45 people crushed to death, over 150 injured , at an overcrowded Lag ba Omer event at Mt. Meron in northern Israel, near the city of Safed (Tzfat).
The event is meant to commemorate the passing date of Rabbi Shimon Bar Yochai (RASHBI, for short), an ancient scholar, author of the basic text of the Kabbalah. It is done in and around his tomb, with people asking for salvation, lighting bonfires and candles, and displaying a lot of joy through music and dances.
I feel sad, very sad. I can't say, though, I"m very surprised. This festival of light and joy at the tomb of RASHBI , takes place every year; it is a miracle that it ends ,relatively, without casualties, considering all those thousands of ultra-orthodox jews invading the narrow , underdeveloped , mountain area.
This year there was no miracle. There were heartbreaking scenes of people slipping and falling on top of one another , of stampede , of hopeless rescue attempts.
I'm against this kind of mass events. First of all, I believe the deceased rabbi is entitled to sleep in peace his eternal sleep without any disturbance from the outside world.
Secondly, I think those who've given permission and money ׂ('coalition' money, I presume) to this mass gathering, especially now, with the corona virus playing 'hide and seek' with us, should be heavily punished.
I'm very much afraid it's just the beginning of the disaster. Who knows if and how many of the thousands of surviving participants have contracted the virus .
The day of tomorrow (Sunday) is declared national day of mourning.