Light Your Fire & Other Lag B’Omer Customs

There are a number of interesting customs for Lag B’Omer.

People make bonfires to commemorate the intense light that Rabbi Shimon Bar Yochai , who passed away on Lag B’Omer, introduced to the world through his revelation of deep mystical teachings.

People hold an Upsherin and give little boys their first haircut when they turn 3, the age when a child begins formal Torah study.

Some people eat carob in remembrance of the miraculous carob tree and spring that materialized outside the cave where Rabbi Shimon Bar Yochai and his son were hiding from the Romans for 13 years and through which they had what to sustain themselves with.

And many schools and families go on field trips and play with bows and arrows.  The Midrash says that a rainbow, which appears as a sign that the world is deserving of punishment from Hashem, did not appear during the entire duration of Rabbi Shimon Bar Yochai’s lifetime since his merit protected the world. Hence there was no need for the “sign of the bow”.

Make Lag B’Omer fun for your kids with some bow and arrow sets! Amazon has a toy Marshmallow Bow and Arrow set so the kids can shoot mini marshmallows at each other for $19.58 as well as a regular toy Bow and Arrow (suction cup arrows) for $6.99.