Chapter 51, LaG BaOmer

     Remember the planks we used in sukkot? Some neighborhoods used any kind of wood they can gather. Sometimes steeling from one another, or from local construction sites and even from other sukkah builders. One thing we all did is, we kept the remaining of the wood for the rest of the winter through the spring.

 

    Between our building and the road was a clear patch of ground. This spot became our dedicated spot for the big bon fire. Adults and kids alike collected wood planks or dry branches, cardboard boxes and whatever else can burn. It took us a few days, after school to go everywhere around the neighborhood to collect the wood. I had to make sure Mom remembered to buy potatoes and that we had enough newspapers too. I washed the potatoes, wrapped them with a few layers of newspapers and saved them for the night. Avi and I also made our bows and arrows to shoot onto the fire. Rivka’s mom gave us some old cloths and we stuffed them with papers and straw. Putting them together and making a big doll and put it on the top of the wood pile.

 “Tonight, we will burn Eichmann last year we burned Hitler”, said Rivka as she saw the doll being placed on the center pole of the wood pile. 

 

    That evening I got permission from Mom to stay up late because we wouldn’t have school the following day. As soon as the sun disappeared behind the buildings, we gathered around the pile and Bentzi’s father poured a little kerosene on the wood and threw a match on it. The fire caught up quickly and Eichmann was the first to go to the sound of cheering from all of us. It took a while for the rest of the wood to burn and all we had left was a pile of red charcoal.

 

    Now it was time to bring the wrapped potatoes. Roni’s father brought a shovel and lifted some of the red charcoal and we through in the wrapped potatoes. He then covered them with the charcoal. For the next 45 minutes we sang songs and danced around the slowly diminishing fire. When finally, the red turned to mostly black cinder, Roni’s dad dug out the potatoes and we each pealed the burned paper very carefully. The potatoes’ peals were black and crispy. I put it on a plate and with a knife I cut it in half. I sprinkled a little salt and dug in. It was still very hot, but I couldn’t resist (none of us did) it was one of the tastiest foods I ever had. By the time I returned home I had to put all my cloths in the laundry pile and hit the shower. My hair smelled like charcoal and I had to shampoo it 3 times.

 

   On the 33^rd day after Passover Seder – LaG BaOmer - the counting of the wheat stems we had a day off from school. Despite the fact that I stayed up late the night before, I got up early. Next to our house stood three busses and I could see almost all the “Chawalulus” from the buildings next to us lining up with picnic bags and musical instruments to go on the buses. There were a few older ladies among them who were singing and ululating loudly while two other women were playing the “darbuka”. They were the professional criers of that community. On funerals there were hired to literally cry and wail. Some of them would even scratch their faces. The more they yell the better their get paid. Yet sometimes it is so bad it drags other people to join them and hurt themselves. By then some people pay the criers to stop crying.

 

    The buses were taking our neighbors to Mount Meiron. It is believed that the old sage Rabbi Shimon Bar Yochai who was a supporter of Bar Kochva was buried there. It is a tradition to go and have a feast there every Lag BaOmer and give all the three years old boys their first haircut.  

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Potato Salad

 

A simple and easy salad. Should be eaten within a day and kept refrigerated. 

 

Ingredients:

1 Large Potato

1 Pickled Cucumber

¼ cup Chopped Walnuts

2 TBSP Mayonnaise

¼ tsp Salt

1 Hard Boiled Egg 

 

Preparation:

   Cook the potato (until you can put a fork through it) and cut to ½” cubes. Cut the pickles, eggs and crush the nuts. Mix all with Mayonnaise and serve.

 

 

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