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Photos by Marisol Díaz
A bonfire at The Riverdale Y mesmerizes onlookers on Sunday. The blaze was part of a celebration of Lag Ba’Omer, a holiday gaining popularity in Riverdale.
Israeli tradition burns brightly in Riverdale By Shant Shahrigian sshah@riverdalepress.com
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t The Riverdale YM-YWHA’s Sunday celebration of Lag Ba’Omer — a Jewish holiday widely celebrated in Israel but less well known in the U.S. — Guy Reouven recalled joyous gatherings for the day in his native Ramat HaSharon, a suburb of Tel Aviv. “It’s religious, but not so religious,” said the Riverdale resident and father of three. He added that he and his friends would gather wood for days and store it in bomb shelters before building the bonfires that traditionally mark the holiday. “We used to fill up the room and the manager was killing us — ‘You have to clean the room!’” but it’s one we appreciate and take seriously,” Riverdale resident Leah Zeira said while watching her children on the moon bounce. “It makes me feel so glad to be a part of it and so glad there’s a Jewish presence.”
Evening anticipation A few miles away, anticipation built as participants at The Y’s Lag B’Omer event waited for organizers to light the bonfire in the evening. After Mr. Reouven and another attendee, Hanan Furman, placed long beams and other pieces of wood in a vertical pile, children threw kindling they gathered from the parking lot’s edges onto the mass. Once a truck from the firehouse on the Henry Hudson Parkway arrived to make sure everything went safely, Mr. Reouven lit the fire. Within minutes, it was so hot that children stopped chucking extra pieces of wood onto the blaze and scampered to an area away from the wind. Still, spirits remained high as a DJ played Israeli pop music and attendees munched on falafel sandwiches. “We want to do it in a very authentic way — the way we miss and love from our memories in Israel,” said Pazit Levitan, vice president of Moatza, a Manhattan-based non-profit aimed at organizing greater New York City’s Jewish communities. Ms. Levitan helped bring people affiliated with her organization and members of the 92nd Street Y in Manhattan along with people who frequent The
Riverdale Y to the event. Lag B’Omer’s local incarnation was born four years ago at the Israel House, The Riverdale Y’s group dedicated to preserving and spreading Israeli culture. Later in the night, as the blaze slowly died down, children ventured to roast marshmallows and Mr. Furman tossed aluminum-foil wrapped potatoes at the base of the bonfire. Meanwhile, clusters of people like the Shans family from Teaneck, N.J. danced and took photos together. “It connects us more to our heritage,” said 12-year-old Shira Shans, who was born in the U.S. to parents from Israel. “We learn how important being together and family is. It’s this one time when everyone comes together.” Some at the bonfire said its traditional purpose was to let people revel all night; Mr. Reouven recounted staying up until the morning after Lag B’Omer as a coming-of-age rite for young Israelis. In other accounts, the bonfire was said to symbolize the teachings of Rabbi Shimon bar Yochai, who wrote a landmark work of Jewish mysticism. Still others said the tradition harkens back to Roman rule of Israel, when the blazes were used to spread word of a major Jewish victory against their occupiers. Robert Kalman, who went to the Chabad’s celebration earlier in the day, said the purpose of the event was to bring people together. “We can always find things that divide us,” he said. “We should try to look for things that unite us as opposed to bring division.”
DONNY ROSENRAUCH, 5, exits a giant, inflatable hamster ball at the Chabad’s event. NATALIE ALLON, 8, beats to the rhythm along with Justine Toca and Roberto Carlo of Toca NYC, below.
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This year, Mr. Reouven and a friend picked up some wood that a nearby Home Depot was going to destroy and brought it to The Y’s parking lot. Like other parents at the event, many of whom originally came from Israel, Mr. Reouven said he wanted to preserve his native country’s tradition. “This is a taste for the kids... who didn’t grow up in Israel,” said Mr. Reouven, who sported a T-shirt saying “Israel” and a Yankees cap. Lag B’Omer marks an important day in the part of the Jewish calendar counting the time between Passover — the holiday that marks Jews’ release from slavery in ancient Egypt — and Shavuot, the day Jews believe God conveyed the Hebrew Bible. The 1 A.D. death of a spiritual leader named Rabbi Shimon bar Yochai turned the 33rd day after Passover into a holiday. According to tradition, the rabbi told people not to mourn, but celebrate. “Today, literally millions of Jews all over the world are celebrating,” Rabbi Levi Shemtov, co-director of Chabad Lubavitch of Riverdale, said at a Sunday afternoon celebration that his organization held. “Celebrate the unity of the Jewish people and, obviously, from the Jewish people extends to all human beings.” The Chabad event had a fun fair atmosphere, with a moon bounce, pony rides and games at Seton Park and on a block of West 235th Street. While there was no bonfire, a trampoline act entertained dozens of local families at the end of the afternoon. “It’s not one of the biggest holidays,
PETER HELLER, an auxiliary police officer with the 50th Precinct, goes through a Tefillin ceremony during Chabad Lubavitch of Riverdale’s Lag Ba’Omer celebration on Sunday.