The Month of Iyar

Iyar is the second month on the Jewish calendar counting from Nisan.

Although Iyar does not contain many “special days,” every single day of the month is included in the Sefirat HaOmer counting—the mitzvah to count each of the 49 days between Passover and Shavuot. Sefirat HaOmer is a period of introspection and self-refinement, as we prepare ourselves to receive the Torah anew on Shavuot. Each day of Iyar represents another step in this spiritual journey toward Sinai.

However, there is one special day in this month,’ Lag BaOmer.’ the 33rd day of the Omer count—this year, May 26, 2024—is a festive day on the Jewish calendar. It is celebrated with outings (on which children traditionally play with bows and arrows), bonfires, parades and other joyous events. Many visit the resting place (in Meron, northern Israel) of the great sage and mystic Rabbi Shimon bar Yochai, the anniversary of whose passing is on this day.

Rabbi Shimon bar Yochai, who lived in the second century of the Common Era, was the first to publicly teach the mystical dimension of the Torah known as the Kabbalah, and is the author of the classic text of Kabbalah, the Zohar. On the day of his passing, Rabbi Shimon instructed his disciples to mark the date as “the day of my joy.”

Lag BaOmer 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), “because they did not act respectfully towards each other.” These weeks are therefore observed as a period of mourning, with various joyous activities proscribed by law and custom. On Lag BaOmer the deaths ceased. Thus, Lag BaOmer also carries the theme of loving and respecting one’s fellow (ahavat Yisrael).

Perhaps nothing has been as detrimental to the Jewish people as the modern idea that Judaism is just a religion. We are much more than a religion; we are a single soul radiating into many bodies, bonding them as one.

A healthy body is one where every part works in harmony. A healthy Jewish people is one big, caring family where each individual loves the other like his or her own self. Where one Jew faces rough times, and the others hold his hands. Where one meets good fortune and all of us celebrate. Where no one is labeled or alienated for his or her beliefs, behaviors or background. Where each run to do an act of kindness for the other.

Today, more than ever, Jewish National Fund-USA is supporting our brothers and sisters in Israel, because we are one family, one people, one nation.

Children customarily go out into the fields and play with imitation bows and arrows. This commemorates the midrashic tradition that no rainbow was seen during Rabbi Shimon’s lifetime. Rainbows first appeared after Noah’s flood, when G‑d promised to never again devastate the world. When people are deserving of punishment, G‑d sends a rainbow instead. Rabbi Shimon’s merit protected the world, rendering the rainbow superfluous.