Lag Ba'omer Upsherins and the sources of customs

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Lag Ba’Omer, upsherins, and the sOurces Of custOms | BY EliEzEr Brodt


As early as the day after Pesach, almost anywhere in Eretz Yisroel, one can notice children of all ages hauling wood on all kinds of contraptions, and building huge wooden teepees. This is all in prepara-tion for a most favorite day, Lag Ba’Omer, when all of these wooden teepees will be set afire, and when tens of thousands of people, from all over the world, travel to Meron to the kever of Rav Shimon Bar Yochai (Rashbi). Many people bring their young boys who are turning three-years-old to give them their first haircut known as the upsherin. It’s an exciting day for many people. Searching for the sources of the minhagim (customs) of Lag Ba’Omer turns out to be almost as exciting.

By way of introduction, in the past few years, the field of minhaghim, specifically the research and investigation of sources and reasons for customs, has expanded exponentially. To be sure, from early ris-honim and onwards, we have many books discussing minhag. But only more recently did the systematic study and cataloging of sources as they relate to minhag really begin. The recent interest in the field has produced many articles and sefarim. The topics of Lag Ba’Omer and upsherins have also been written about extensively. In this article I hope to present some of these findings.1

Sefirah and mourning

Traditionally, the Sefirah period is con-sidered a time of mourning. The most well-known reason given—offered by the Geonim and Rishonim—is that the mourn-ing is due to the death of 24,000 students of Rabbi Akiva who, according to the Ge-mara in Yevamos (62b), died during this time of the year for not having respected one another. Because this is deemed a mourning period, we refrain from shav-ing, going for haircuts, dancing, listening to music and making weddings.2

There is an additional minhag during this time of abstaining from purchasing new clothes in order to avoid making a shehecheyanu. Many poskim, however,

write that people erroneously confuse the Sefirah period restrictions with those cus-tomarily applied during the three-week period between the 17th of Tammuz and the 9th of Av, when one should indeed re-frain from buying new clothes to avoid a shehecheyanu. During Sefirah, they state, no such halacha applies. The Mishnah Berurah [493:2], citing the Maamar Mor-dechai, writes that if during Sefirah one needs to make such a shehecheyanu, he could. Since the Mishna Berurah was writ-ten, manuscripts have come to light that support the custom for refraining from making a shehecheyanu during Sefirah.3

The Taz (493:2) posits that the mourn-ing customs of Sefirah are also due to the Crusades, as many of the most horrific events of that period took place during Se-firah. One can find this reason in Rishonim such as Sefer Assufot.4 There was even a custom in Ashkenaz to refrain from cut-ting one’s nails—a significant extension of symbolic mourning.5 It’s worth noting that the Spanish sources, however, are much more lenient, some going so far as to per-mit marriage during the Sefirah period.6

We know that all the prohibitions asso-ciated with Sefirah are suspended on Lag Ba’Omer. There are many early sources for some simcha on Lag Ba’Omer, which

includes omitting Tachanun on that day. Additionally, there is a custom to celebrate on Lag Ba’Omer, especially in Meron at the kever of Rashbi where there is great cel-ebration, complete with music and danc-ing and the like.7 The obvious question, however, is why?

The first sources we turn to for answers are the works of the Rishonim. R. Yehosh-uah Ibn Shu’eib, a student of the Rashba and a great mekubal, writes that he heard some say that the reason for the custom of taking a break from mourning on Lag Ba’Omer is because the students of Rabbi Akiva stopped dying on that day.8 Some other Rishonim, such as the Manhig and Meiri, also give this reason, while others say that the students only stopped dying on the 34th day of the Omer, which is the day after Lag Ba’Omer. Thus, according to them, there would be no reason for simcha on Lag Ba’Omer.9 If one looks in the Tur and Shulchan Orach, as well as the vari-ous early commentaries, one will not find any other reason as to why there should be simcha on Lag Ba’Omer, other than that the students of Rebbi Akiva stopped dy-ing on Lag Ba’Omer. Be that as it may, this reason provides no insight into the con-nection between Meron—and more spe-cifically Rashbi—and Lag Ba’Omer.


