For those of you who might be wondering, L'Ag B'Omer is a very exciting holiday here in Israel and especially for those of us who live up north and can easily make the trip to Meron. What, where, who? It's like this: l'ag stands for the hebrew letters lamed and gimmel, which stands for the number 33. So L'Ag B'Omer is the 33rd day of the Omer,( the 49 day period between the 2nd night of Passover and the holiday of Shavuos.) The Omer is a period of semi mourning on the Jewish calender, EXCEPT for the 33rd day, because on that day our very great Holy sage, Rebbi Shimon Bar Yochai was born and years later, left this world. And his contribution to this world was so great, that on this day we exit our state of mourning and we celebrate!
On the night of the 33rd, large bonfires are lit around the country to signify the great light of the day. Many children spend weeks collecting wood in all forms to help make their neighborhood bonfire the biggest! L'Ag B'omer is the traditional day for giving haircuts to three year old boys, and it is especially wonderful to do the haircut at the burial sight of Rebbi Shimon Bar Yochai, in Meron. The celebrating at the gravesite in Meron is a 24 hour plus affair, and many arrive days in advance to camp out in the woods nearby. Roads are closed except for buses, and tens of thousands of people arrive from all over the country and all over the world to come and join in this joyous event! Just writing about it is getting me excited! (This year L'Ag B'Omer will be on Saturday night May 1st until Sunday May 2nd at sundown.)
And now about this project!You'll Need:
- sticks (take a hike and collect some!)
- a cardboard base (I used a round recycled piece of cardboard from a frozen pizza - gasp! yes I buy those sometimes
- modeling clay
- small wooden cubes or even small stones would be great!
- white glue
- a piece of string
- some wine cork people, from this project
How To:
I think this one is pretty self explanatory, just I found that using clumps of modeling clay helps to anchor the sticks as the kids are assembling the structure. Glue the modeling clay to the base, and glue the sticks to the clay.
Oh, and what about the fire you ask? Well we've still got another week before we need to light this, so honestly i just haven't figured that part out yet! My husband and a friend of his both independently suggested using a fan to blow bits of paper around! A manly idea I guess, but a bit too complicated for me! I was thinking more along the lines of aluminum foil and orange and yellow tissue paper!
And if you've got some sticks left over, so why not try my fun sticks and yarn project here. Enjoy!
