And so, once again, the parade went forward.
And just after we lay our beloved Tze'ela Gez to rest, when all we want to do is cry after the devastating senseless vicious attack that took her from us and from her family, we will light the bonfires tonight and we will roast marshmallows with our kiddos.
Lag B’Omer is a celebration of the inner Torah, of light drawn from hidden places, of resilience stitched into the Jewish soul. In Hebron, in Meron, in Bruchin and in every place where tragedy tries to still the song, the answer echoes through time:
We cry. And then we sing anyway.
Chap magazine contributed to this article.