Mount Meron

A responsible choice: Why canceling Lag Ba’omer at Mount Meron was the right call - editorial

The fires of Lag Ba’omer will burn again on the slopes of Meron. What matters is that when they do, they come back to a country that chose, at the right moment, to be careful.

View of the gravesite of Rabbi Shimon Bar Yochai on Mount Meron, northern Israel, May 1, 2024.
Jewish worshippers visit the gravesite of Rabbi Shimon Bar Yochai (Rashbi) in Meron, northern Israel, ahead of the Jewish holiday of Lag BaOmer, May 1, 2026.

Religious protesters plan to storm Mount Meron in defiance of police orders ahead of Lag Ba'omer

 Compound 89 in Meron is seen ahead of next week’s Lag BaOmer celebrations, as police conduct an inspection tour around the tomb complex, April 26, 2026

Five years after disaster, Israel limits Lag Ba'omer celebrations on Meron amid security fears

Rabbi Eliezer Berland and Rabbi Ofer Erez

High Court rejects petition to prevent convicted sex offender Berland from lighting Meron torch


Meron tragedy throws up questions of faith

And the most pervasive question of all: Why did God allow this to happen?

PEOPLE CELEBRATE the lighting of a bonfire  on Mount Meron during Lag Ba’omer last month.

Senator Chuck Schumer to Meron mourners: 'I have deep faith in Hashem'

The families of the victims sitted for the week of shiva, the Jewish rituals of mourning during which the bereaved receives visits and attentions in the memory of the lost ones.

Sen. Chuck Schumer at a news briefing with new Democratic senators at the US Capitol, Jan. 21, 2021.

The power of civic solidarity after tragedy to bring us together - opinion

The Arabs understand the pain of the ultra-Orthodox. They experience the same contempt from the police and the minister of public security.

A CROWD at Rabin Square in Tel Aviv lights candles on Sunday for the 45 victims who died in a crush during Lag Ba’omer celebrations at Mount Meron.

Mount Meron tragedy: Night of unity, respect, helping others - opinion

Our students never blamed the police or the hassidim. They showed concern for everyone.

United Hatzalah medics work to help injured at Meron, April 30, 2021

Israeli couple to donate NIS 1 million to families of Meron victims

Each of the families will receive about 18,000 NIS.

Nacht family, whose fund will be donating to the families of the Meron disaster

Is Rabbi Shimon Bar Yochai really buried at Meron? It’s complicated

On one hand some rock cut burials dating back to the time of the Mishna are present in Meron. On the other, no archaeological evidence linking them to the Rabbi Shimon Bar Yochai was ever found.

Ultra-Orthodox Jewish man prays outside the Tomb of Rabbi Shimon bar Yochai on Mt. Meron in northern Israel on May 6, 2020

Olmert to 'Post': Ohana, Netanyahu responsible and guilty for Meron

When the investigation process is completed, those responsible will be identified. No one will be held criminally liable.

PUBLIC SECURITY MINISTER Amir Ohana – at celebrations on Mount Meron last month – declared himself responsible, but not guilty for the tragedy there.

The Mount Meron tragedy is the ultra-Orthodox's Chernobyl disaster

MIDDLE ISRAEL: Who will be part of the commission of inquiry, what will they investigate, what will it find and what will these findings mean?

Ultra-Orthodox Jews look at stairs with waste on it in Mount Meron, northern Israel, where fatalities were reported among the thousands of ultra-Orthodox Jews gathered at the tomb of a 2nd-century sage for annual commemorations that include all-night prayer and dance, April 30, 2021.

Meron commission of inquiry should restore state's authority - opinion

The Mount Meron disaster as a lesson in absent governance

YA’ACOV LITZMAN speaks to a man during the Lag Ba’omer celebration on Mount Meron last Thursday.

Down with Deri: The Shas leader must be shamed out of politics - opinion

The Meron misfortune reflects a larger problem that Israel has with haredi politics, in which Arye Deri is a key culprit.

INTERIOR MINISTER Arye Deri attends the funeral of Abraham Ambon, one of the victims of the Meron tragedy, in Jerusalem on Monday.