raShbi and Lag ba’omer

The most well known explanation to the connection between Rashbi and Lag Ba’Omer is that Rashbi passed away on that day, and he was one of the students of Rabbi Akiva who died during that pe-riod. Assuming for a moment that this is factually correct, it is quite strange that we rejoice on the day of Rashbi’s death while we don’t celebrate the yarzheit of any other great people with bonfires. Rather, halacha states the opposite—to fast on a yahrzeit, especially on days that great people died. This problem is addressed by the Sho’el u-Meshiv (5:39) and, because of this ques-tion and others, he was very skeptical of the celebration that takes place at Meron. The Shem Aryeh (no. 13) points out that because of the celebration that takes place in Meron for Rashbi, people began to be lenient about fasting on the yahrzeit of their parents.

Another problem is that neither Chazal nor any of the Rishonim mentions Rashbi dying on Lag Ba’Omer. As a general rule, we do not make any form of a yom tov on a day that is not mentioned in Chazal. This issue was addressed by the Chasam Sofer in his teshuvos (Y.D. 233) (responsa) and because of this, he too was very skeptical of the way Lag Ba’Omer is celebrated.

What is the source that Rashbi died on Lag Ba’Omer? Rav Yosef Schwartz writes in his Tevuos ha-Aretz (p.224) that he searched all over for the reason for the great simcha in Meron on Lag B’omer, and it must be because Rashbi died on Lag Ba’Omer. Reb Yonasan Eybeshitz, the Baal ha-Tanya, Rav Tzadok Hacohen, and the Aruch Hashulchan also say that Rashbi died on Lag Ba’Omer. The Divrei Neche-miah, written by the grandson of the Ba’al ha-Tanya (no. 34), writes that well-known customs or ideas do not require any ad-ditional source other than that they are well-known. Since it is “well-known” that Lag Ba’Omer is the yahrzeit of Rashbi, then there is probably a source in the Zohar or Arizal for it.

The Shem Aryeh (no. 14) writes that

when we celebrate the yahrzeit of Rashbi, we are celebrating that he died a natural death, and not at the hands of the Ro-mans, who did not bury the people they killed. The gemara in Shabbos relates that the Romans wanted to kill Rashbi, so he ran away and hid in a cave for many years until the Romans stopped hunting him.The Aruch Hashulchan says that he left the cave on Lag Ba’Omer.

What appears to be an earlier source for those who say that Rashbi died on Lag Ba’Omer is Rav Chaim Vital in the name of the Arizal, found in the Pri Etz Chaim. Indeed, Rav Chaim Vital appears to state that Rashbi died on Lag Ba’Omer, and he was one of the students of Rabbi Akiva who died during Sefirah. It appears that this attribution to Rav Chaim Vital is based upon a typographical error in one edition of the Pri Etz Chaim printed in 1802 (p. 124b). In the first printed edition of the Pri Etz Chaim, which was printed in 1782 (p. 101), it does not say that at all. Instead of saying “she-mes” (that he died) it has a very similar, but entirely different word, simchas (happiness). The letter ches was accidentally dropped in the later version, causing this ostensibly erroneous attribu-tion!10 In the Shar Hakavonos from Rav Vi-tal first printed in 1752, where the same piece appears, it also reads simcha (p. 127) like the first edition of Pri Etz Chaim.

Interestingly enough, the Chida in his work Birchei Yosef, printed in 1774, writes that Rashbi died on Lag Ba’Omer. But in a later work of his, Ma’ares Eyin, printed in 1805, he writes that the Pri Etz Chaim is full of typographical errors and this state-ment regarding Lag Ba’Omer and Rashbi’s death day is one of them. So the Chida’s conclusion is that it is not a reference to Rashbi’s day of death at all. This conclu-sion is accepted by many such as Takfo Shel Nes (p. 59a), Shut Rav U-palim (1:11), Tzion Lenefesh Chayah (no. 65), and the

Lubavitcher Rebbe. A contemporary researcher and, more

recently, Rabbi Yaakov Hillel, have con-cluded, based on many early manuscripts, that the reading that does not have Rashbi dying on Lag Ba’Omer is the correct read-ing of the writings of Rav Chaim Vital. Recently, Rabbi Yaakov Hillel printed the Sefer Shaar Ha-tefilah (p. 312) from a man-uscript of Rav Chaim Vital’s actual hand-writing, and there also, the passage says that it was the day of Simchas Rashbi, not the day he died.

