Lug b omer is a Jewish holiday and on the Jewish calendar for 2010 it falls on the evening of the 1st and the day of the 2nd of May, but as the 1st is a Saturday, Lug b omer will be celebrated on the evening of Sunday 2nd and the day of the 3rd of May 2010. This May Jewish holiday commemorates historical events and can be traced back to the first testament. There are conflicting views about the origins of Lug b omer, but in Israel it is a normal work day and a school holiday as well as having one of the most enjoyable Jewish holiday traditions – the lighting of bonfires. It is the closest thing to Guy Fawkes Night that you can get outside of the U.K!

The particular custom which Israeli children most relate to on Lug b omer is the lighting of bonfires. It is said that the bonfires represent the spiritual light which Bar Yohai (who died on this date) brought to the world with his teachings. The bonfires could also be in memory of the fires lit on hill tops by Jewish rebels to send signals to one another during the Bar Kochba revolt. The Israeli kids also play with bows and arrows on Lug b omer in commemoration of this particular Jewish revolt.

Among religious and secular Jewish Israeli kids alike, the bonfires are the best and most prominent part of this Jewish celebration. In nursery schools and schools the weeks running up to Lug b omer are filled with art work relating to fire, and bonfires, and the kids are taught all about this Jewish holiday.

Collecting Wood for the Bonfire NightIsraeli children begin collecting wood for Lug b omer at least a month before the Jewish holiday. You can see small groups of kids wheeling shopping carts down the streets and accumulating planks of wood, old wooden furniture, old doors and any other wooden item that could be added to a bonfire. Pretty soon the back yard looks like a lumber yard.

Finding a Place to Have the Bonfire

Like all Jewish holidays Lug b omer begins at sundown the day before the actual Jewish calendar date of this holiday. The day before Lug b omer is a normal school day, after school the kids quickly get organized for the coming night time activity. Firstly they need to find the best spot for their bonfire, and so hours before sundown you can see adults and kids alike staking out a site for their bonfire. A dad will take a deck chair and a newspaper and sit in some empty plot all by himself for half a day to guarantee a good spot for his kid's Lug b omer fire. Moms can be seen setting up picnic tables and chairs in a wide circle to make sure their turf is marked.

Every empty space where a fire can be safely lit is appropriated for the evening's fun. The most popular spots are empty plots of land – even inner city – where every few meters a different group of friends or class of kids begins piling their wood into a cone-like structure. The base of these piles of wood is usually a wooden platform taken from a building site. Extra night watchmen are taken on to guard building sites during May due to the sudden increase in mysteriously missing lumber! Other sites for Lug b omer fires are in open fields, private gardens and yards or on the beach.

The evening approaches and while the sun is still up you can already see groups of nursery school kids with their teachers and parents gathered around fires. The younger kids, not yet at school, normally have their celebration in day light hours, and often in the nursery school grounds. They then pack away the kids and leave the burning left over fire for the next group of kids that comes along. With younger kids it is generally required that each child is accompanied by an adult. The parents or PTA lays on a light meal or orders pizza for everyone.

Jewish Holiday Bonfire Food!

There are however standard food items that almost every Lug b omer bonfire party will have and they are marshmallows and potatoes. The raw potatoes are wrapped in tinfoil (aluminum foil) and then threaded onto a wire which is put into the bonfire and left there until towards the end of the night. Once the string of potatoes is retrieved they are unwrapped and eaten hot with salt. The other food which goes so well with any bonfire is a barbeque. The older kids and adults have barbeques with the meal ranging from simply hotdogs to an all out, sit down affair including bbq steaks, kebabs, hamburgers, chicken wings, pita bread, humus, tachina, and salad. Some bring all the barbeque grill equipment from home; others bring a small bbq grill and lay it over the charcoal. The air is soon full of the smell of barbeques and the smoke from all the fires. The marshmallows are roasted on wooden skewers over the barbeque fire.

The kids and adults alike begin to gather around sundown. Some bring guitars, some alcohol and others just a lot of wood. The fires go on until the sun rises with many youngsters sleeping under the stars next to the bonfire. The following day is a school holiday which is the actual Lug b omer calendar date, those who do not have to work, sleep!

Bonfire Accidents on Lug b omer

Mada (the Israeli version of the Red Cross) works over time on Lug b omer, and there are always accidents and fire related tragedies, with many children being allowed to stay up late at the bonfires and many unsupervised by adults. As the different groups of people having bonfires are usually close to one another there is always someone near by and hopefully responsible adults to keep an eye on things. Generally speaking Israeli children are given a lot of freedom, and often young teens (+/- 13 years) are allowed to stay out until 2 or 3 in the morning on Lug b omer.

If you are planning a trip to Israel and it falls on the Jewish holiday of Lug b omer you will not be disappointed as you share in the party atmosphere. Even a slow drive around an Israeli town on the night of Lug b omer is a treat to see all the bonfires and happy revelers.