Yesterday was one of my favorite days of the year.  One most of you have never heard about.  One that I have celebrated since I was 5 years old.  (Maybe, earlier, but that is the first time I remember doing so.)

Lag B’Omer.   The 33^rd day between Passover and Shvuout.  Which probably brings up another holiday you never heard about- but I’ll get to it later in this post.

The students of the famous rabbi, Akiva, were all dying after the holiday of Pesach.  But, the death ceased on this day, the 33^rd day.  So, this day became a day of celebration. The first 32 days after Passover comprise a period where Jews cannot marry, cannot have voluntary celebrations, and where cutting one’s hair is forbidden.

But, on this day, we have picnics.  And, when I was younger, my fellow students and I had outings at the Hempstead Lake State Park- complete with color wars.  And, when my children were little, we went to various open spaces to celebrate the day- Monticello, Skyline Drive, and later to Mount Vernon (when we moved to Northern Virginia).  A day to just relax, celebrate, learn, and enjoy the day with fantastic food.

Why are we counting those days?  Because while Passover is the celebration of our freedom, the 50^th day is the day the Supreme Being gave us the Tora.  A set of rules and mores to which we should adhere.  The alternative name of Shvuot is “the time of Recieving the Tora”.  Unfortunately, it is among the least celebrated of holidays, even though it is one of the 6 mentioned in the bible.  (The important ones, the Festivals, are Pesach (Freedom), Shvuot (Tora), and Sukkot (Harvest, the Festival of Booths).  Plus the holy days, Rosh Hashana (New Year) and Yom Kipur (Day of Atonement).  And, the minor holiday of Rosh Chodesh (for each of the new moons, or the beginning of the month), a holiday for women.]

Shvuot is the bookend to Pesach.  After all, what is freedom without a code of law to which citizens should adhere?  Complete lawlessness would not afford one freedom- because a lawless society involves the tyranny of the weak and less strong.

The basic issue is to balance freedom and the law, human rights and order. Freedom is what the Passover holiday commemorates.  Leading a life with purpose, leaving the world a better place each and every day (tikun olam)- that’s Shvuout.

And, the 33^rd day between them affords us a celebration of life. A celebration of fun and family frolic.  A day to stop mourning the dying and celebrating the living.

17 more days until the receiving of the law…

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