The question then is, what is the earli-est printed source that Rashbi died on Lag Ba’Omer?

Some researchers demonstrate that the earliest source to mention Lag Ba’Omer as the yahrzeit of Rashbi is the Chemdas Ha-Yamim. (R. Yaakov Hillel also confirms this in his Aid ha-Gal ha-Zeh [p. 13]).

The Chemdas Ha-Yamim was first print-ed in the 1730s. Some claim that it had strong ties to Shabtai Tzvi. Others state that it is a very special sefer.

Whatever the case is, this sefer serves as a source for many present day minhaghim. It is not necessarily the earliest source, but because of the sefer’s popularity, many minhagim contained therein became wide-spread. What is very interesting is that many Chassidim who reject the Chemdas Ha-Yamim, embrace the concept that Lag Ba’Omer is the yahrzeit of Rashbi.11

Regardless of whether or not Lag Ba’Omer is the yahrzeit of Rashbi, there are strong connections between Lag Ba’Omer and Rashbi. Most of the connections are based on the writings of kabbalah. The Arizal says that this was the day that Rashbi got semicha from Rabbi Akiva. Rav Eliezer Dunner, in his work Zichron Yosef Tzvi, of-fers a very novel reason for the celebration on Lag Ba’Omer. He says that Rabbi Aki-va, a strong supporter of Bar Kochba, had his students join the man’s army and they

Visiting the graVe Of rashBi, hOweVer, is far frOm a uniVersaL custOm.


died in the time period of Sefirah. On Lag Ba’Omer, however, the Jews had a suc-cessful day on the battlefield, and that is why they turned this day into a day of cel-ebration. This explanation, though, does not help us understand the connection to Rashbi. Avrohom Korman in his Pinu’ach Agados (pp. 190-210), cites others that tie the death of the talmidim of Rabbi Akiva to the rebellion of Bar Kochba.

There is a custom in many Chassidic courts to use bows and arrows on Lag Ba’Omer. While many Chassidic explana-tions are given, Korman says that perhaps the bows and arrows serve as a reminder of the war that the students of Rabbi Akiva fought against the Romans. (As an aside, although most sources for bow and arrows on Lag Ba’Omer are found in Chassidic sefarim, I have found a possible source that in Vilna in the early 1800s, they used bows and arrows on Lag Ba’Omer.12)

going to meron around the year

Returning to the origins of going to Meron on Lag Ba’Omer, there is a very de-tailed article in which a researcher collects many early sources13 from famous travel-ers for going to Meron in general14, but these early sources make no mention of going to Rashbi’s kever, only to the kevarim of Hillel and Shamai15 who were also bur-ied in Meron16. The first source that the researcher found that mentions going to Rashbi’s kever is from the 12th-century in the travels of Rav Yaakov Hacohen.17 None of these sources mentions travel to kev-arim at a specific time. In the beginning of the 14th century, however, a talmid of the Ramban mentions going to the kevarim of Hillel and Shamai in Meron on Pesach Sheini. In the famous letter of Rav Ova-diah me-Bartinuro (1488) and the travels of Rabbi Moshe Basola (1521-1523), we also find mention of going to the kevarim in Meron of Hillel and Shamai on Pesach Sheini. From many of these sources, we see that the reason they went was to daven for water, and that, at times, water would miraculously appear from the caves.

The first source we have for someone going to Rashbi’s kever specifically on Lag Ba’Omer, is from the students of the Arizal, who say that the Arizal once went to the kever of Rashbi on Lag Ba’Omer while still living in Egypt. When recording this tes-timony, Rav Chaim Vital writes that he is not sure if this occurred before the Arizal was well versed in kabbalah. But he does stress that the Arizal was doing something that had been done by others before him. Another researcher concludes that the custom of going to Meron on Lag Ba’Omer was begun by “kabbalists of Tzfat.”

The first researcher’s article shows that the custom of going to Meron evolved from an earlier custom of going to Shm-uel Hanavi’s kever on his yahrzeit, the 28th

day of Iyar.18 In various sources we also see that they used to light fires at Shmuel Hanavi’s kever. This, the researcher be-lieves, is where the minhag to go to kever of Rashbi came from.

