Chifa, Israel - Police Stop Youths From Setting Fire To A Mosque On Lag Ba'Omer
A group of youths tried to set fire to a mosque, in the city of Chifa, on Lag Ba'Omer.
The group of men and women smashed the main door of the mosque on Borla Street, with logs and set it on fire, they spray painted graffiti on the walls reading "Death to Arabs" on adjacent buildings, and there were also signs of attempts to throw flaming logs through the mosque's one window that has not been sealed.
Residents rushed to the burning mosque in attempt to extinguish the fire, then called the fire brigades. The intervention of police and city officials kept the youths from torching the mosque, as Jews throughout Israel lit bonfires to mark the holiday of Lag Ba'Omer.
posted by VOS IZ NEIAS @ 5/16/2006 07:54:00 AM
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Some 250,000 people, each for their own reason, came from across the country to Mount Meron on Monday, for the famous Hilula celebrations.
By the early afternoon, buses began leaving from Jerusalem every few minutes, and it seemed that the ultra-Orthodox public was setting out on a giant and organized trip.
Signs in Afula showed where men and women could go shopping. Buses from the northern city set out in convoys of 15 at a time.
In the past, when the access roads were less developed, a visit to Mount Memon was reserved mainly for the students of Torah sages, who were instructed to make a pilgrimage to the grave of the righteous rabbi who brought the Kabala to the Jewish nation.
Today, with paved and wide roads, and government support for the development of holy sites, the visit has turned into a focal point for masses of pilgrims who travel by foot.
"Every year the number of people grows," said Yosef Shoinger, Director General of the Governmental Society for the Development of Holy Places. "It is crowded and there are traffic jams, and conditions are not the most hygienic, but the public votes with its feet, and our job is to make it easier for them and to say, come to Meron."
Thousands arrived to visit the grave of Rabbi Shimon Bar Yochai, and for the ultra-Orthodox public, it is an opportunity to put aside for one day the heavy Talmud learning, and to release energies.
It is also an opportunity to meet relatives and friends and trade stories on events in Jerusalem and Bnei Brak. "It's like the ultra-Orthodox version of the Shantipi (hippy festival in Israel), explains Hassid Karlin, who has been coming to Meron since he was a three-year old child.
For other, non ultra-Orthodox visitors, it is an opportunity to light candles on walls made of stones which encircle the site, and to read from the book of Psalms and the Tikun Haklali (general healing) psalms. "I light a candle in memory of Rabbi Shimon Bar Yochai and his son Elazar, and also in memory of Yohanan Hasandlar. Our forefathers taught us to believe in the righteous," said Mazal Beiton, of Jerusalem. She added: "It has never been this crowded. I felt that Rabbi Shimon was calling to me."
Miracles
Thousands of the visitors are motivated by the power of faith, and believe that a pilgrimage to the rabbis' burial site will result in a hidden or clear miracle. This could be the most popular reason for the visit. "For 20 years I have been arriving here. I underwent difficult things in my life and it's good for me here. I had a growth, I came here, and it all passed," says Yosef Amihazar. Stories of miracles are the hottest items at the foot of the mountain where the pilgrims congregate.
"I haven't had children and they recommended for me to come here. Today, thank God, I have six children," says Mali Farkash, of Bet Shemesh. Farkash also made sure to carry out the Helke traditional haircut for her three-year old son.
"There is a story about a family who had a six-month old baby girl paralyzed from the head down. After a few years, her father brought her here. For three days they placed her on the site and said Psalms. On the third day the girl began to move her hands and then her legs, and then started shouting, 'Dad, Dad.' Today, she still has problems in her legs and she is in a wheel chair, but with the help of God she will have ten children," said Farkash. Such stories could be heard through the night.
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