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    Alyssa’s Guide to Celebrating Lag B’Omer

    By nmcteam

    By Alyssa Gorenberg, MHWOW Program Coordinator There’s another holiday right around the corner called Lag B’Omer happening May 22nd and 23rd! Are you ready to celebrate? Nope? Me neither! I have heard about Lag B’Omer for most of my Jewish life, but never actually knew what the holiday was or how to even observe. If you are also feeling a little lost check out this fabulous listicle put together by a fabulous gal (a.k.a. me) to give you the low down on this holiday and how to celebrate.
    1. What’s the Omer? The Omer is the 49 day period between Passover and Shavuot. It’s a period of mourning where Jewish people typically do not cut their hair, get married, or have many other celebrations. Lag B’Omer is the 33rd day of the Omer in which we interrupt said mourning and CELEBRATE! From haircuts to weddings to bonfires (and haircuts that take place right before your bonfire wedding) we can do it all.
    2. The Omer literally means ‘sheaf’ and marks the beginning of the barley harvest when Jews would bring the first sheaves to the Temple to appreciate the harvest. In honor of barley being harvested, I recommend you consume this grain via beer tasting with your community. My co-working space recently put together a taste test to see if employees could figure out not only which kind of beer we were consuming but also the brewery it came from. 10 out of 10 would recommend.
    3. Are you interested in Tikkun Olam-ifying your Lag B’Omer? The URJ threw together these social justice program suggestions for the holiday so we can give back.
    4. Are you a TL;DR (too long; didn’t read) kind of person? This is a crash course into what you can do at a Lag B’Omer celebration as well as save the dates for future Lag B’Omer.
    5. Are you feeling a little nostalgic for Camp Nai Nai Nai? It may be time for you to hold a Backyard Fireside shindig. You can celebrate Lag B’Omer with this Havdalah bonfire idea!
    As always, let us know what you create! Share on Instagram or Facebook by tagging Moishe House and #moishemoment. Happy hosting!!