To sum it up, the above indicates that there are early sources for people going to Meron in the month of Iyar, on Pesach Sheini, to the kevarim of Hillel and Shamai. Tzfat kabbalists went to Rashbi’s kever throughout the year, and the second re-searcher feels that the minhag of going on Lag Ba’Omer originated from this custom. While the first researcher feels that the custom of going to Meron on Lag Ba’Omer evolved from an earlier custom to go to Shmuel Hanavi’s kever on his yarzheit, it is also clear that the Arizal did, in fact, go to the kever of Rashbi on Lag Ba’Omer at least once.

It would appear to this writer that it is more likely that the custom of going to Meron to the kever of Rav Shimon Bar Yo-chai on Lag Ba’Omer came from the earlier minhag of going to Meron in the month of Iyar to the kevarim of Hillel and Shamai on Pesach Sheini, which is only a few days before Lag Ba’Omer. This minhag may not originate from that of going to Shm-uel Hanavi’s kever, which is not even in Meron, on his yahrzeit on the 28th day of Iyar. Support for this can be found in the travels of Rav Moshe of Basola who writes that after going to the kevarim of Hillel and

Shamai on Pesach Sheini, the crowd would then go to the cave where Rashbi and his son hid for 13 years and they would spend a few days and nights celebrating in Mer-on. 19

Some diSSentBe that as it may, visiting the grave of

Rashbi is far from a universal custom. Throughout history, many have been op-posed to this custom. For example, there is a rather unknown source about this whole topic found in some versions of Toledot Ha-Arizal20, which says that in the time of Maran (Rabbi Yosef Karo), there was an agreement to stop the singing and dancing at the kever of Rashbi on Lag


Ba’Omer, since it appeared to the Beis Yosef and his beis din to be a great disgrace. The agreement was written but not signed, and that night, the Beis Yosef had a dream that Rashbi came and told him that a plague will come if they sign the document, and that he wants them to be happy on his yahrzeit.

The Chasam Sofer, whom I quoted ear-lier as being opposed to going to the kever of Rashbi on Lag Ba’Omer, said in a ser-mon that the reason why the earthquakes took place in the 1830s in Tzfat was be-cause Yerushalayim was upset that more people were living there than in Yerush-alyim, and the reason people lived there was because of the kevarim of Rashbi and the Arizal! (Dershos Chasam Sofer, p. 390

a).Rabbi Yosef Carlebach was present

when someone asked Rav Shmuel Salant if he was going to the celebration at Shimon Ha-tzadik’s kever. He replied in the nega-tive. (Michtavim Meyerushalayim, p. 65).

When Rav Elyashiv was asked about go-ing to Meron on Lag Ba’Omer he replied, “Rav Shimon is here,” pointing to the Ge-mara. (Ha- Shakdan, 2, p. 108).

Both Rabbi Yaakov Hillel (Aid ha-Gal ha-Zeh, p.27) and Rabbi Ovadiah Yosef (Yabia Omer 5:35 and Chazon Ovadiah, p. 274) do not encourage going to Meron on Lag Ba’Omer due to the situation of pritzus (immodesty) that takes place there.

Another minhag that takes place at the kever of Rashbi on Lag Ba’Omer is the

lighting of bonfires. It would appear to be related to the minhag of lighting candles on a yahrzeit.21 It seems that at one point in history people started burning clothes at these bonfires.

The earliest source we have for doing this is a letter in which a talmid of the Or HaChaim Hakodesh says that his rebbe lit such a fire using clothing as fuel. In-terestingly enough, this clothing fire did not occur on Lag Ba’Omer (Rebbe Chaim Ibn Itar, p. 44). However, various gedolim, including the Chasam Sofer and the Shoel U-Meishiv, in the above quoted teshuvos, are opposed to the use of clothing for fuel. The Chikrei Lev (M.B., Y.D. 11, end) came out against it, citing a problem of bal tash-chis. In 1914, Rabbi Shmuel Heller wrote a pamphlet called Ke-voyid Melachim de-fending the custom and arguing that it is not a problem of bal tashchis.22

