{"id":49021,"date":"2026-05-29T01:37:38","date_gmt":"2026-05-29T08:37:38","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.jewishindependent.ca\/?p=49021"},"modified":"2026-05-28T09:01:47","modified_gmt":"2026-05-28T16:01:47","slug":"a-lag-bomer-to-remember","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.jewishindependent.ca\/index.php\/2026\/05\/29\/a-lag-bomer-to-remember\/","title":{"rendered":"A Lag b\u2019Omer to remember"},"content":{"rendered":"

Chabad Richmond hosted a barbecue on Lag b\u2019Omer, May 5. (photo from Chabad Richmond)<\/i><\/p>\n

Families in Richmond gathered on May 5 for a Lag b\u2019Omer barbecue organized by Chabad Richmond. Fun for the kids included a bouncy castle, archery, crafts \u2013 and s\u2019mores. It was an afternoon of community, connection and celebration. It was especially meaningful to celebrate the upsherin<\/i> (first haircutting) of local community member David Safonik.<\/p>\n

\"photo<\/a>
Kids playing at Chabad Richmond’s Lag b’Omer BBQ. (photo from Chabad Richmond)<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Lag b\u2019Omer is a festive day, honouring Rabbi Shimon bar Yochai, author of the Zohar<\/i>, the primary text of kabbalah<\/i> (Jewish mysticism). The numerical value of the Hebrew letters lamed and gimmel (Lag<\/i>) is 33, and b\u2019Omer<\/i> means \u201cof the Omer<\/i>,\u201d the 49-day counting period from the second day of Passover to Shavuot. The 33rd day of the count falls on the 18th of the Jewish month of Iyar, the day of the rabbi\u2019s passing, which he had instructed his followers to mark as \u201cthe day of my joy.\u201d\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\"photo<\/a>
(photo from Chabad Richmond)<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

\u201cThe Chassidic masters explain that the final day of a righteous person\u2019s earthly life marks the point at which all their deeds, teachings and work achieve their culminating perfection and the zenith of their impact upon our lives,\u201d explains Menachem Posner on chabad.org. \u201cSo, each Lag b\u2019Omer, we celebrate Rabbi Shimon\u2019s life and the revelation of the esoteric soul of Torah.<\/p>\n

\u201cLag b\u2019Omer also commemorates another joyous event. The Talmud relates that, in the weeks between the Jewish holidays of Passover and Shavuot, a plague raged among the disciples of the great sage Rabbi Akiva (teacher of Rabbi Shimon bar Yochai), \u2018because they did not act respectfully towards each other.\u2019 These weeks are, therefore, observed as a period of mourning, with various joyous activities proscribed by law and custom. On Lag b\u2019Omer, the deaths ceased. Thus, Lag b\u2019Omer also carries the theme of loving and respecting one\u2019s fellow (ahavat Yisrael<\/i>).\u201d<\/p>\n

\"photo<\/a>
(photo from Chabad Richmond)<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Last August, Chabad Richmond welcomed shluchim<\/i> (emissaries) Rabbi\u00a0Menachem\u00a0and\u00a0Esther Miriam Wolf\u00a0(n\u00e9e Golomb). The Wolfs work alongside Rabbi\u00a0Yechiel\u00a0and\u00a0Chanie Baitelman, founders of Chabad Richmond, who have led the community for more than 25 years. The couple leads Shabbat meals, weekly classes and holiday programs geared toward young adults and families, as well as CTeen Richmond and the Hebrew school, which is a partnership of Chabad Richmond and the Bayit.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u2013 Courtesy Chabad Richmond & chabad.org<\/i><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Chabad Richmond hosted a barbecue on Lag b\u2019Omer, May 5. (photo from Chabad Richmond) Families in Richmond gathered on May 5 for a Lag b\u2019Omer barbecue organized by Chabad Richmond. Fun for the kids included a bouncy castle, archery, crafts \u2013 and s\u2019mores. It was an afternoon of community, connection and celebration. It was especially […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":49022,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[781],"tags":[7368,218,7132,5178],"class_list":["post-49021","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-holidays","tag-chabad-richmond","tag-judaism","tag-lag-bomer","tag-richmond"],"blocksy_meta":{"styles_descriptor":{"styles":{"desktop":"","tablet":"","mobile":""},"google_fonts":[],"version":8}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.jewishindependent.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/49021","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.jewishindependent.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.jewishindependent.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.jewishindependent.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.jewishindependent.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=49021"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.jewishindependent.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/49021\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.jewishindependent.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/49022"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.jewishindependent.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=49021"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.jewishindependent.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=49021"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.jewishindependent.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=49021"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}