Fast Fact #33
Israelis and Jews worldwide celebrate Lag BaOmer with bonfires. Traditionally, hundreds of thousands of religious Jews gather at the tomb of Rabbi Shimon Bar Yochai in Meron. Early Zionists associated their bonfires with Simon bar Kokhba, who led a revolt against the Romans. Therefore, Lag BaOmer became a symbol for the fighting Jewish spirit. In 1948, the order establishing the Israel Defense Forces was issued on Lag BaOmer.