Another minhag that takes place at the kever of Rashbi on Lag Ba’Omer is stay-ing up the whole night of Lag Ba’Omer, studying Zohar and or saying Tikkun and various tefillos. Others just said these te-fillos, but did not necessarily stay up the whole night. Many tefillos specific to Lag Ba’Omer were composed and printed over the years. The earliest source for staying up the whole night can be found in the Chemdas Ha-Yamim, but he does not spec-ify that it has to be at Rashbi’s kever.23

Many sing at the kever of Rashbi on Lag Ba’Omer the song “Bar Yochai.” This song was composed by the great kabbalist Reb Shimon Ibn Liba, author of the commen-tary Kesem Paz on the Zohar. He was born at the end of the 15th century in Spain. Originally, the song was sung during Kab-balas Shabbas (Friday night service), while others have the custom to sing it at other times on Shabbos. Eventually it became one of the most famous songs sung on Lag Ba’Omer.24 It was added into many of col-lections of tikkunim (special readings) said on Lag Ba’Omer.

Another minhag that takes place at the kever of Rashbi on Lag Ba’Omer is the up-sherin. Rabbi Binyamin Shlomo Hamberger (Shorshei Minhag Ashkenaz 3:251-67) writes that there are several reasons to doubt that


it is an old minhag, as there is no mention of this custom in any of the Rishonim. Fur-thermore, he shows that in the times of the Rishonim they cut a child’s hair long before the child was three years old.

An early source given for the upsherin custom is the Arizal, in the passage quot-ed, where it is claimed that the reason the Arizal traveled to Rashbi’s kever on Lag Ba’Omer was to give his son an upsherin. However, Rabbi Hamberger and others point out this attribution is problematic as it is documented that the Arizal did not cut hair during the entire Sefirah—includ-ing Lag Ba’Omer. The second researcher says that this question could be resolved by saying that what the Ari did to his son, and what he himself did were two dif-ferent things. Another possible solution could be that this story took place prior to the time that the Arizal began to be in-

volved in Kabbalah. An early source for upsherin can be

found in the Radvaz (2:608), but the up-sherin was done at the kever of Shmuel Hanavi not at Rashbi’s kever. This would support the theory of the first researcher mentioned earlier that the minhagim of Lag Ba’Omer stemmed from the celebra-tions at the kever of Shmuel Hanavi.

One final point is that while it is difficult to connect Lag Ba’Omer with the death of Rashbi, there is another important person who most likely did indeed die on Lag Ba’Omer—Yehoshua ben Nun. In remain-ing fragments of an ancient siddur from Eretz Yisroel, we find that Yehoshua ben Nun’s death was on Lag Ba’Omer (Hilchos Eretz Yisroel Min Ha-Genizah, p. 141). Furthermore, in Megilas Ta’anis, in the last section, there is a part titled Megilas Ta’anis Basra. This section was written sig-

nificantly later than the rest of the Megilas Ta’anis and was written in the times of the Geonim. This section contains a list of yah-rzeits that one should fast on. This section of the Megilas Ta’anis is addressed in the Tur (O.C. 580). In many versions of this text, it places Yehoshua ben Nun’s death on Lag Ba’Omer. Other versions place his death at the end of Nissan (such a version is found in the Tur [580]).

In conclusion, among all that is not clear, what is clear about Lag Ba’Omer is that from the times of the Arizal and onwards many would visit the kever of Rashbi on Lag Ba’Omer. Many would sing all kinds of songs, especially “Bar Yochai,” while dancing around bonfires made from burning clothes; others would study Kab-balah the whole night or say various tefil-los, and in the morning many would give their three-year old boys an upsherin.•

1 Much has been written about all the customs of Lag Ba-Omer The best col-lections of material on the topic are from Avraham Yaari, in Tarbiz 22 (1951); M. Benayhu, Sefunot 6 pp. 11-40 [and is summarized in Sefer Vilnai 2:326-330] and Rabbi Betzalel Landau, in Maseh Meron (1966) [See also D. Tamar, Eshkolet Tamar, pp. 116-120]. See also R. Shlomo J. Zevin, Moadim Bahalcha pp. 359-64;S. Ashkenazi, Avnei Chain pp. 103-11. For more recent collections of sources see: Rabbi Yaakov Hillel, Aid ha-Gal ha-Zeh, pp. 3-29; M. Blau, Yeshurun 15, (2008), pp. 854-872; T. Freund, Moadim le-Simcha ; Pardes Eliezer s.v lag be-omer;Y. Tessler, Pinnenei ha-Chag.

