Lag BaOmer - Zionist Tradition

Zionist Tradition

In modern Israel, Zionist ideology replaced the religious identification of the holiday with a nationalist one, redefining Lag BaOmer as a commemoration of the Bar Kokhba revolt against the Roman Empire (132–136 CE). The plague that decimated Rabbi Akiva's 24,000 disciples was explained as a veiled reference to the revolt; the 33rd day when the plague ended was explained as the day of bar Kokhba's victory. By the late 1940s, textbooks for schoolchildren painted Bar Kokhba as the hero while Rabbi Shimon bar Yochai and Rabbi Akiva stood on the sidelines, cheering him on. This interpretation lent itself to singing and dancing around bonfires by night to celebrate Bar Kokhba's victory, and playing with bows and arrows by day to remember the actions of Bar Kokhba's rebel forces.

In modern Israeli secular culture, Lag BaOmer is "a symbol for the fighting Jewish spirit". The Palmach division of the Haganah was established on Lag BaOmer 1941, and the government order creating the Israel Defense Forces was issued on Lag BaOmer 1948. Beginning in 2004, the Israeli government named Lag BaOmer as the day to salute the IDF reserves.