Mount Meron tragedy

Five years after Meron: Dubi Weissenstern on memory, mourning, and meaning

The head of ZAKA reflects on the lessons of the Lag Ba’omer tragedy – and what they reveal about resilience, responsibility, and the challenges facing Israel today

|ByALAN ROSENBAUM, IN COLLABORATION WITH ZAKA
Dubi Weissenstern, CEO of ZAKA, ref!ects on the Meron tragedy.
View of the gravesite of Rabbi Shimon Bar Yochai on Mount Meron, northern Israel, May 1, 2024.

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.

|ByJPOST EDITORIAL
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

News guidelines were announced on Sunday night that only up to 1,500 people would be permitted to gather in the communities in the vicinity of Mount Meron: Safsofa, Or HaGanuz, Bar Yochai, and Meron.

|ByMICHAEL STARR
The real festivities begin when a huge bonfire is lit at midnight on Lag Ba'omer.

Celebrating Lag Ba’omer, a heroic chapter in Jewish history - opinion

During Bar Kochba’s revolt against the Romans, a terrible epidemic struck Rabbi Akiva’s students, and 24,000 men lost their lives. The epidemic suddenly stopped on Lag Ba’omer.

|ByDVORA WAYSMAN

Hassidic sect members arrested for attempting to sabotage Meron celebrations

A group of extremist hassidic sect members was arrested for attempting to sabotage infrastructure on Mount Meron.

MAY 17, 2022ByJERUSALEM POST STAFF
Israel Police forces arrest a member of an extremist hassidic sect on Mount Meron on May 17, 2022

Police on high alert ahead of Meron Lag Ba’omer celebration

16,000 will be allowed on mountain at a time, only people with tickets to be let in.

MAY 17, 2022ByJERUSALEM POST STAFF
Jews visit at the Rashbi gravesite on the Eve of Rosh Chodesh in Meron, Northern Israel, on March 2, 2022.

Mount Meron, Lag Ba'omer: How to celebrate even after tragedy - opinion

I would humbly suggest that the answer lies deep in how we generally are to approach tragedy and challenge in life.

MAY 16, 2022BySIMCHA SCHOLAR
FUNERAL FOR brothers Yosef David Elhadar and Moshe Mordechai Elhadar (opposite, far right), killed in the Meron tragedy; flames of remembrance for 45 victims; both May 2, 2021.

After events like Meron and Abu Akleh’s funeral, more police accountability is needed - editorial

Israel Police actions damaged Israel's image at a time of public relations vulnerability.

MAY 14, 2022ByJPOST EDITORIAL
Family and friends carry the coffin of Al Jazeera reporter Shireen Abu Akleh, who was killed during an Israeli raid in Jenin, during her funeral in Jerusalem, May 13, 2022.

Lag Ba'omer: How will Israel prevent the next Mount Meron tragedy?

It has been one year since the tragic events on Mount Meron. How have we been dealing with the fallout, and what meaningful changes have been made to prevent a future catastrophe?

MAY 14, 2022ByELIAV BREUER, YONAH JEREMY BOB
FUNERAL FOR brothers Yosef David Elhadar and Moshe Mordechai Elhadar (opposite, far right), killed in the Meron tragedy; flames of remembrance for 45 victims; both May 2, 2021.

I am crying a year later after the Meron tragedy

I am very angry because I know there were human errors that caused the deaths.

MAY 14, 2022ByDAVID GEFFEN
A SIGN warns of construction work at the Meron site for the coming week’s Lag Ba’omer celebrations, in this photo taken last month. Guardians of the site assure us that the new rules and the essential ‘missing’ construction has been completed.

Police chief shifts blame for Meron disaster to Northern District chief

Police chief Kobi Shabtai blamed politicians and engineers for the disaster in which 45 people died.

APRIL 11, 2022BySHLOMI HELLER/WALLA!
Israel Police Commissioner Kobi Shabtai visits at a temporary roadblock on Highway 1 outside Jerusalem

Devorah Berliner replaces Miriam Naor heading Meron inquiry

During Lag Ba'Omer last May, 45 people were killed on Mount Meron due to a variety of safety deficiencies.

FEBRUARY 1, 2022ByYONAH JEREMY BOB
Devorah Berliner replaces Miriam Naor heading Meron inquiry.

Miriam Naor: Part Jewish mother, part judicial mensch - opinion

Characteristically diligent, she served even in her final hours, sitting late into the night, as Head of the State Commission investigating the Meron tragedy.

JANUARY 27, 2022ByMICHAL COTLER-WUNSH
THE WRITER (right), on the day of her inaugural speech to the Knesset, August 5, 2020, poses with former Supreme Court president Miriam Naor.

Ex-chief justice Miriam Naor dies at age 74

Former chief justice Miriam Naor was currently heading Meron disaster inquiry

JANUARY 24, 2022ByYONAH JEREMY BOB
     Former Supreme Court President Miriam Naor at the Supreme Court hall during a ceremony for outgoing Supreme Court Judge Uri Shoham in Jerusalem on August 2, 2018.