Pushing, Shoving and Blows Ahead of Mt. Meron Lag Ba’omer Festivities

The Jewish Independent ^ | May 16, 2014 | Yori Yanover

[Tzvi INN.com]

Thousands who were planning to go up to Mt. Meron Thursday night, in preparation for the Saturday night Lag Ba’omer celebration, were stuck at the bus stop in Har Chotzvim, Jerusalem, where every empty bus that showed up to pick up passengers was pursued by a wild, desperate Haredi mob.

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Lag BaOmer (Hebrew: ל״ג בעומר‎), also Lag B'Omer, is a Jewish holiday celebrated on the 33rd day of the Counting of the Omer, which occurs on the 18th day of the Hebrew month of Iyar. This day marks the hillula (celebration, interpreted by some as anniversary of death) of Rabbi Shimon bar Yochai, a Mishnaic sage and leading disciple of Rabbi Akiva in the 2nd century, and the day on which he revealed the deepest secrets of kabbalah in the form of the Zohar (Book of Splendor), a landmark text of Jewish mysticism. This association has spawned several well-known customs and practices on Lag BaOmer, including the lighting of bonfires, pilgrimages to the tomb of Bar Yochai in the northern Israeli town of Meron, and various customs at the tomb itself.

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I had never heard of this before.
Live and learn.

[cloudmountain]

Haredi Judaism (Hebrew: חֲרֵדִי Ḥaredi, IPA: [χaʁeˈdi]; also spelled Charedi, plural Charedim) is a stream of Orthodox Judaism characterized by rejection of modern secular culture. Its members are often referred to as strictly Orthodox or ultra-Orthodox outside of Israel. However the term "ultra-Orthodox" is considered a derogatory slur, akin to racial slurs, which Haredi Jews disfavor. Haredim regard themselves as the most religiously authentic group of Jews, and although this claim is contested by other streams, it is a perception which is often held in wider Jewish and non-Jewish society.

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Now, the other piece of the puzzle.