ISRAEL: Lag Ba’Omer, a vanity of bonfires.

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The days between Passover and Shavuot are called ‘sefirat ha’omer’, a seven- week stretch cutting through the Hebrew months of Nissan, Iyar and Sivan. During this period, religious Jews practice partial mourning customs: no weddings, no music, no haircuts or shaving. Lag Ba’Omer, the 33rd day of the count, is an exception.

It is widely accepted that Lag Ba’Omer commemorates the passing of Rabbi Shimon Bar-Yochai, the 2nd century sage who was the first to openly teach mystical dimensions of Judaism. Traditions also maintain that on this day a plague that had killed 24,000 disciples of Rabbi Akiva stopped and/or that this day marks the Jewish rebellion against the Romans led by Bar-Kochva, or perhaps the day his forces succeeded in capturing Jerusalem.

The fire and the light of bonfires symbolize the internal light of the mystic teachings of Bar-Yochai, say some. Others suggest that the bonfires recall those lit to spread the word among Judean communities that the rebellion had begun. (Some contrarians say the bonfires are just a converted old pagan practice.)

Rabbi Shimon Bar-Yochai was buried on Mt. Meron in the Galilee. He asked that the day of his passing be marked in joy -- and joyous it is. Hundreds of thousands of mostly, but not only, religious Jews travel to Mt. Meron for the yearly tribute to the author of the Zohar, the basis of the cabala. The birthday of Jewish mysticism, it is said.

The festival is something of a mystic Woodstock, with much fire, dancing and singing, complete with ritual candles, amulets and blessings. This year there a dispute among certain religious authorities over whether to broadcast the event via the Internet, frowned upon in ultraorthodox circles. Police were expecting 400,000 attendees.

And those who aren’t getting married or dancing at Meron are playing with fire.

Young Israelis were out last night, all vacant lots having been ‘called’ by different groups of kids way in advance and wood having been collected for weeks. In a night of all-out defiance (befitting a rebellion commemoration), kids compete to see who stays out latest. For decades, the reward for enduring smoke in the eyes the whole night was helping oneself to fresh rolls and chocolate milk delivered at the crack of dawn to grocery stores on the way home.

Recently, some are rethinking certain aspects of the celebration. Besides being an experience shared by most young Jewish Israelis, it’s dangerous, extravagantly wasteful and environmentally uncool.

And, of course, there’s the pilfering. Israel isn’t exactly logging country, so much of the wood comes from construction sites. Large building sites estimate losses at around $1,000. Especially enterprising kids lug the wood in shopping carts; one chain reported $50,000 worth of carts stolen over the past month.

Various Israeli authorities, governmental and non, are trying to put the bonfire business back in proportion. The Ministry of the Environment asked people to keep in mind the air quality, the Tel Aviv municipality gave away free wood and the Society for the Protection of Nature in Israel has reined in Israel’s two chief rabbis to implore Israelis (in Hebrew) to refrain from damaging the country’s natural resources, purloining the property of others and causing unnecessary damage or harm during the celebrations.

A parliamentary committee discussed the topic yesterday and proposed an educational program to raise awareness and minimize harm to wildlife and the environment. Keep it small, safe and smart, is the modern wisdom on this old custom.

-- Batsheva Sobelman in Jerusalem.