Editing Jewish holidays (section)

===Sefirah—Counting of the Omer===
{{Main article|Counting of the Omer}}
* ''Sefirat HaOmer'' (Counting of the Omer): 16 Nisan – 5 [[Sivan]]<ref name="Karomer" group=Note>Based on the source text at {{bibleverse||Lev.|23:11|HE}}, normative Jewish practice identifies the start of the Omer period as the second day of Passover, or 16 Nisan. (See {{cite wikisource |wslink=Translation:Shulchan Aruch/Orach Chaim/489 |title=Shulchan Aruch OC 489 |postscript=.}})  Based on the same source text, Karaite practice identifies this as the first Sunday on or after 16 Nisan, and therefore places Shavuot on the eighth Sunday on or after 16 Nisan—both as reckoned on the Karaite calendar. (See [[Karaite Judaism#Sephirath Ha‘Omer and Shavu‘oth|Karaite Judaism: Sephirath Ha‘Omer and Shavu‘oth]].)</ref> 
''Sefirah'' (lit. "Counting"; more fully, ''Sefirat HaOmer,'' "Counting of the Omer") (ספירת העומר), is the 49-day period between the biblical pilgrimage festivals of Passover and Shavuot. The Torah states<ref name="Omersource" /> that this period is to be counted, both in days and in weeks. The first day of this period<ref group=Note name="Karomer" /> is the day of the first [[grain offering]] of the new year's crop, an [[omer (unit)|omer]] of [[barley]]. The day following the 49th day of the period is the festival of Shavuot; the Torah specifies a grain offering of [[wheat]] on that day.<ref name="Omersource">{{bibleverse||Leviticus|23:9–17|HE}} and {{bibleverse||Deuteronomy|16:9–10|HE}}</ref>

Symbolically, this period has come to represent the spiritual development of the Israelites from slaves in the [[polytheistic]] society of [[Ancient Egypt]] to free, [[monotheistic]] people worthy of the [[revelation#Judaism|revelation]] of the Torah, traditionally said to have occurred on [[Shavuot#Giving of the Torah|Shavuot]]. Spiritual development remains a key rabbinic teaching of this period.<ref>See, for example, {{cite web |url=http://www.tfdixie.com/parshat/emor/019.htm |website=www.tfdixie.com |title=Count Up |last1=Cohen |first1=Ezra |publisher=Torah from Dixie |access-date=January 18, 2013 |archive-date=April 2, 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120402082855/http://www.tfdixie.com/parshat/emor/019.htm |url-status=dead }}</ref>

Sefirah has long been observed as a period of semi-mourning. The customary explanation<ref name="sefira">{{cite wikisource |wslink=Translation:Shulchan Aruch/Orach Chaim/489 |title=Shulchan Aruch OC 489 |postscript=.}}</ref> cites a plague that killed 24,000 students of [[Rabbi Akiva]] (BT ''[[Yevamot]]'' 62b).<ref group=Note>Neither the Torah nor the Talmud specifies Sefirah as a mourning period. However, there is evidence that this custom was in place by the era of the [[Geonim]], which ended around 1040 CE. See {{cite web |url=http://www.aish.com/h/o/33o/48970241.html |title=Rebbe Akiva's 24,000 Students |last1=Kahn |first1=Rabbi Ari |date=February 20, 2006 |website=aish.com |access-date=January 18, 2013}}</ref> In broad terms, the mourning practices observed include limiting actual celebrations (such as weddings), not listening to music, not wearing new clothing, and not shaving or taking a haircut.<ref name="sefira" /> There is a wide variety of practice as to the specifics of this observance.  See [[Counting of the Omer#As a period of semi-mourning|Counting of the Omer (Semi-mourning)]].
[[File:Lag BaOmer bonfire.jpg|thumb|200px|[[Lag Ba'Omer]] bonfire]]

====Lag Ba'Omer====
{{Main article|Lag Ba'Omer}}
{{further|Hillula of Rabbi Shimon bar Yochai}}
* Lag Ba'Omer: 18 [[Iyar]]
''Lag Ba'Omer'' ({{lang|he|לַ״ג בָּעוֹמֶר}}) is the 33rd day in the Omer count ({{lang|he|לַ״ג}} is the number 33 in Hebrew). By Ashkenazi practice, the semi-mourning observed during the period of Sefirah (see above) is lifted ''on'' Lag Ba'Omer, while Sefardi practice is to lift it ''at the end of'' Lag Ba'Omer.<ref name="sefira" /><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.beyondbt.com/2012/05/09/mournings-end-understanding-sefira-and-lag-bomer |title=Mourning's End – Understanding Sefira and Lag B'Omer |last=Travis |first=Rabbi Daniel Yaakov |date=April 29, 2010 |access-date=May 2, 2010 |publisher=Beyond BT |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130501164650/http://www.beyondbt.com/2012/05/09/mournings-end-understanding-sefira-and-lag-bomer/ |archive-date=May 1, 2013 }}</ref> Minor liturgical changes are made on Lag Ba'omer; because mourning practices are suspended, weddings are often conducted on this day.

Lag Ba'Omer is identified as the ''[[Yom Hillula]] ([[yahrzeit]])'' of [[Rabbi Shimon bar Yochai]], one of the leading ''[[Tannaim]]'' (teachers quoted in the Mishna) and ascribed author of the core text of [[Kabbalah]], the [[Zohar]]. Customary celebrations include bonfires, [[picnic]]s, and bow and arrow play by children.<ref name="peter" /> Boys sometimes receive their first haircuts on Lag Ba'Omer,<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.jewishmag.com/10mag/israel/israel.htm |title=Meron on Lag B'Omer |last=Rossoff |first=Dovid |access-date=April 28, 2010 |publisher=The Jewish Magazine}}</ref> while Hasidic rebbes hold ''[[Tish (Hasidic celebration)|tish]]es'' in honor of the day.

In Israel, Lag Ba'Omer is associated with the [[Bar Kokhba revolt]] against the Roman Empire. In Zionist thought, the plague that decimated Rabbi Akiva's 24,000 disciples is explained as a veiled reference to the revolt; the 33rd day representing the end of the plague is explained as the day of Bar Kokhba's victory. The traditional bonfires and bow-and-arrow play were thus reinterpreted as celebrations of military victory.<ref name="peter">{{cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=1TA-Fg4wBnUC&pg=PA283 |pages=283–286 |title=The Bar Kokhba War Reconsidered: New perspectives on the Second Jewish Revolt against Rome|last=Schäfer|first=Peter|year=2003 |publisher=Mohr Siebeck |isbn=3-16-148076-7}}</ref> In this vein, the order originally creating the [[Israel Defense Forces]] was issued on Lag Ba'Omer 1948, 13 days after Israel declared independence.<ref name="Ynet">{{cite news |url=http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-3540212,00.html |title=Lag B'Omer |date=May 13, 2008 |access-date=May 5, 2012 |work=[[Ynetnews]]}}</ref>