Israeli officials plan to announce a new set of plans for Lag Ba’omer celebrations in Meron moving forward, after 45 people were tragically killed at last year’s festivities.
The Yisrael HaYom paper reported that the government will only allow 20,000 people to be at the site at the same time, though about 100,000 people will be able to enter the site over the course of the day.
Still, it represents a dramatic cut from the hundreds of thousands that are typically at the tziyon of Rashbi on Lag Ba’omer.
The report also said that there will only be one main hadlaka at the tziyon itself, rather than numerous bonfires being lit in various areas of the montain.
Additionally, numerous illegal structures at the site will be dismantled and authorities are setting up separate shaded areas for men and women, as well as a designated area where 3-year-olds can get their upsherins.
Retired Major General Zvika Tesler, the project manager for Lag Ba’omer events in Meron, said he will be discussing the new plan with all the various stakeholders in the coming days and weeks before officially announcing the plan.
“I embarked on a holy project to organize the event and ensure that it takes place in the best and safest way possible,” he said. “In accordance with the policy of the religious affairs minister, I am holding a discourse which is based on talking with the chareidi community, with the purpose of holding the event and ensuring that the chareidi community arrives at the mountain on Lag Ba’Omer.
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4 Responses
So 100,000 yiddin who are notoriously indifferent to following police directions during the best of times will be allowed to visit the Kever of R’ Shimon during the day but 80,000 of them will head to the exits after mincha before the single hadlakah in acordance with the safety rules.
Yup, sounds like a very wise and well-thought out plan with a high liklihood of success.
I wonder how this proposal would have been received in the absence of an actual tragedy. I think the proposal would have been denounced as an example of the secular government’s war on Chareidim. Well, there is still time for that.
So long as the one hadloka remains with its rightful owner, the Boyaner Rebbe, this seems reasonable. If the state forcibly seizes this and gives it to someone else, and that person accepts without the owner’s consent, he will be a thief.
Milhouse,
you have it wrong Boyaner Rebbe is not an owner of the hadloka in miron , you are living in fantasy island, Boyan has a right to lite ”an hadloka” and not even both fires, in addition to whoever wants to do the same ” lite an hadloka” in miron , let us all remember ” his merit did not protect ” the 45 people that died in miron last year, stop being foolish first we need a Godel Beyisroel to lite the Hadloka this year and then let the Boyaner lite the second bone fire an elder such like Harav Chaim Kenevski or the Gavid Yerushlaim Harav Tovye Wiess