Interfaith Holidays and Holy Days, Week of May 7, 2007

Today is Sunday, May 6th, which means that if you haven't completed your shopping you are out of time for finding that perfect gift to help that special Jewish someone in your life to mark Lag B'Omer. What is Lag B'Omer? I'm glad you asked that question. Lag B'Omer is one of the many ways that Judaism and Catholicism are very much alike, for like the Catholic calendar, the Jewish calendar is populated with many minor holidays and festivals. Lag B'Omer is one of these, I reckon. On the Catholic calendar, hardly a day goes by that isn't the Feast Day of St. So-and-So, or a Holy Day of Obligation to commemorate Thus-and-Such. Holidays and Holy Days of this type can be a lot to keep track of. But don't sweat the details, Unkosher Jesus is here to help. The online Interfaith Calendar may tell you the When, but Unkosher Jesus here to help explain the What, the Why and the How of each week's events.

According to the Website Judaism 101, Lag B'Omer is the halfway point between Passover (Pesach) and Shavuot (Shavuos). Passover, of course, is the historical retelling of the Exodus tale, a holiday second in importance only to the High Holidays of Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur. Shavuot marks the day when the Lord God delivered the Ten Commandments and the rest of the Torah to Moses on Mt. Sinai, thus entering into a binding Covenant with the people of Israel. The word "Lag" is the Hebrew number 33, or literally "thirty-third," while Omer is a unit of measure, apparently for a grain offering made at the Temple during this period. The period of the Omer is a period of mourning and solemnity, a tradition instituted in remembrance of a plague that occurred during the time of Rabbi Akiba. The 33rd of Omer represents a break in the plague, and restrictions against weddings, dinner parties and other merriment are lifted. The day is traditionally marked by picnics and other similar family and community gatherings. Bonfires are lit as well.




This past week the ancient Celts helped us to usher in the Summer season with the celebration of the Feast of Beltane (Bealtaine) on May 1st. For the Celts this celebration marked the beginning of the growing season, when crops were planted and livestock were let out to pasture to graze for the season. Mountain Ash and Hawthorn boughs are used to decorate doorways during the festival. As with Lag B'Omer, the lighting of bonfires is also used to mark this festival. In ancient Ireland these were lit on hills of political and cultural importance, such as the Hill of Tara. The word Beltane itself is from the Old Irish, meaning "Bright Fire."

The celebration has survived to the present day, although there is a great deal of variance between how different groups mark the festival. For Celtic Reconstructionists, the most historically accurate practices and rituals associated with this and other ancient Celtic festivals are adhered to. This is truly a challenge, given that the Druids forbade the establishment of a written compilation of their practices and teachings. For neo-Pagan groups such as Wiccans, ancient practices are co-mingled with more contemporary ones.

FOR FURTHER REFERENCE:

Celebrating Lag B'Omer-

*Orthodox Union.org

*Akhlah.com

Celebrating Beltane-

*Circle Sanctuary.org

*Celtic Spirituality.org