A Lag B'Omer Kiddush Hashem

Similar to the way the mass Birkat Kohanim event on Pesach was scaled down to just a small number of kohanim and a live broadcast over the Internet, due to CoronaVirus, the State decided that the annual bonfires at Lag B'Omer will happen in a scaled down format as well.

As soon as they announced it, all the various hassidic groups submitted requests to be granted a slot. The person in charge then announced that there are too many requests, and not enough time int he 24 hours to grant them all slots, and that is before they even start getting the requests from the other sectors, such as the sefardic groups and rabbis and the Dati Leumi rabbis and maybe some Litvishe Haredi ones as well. They then set a number, 19 if I am not mistaken, and said there would be 19 bonfires, each an hour apart throughout Lag B'Omer. Each one, led by a different group, will be able to have a small number of attendees.

Among the scrambling for slots, and surely the application of "Vitamin P", ie protexia, one group stood out in their approach.

Journalist Yisrael Cohen tweeted:

קידוש השם: חסידות קרלין החליטה לבטל את מעמד ההדלקה במירון כדי לצמצם סכנת נפשות וחשש להדבקה בקורונה

— ישראל כהן (@Israelcohen911) April 21, 2020

He writes, the hassidut of Karlin made a kiddush hashem in their decision today to cancel the Lag B'Omer bonfire in Meron in order to minimize the risk to human life and the concern of spreading Corona.

Kol Hakavod to them for their responsible approach. Others should be acting similarly. They should have a token bonfire, and stream it live to whoever wants to see, just like by Birkat Kohanim. Each hassidic group can host its own small bonfire in their home location, following Ministry of Health guidelines and keeping the events small. Show some responsibility.

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