# Lag ba'Omer | What's Behind the Celebration?

Page: https://stenobird.com/podcast/kmtt-the-torah-podcast-323997/lag-ba-omer-what-s-behind-the-celebration
Text version: https://stenobird.com/podcast/kmtt-the-torah-podcast-323997/lag-ba-omer-what-s-behind-the-celebration.md
Podcast: [KMTT - the Torah Podcast](https://stenobird.com/podcast/kmtt-the-torah-podcast-323997)
Published: 2026-05-06T06:59:00+00:00
Episode link: https://traffic.libsyn.com/secure/kmtt/LagBaOmer5786_RYEtshalom.mp3
Audio file: https://traffic.libsyn.com/secure/kmtt/LagBaOmer5786_RYEtshalom.mp3?dest-id=12657
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JSON: https://stenobird.com/v1/public/podcasts/kmtt-the-torah-podcast-323997/episodes/lag-ba-omer-what-s-behind-the-celebration
Duration seconds: 1938

## Resource

Lag ba'Omer | What's Behind the Celebration? by Rav Yitzchak Etshalom The celebration of Lag ba'Omer is as much of a mystery as the prevailing practices in the period that leads up to it. We examine the two popular explanations - the cessation of the death of R. Akiva's students and the "Yahrzeit" of R. Shim'on bar Yochai - and demonstrate that neither explanation is reasonable, period-documented or satisfactory. Looking into the earliest source where the date of 18 Iyar appears, we discover a surprising (possible) explanation which puts Lag ba'Omer into a new light. Source sheet >>

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## Transcript

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