2 For an excellent discussion of this topic see Rabbi Gedaliah Oberlander, Min-hag Avosenu be-Yadenu (Merkaz Halakhah, 2005), pp. 528-47.

3 For a partial discussion of this see R. Gedaliah Oberlander Minhag Avosenu be-Yadenu (Merkaz Halakhah, 2005), pp. 537-539.

4 Meoros ha-Rishonim p. 89.

5 See D. Sperber, Minhagei Yisrael 1:101-17.

6 For one example of this leniency, see the manuscript published by Meir Benayahu, Yosef Bechiri [Jerusalem, 1991], 518-20.

7 For accounts of the celebrations see all the sources in note one above.

8 Dershos Ri Ibn Shu’eib, 1, p. 222.

9 See Tashbatz in his work Magen Avos on Avos 1:1; Prei Chadash, 493:2. See also Beis Yosef and Aruch Ha-shulchan.

10 For more on this edition see Rabbi Yosef Avivi, Binyan Ariel, pp. 68-71 and his Kabbalas Ha-Ari, 2, pp. 705-06.

11 For a partial list of sources regarding the Chemdas Ha-Yamim controversy see my Likutei Eliezer, p. 2.

12 Kundes p. 49 for more sources on using bow and arrows on Lag Ba-Omer: see the sources listed by Landau, ibid pp. 124-26; Moadim le-Simcha pp. 155-59; Pardes Eliezer pp. 229-49; ha-Koton ve-Halachosov chapter 24 p. 59 n.

22; Zikhronot Av u-Beno p. 231; A.S. Sachs, Worlds that Passed (Philadelphia, 1928), p. 112.

13 The actual sources can be seen in his works Masyos Eretz Yisroel and Igrot Eretz Yisroel.

14 Much has been written about davening at kevarim in general see Y. Lichten-stein, Me-Tumah Le-Kedusha, pp. 218-242, 293-386.

15 M. Zulay published very early piyutim that seem to show that Hillel and Sha-mai were brothers; see his Eretz Yisroel U-piyuteh, pp. 539-545.

16 On going to the kevarim of Hillel and Shamai see M. Weiss, Kivrei Avos, 129-132; Elchanan Reiner “Pilgrims and Pilgrimage to Eretz Yisrael (1099-1517),” (PhD dissertation, Hebrew University of Jerusalem, 1988), 295-320.

17 General sources for going to the kever of Rashbi can be found in M.Weiss, Kivrei Avos pp. 179-81; Z. Vilnai, Mazavos be-Eretz ha-Kodesh pp. 117-150.

18 On this being his date of death see the Tur (O.C. 580); S. Elitzur, in her excel-lent book, Lamu Tzamnu, pp. 177-180.

19 The Itinerary of Rabbi Moses Basola (David ed.) p.91.

20 Sefer ha-Ari, p. 219. It is also found in a manuscript of the Chida printed in Sefer Ha-Chida, p. 96. See also the letter of R. Yosef Sofer in Igros Eretz Yisroel, p. 304.

21 Y. Lichtenstein, Me-Tumah Le-Kedusha, pp. 305-310; T. Freund, Moadim le-Simcha, pp. 185-199.

22 See also see the sources listed by Landau, ibid pp. 115-22; D. Sperber, Min-hagei Yisrael 8:72-83.

23 Landau, Ma’aseh Meron, pp.135-141.

24 About the song Bar-Yochai, see Landau, Ma’seh Meron, pp. 103-108; Moshe Challamish, in Ha-kabblah, 507-31; and in his Hanhageios Kabbelios be-Shab-bat pp. 300-03. On general songs composed in honor of Rashbi see Challamish in Hakabblah pp. 259-83.On Reb Shimon Ibn Liba see Boaz Hass, Al Adnei Paz.

Lag Ba'omer Upsherins and the sources of customs

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