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9 Ways to Celebrate Lag BaOmer from Home

Among La BaOmer’s many facets are agricultural aspirations, a release from mourning, celebration of Torah learning, and mindfulness of religious suppression. Here are nine ways to celebrate safely in the time of coronavirus.

Wet daisy against a dewy green background

April Showers, May Flowers, and Searching for Hope Amid the Pandemic

Rabbi Michael L. Feshbach

We see everything around us through a coronavirus-colored lens these days, searching the past for clues about what is to come. This month, I'm using the rhyme about April showers and May flowers as an occasion for hope, seeing every holiday in May as part of this unfolding pandemic.

Putting Down Roots: Why Our Jewish Family Needs a Yard Full of Trees

Leanna Cossman

We celebrated the holiday of Tu BiShvat – the “Jewish Arbor Day” – way back in February, and we won’t celebrate it again until January. But no matter: I need to talk about the trees now.

an Israeli Falafel often eaten by Americans during Yom HaZikaron and Yom HaAtzmaut

Falafel (Chickpea Patties)

Falafel is sold on street corners in every city and town in Israel.

Israeli Shishlik (Grilled Skewered Meat)

Shishlik (Meat Kabobs)

The simple method of preparing meat on an open grill goes back to ancient biblical times.

Kichlach (cookies)

Derived from central Europe, the popular kichlach (Yiddish for "cookies") are to be found in many of the packages prepared by parents for their children serving in the Israeli military.

Tu BiShvat Videos

Learn more about the Jewish holiday of Tu BiShvat with these videos.

Tu BiShvat: Customs and Rituals

The Jewish mystics of the 17th century, the Kabbalists, created a special ritual—modeled after the Passover seder—to celebrate God's presence in nature. Today in modern Israel, Tu BiShvat has become a national holiday, a tree planting festivaTu BiShvat is not mentioned in the Torah. Scholars believe the holiday was originally an agricultural festival, corresponding to the beginning of spring in Israel. But a critical historical event helped Tu BiShvat evolve from a simple celebration of spring to a commemoration of our connection to the land of Israel. After the destruction of the Second Temple in 70 C.E. and the exile that followed, many of the exiled Jews felt a need to bind themselves symbolically to their former homeland. Tu BiShvat served in part to fill that spiritual need. Jews used this time each year to eat a variety of fruits and nuts that could be obtained from Israel. The practice, a sort of physical association with the land, continued for many centuries.l for both Israelis and Jews throughout the world

Tu BiShvat: History

Although the celebration of Tu BiShvat has a long and varied history, the theme most commonly ascribed to the holiday today is the environment.

Lag BaOmer: History

Lag BaOmer is a shorthand way of saying the 33rd day of the Omer. (The numerical value of the Hebrew letter lamed is 30, and the value of gimel is three; lamed and gimel together are pronounced “lahg.”) In addition to tracking the agricultural cycle, the Omer marks the seven-week period from Passover, which commemorates the Israelites’ Exodus from Egypt, to Shavuot, which commemorates the giving of the Torah at Mount Sinai.