Hillula of Rabbi Shimon bar Yochai

Hillula of Rabbi Shimon bar Yochai
Dancing in the yard of the tomb, 2016
Observed byJews
SignificanceAnniversary of death of Rabbi Shimon bar Yochai
CelebrationsLighting of a bonfire, mass dances
Date18 Iyar
2023 dateSunset, 8 May –
nightfall, 9 May
2024 dateSunset, 25 May –
nightfall, 26 May
2025 dateSunset, 15 May –
nightfall, 16 May
FrequencyAnnual
Related toLag BaOmer
Dances in the entrance of the tomb of Rabbi Shimon, 1953. Beno Rothenberg, Meitar Collection, National Library of Israel
Dances in the entrance of the tomb of Rabbi Shimon, 1953. Beno Rothenberg, Meitar Collection, National Library of Israel

Every year on Lag BaOmer, some 200,000 people flock to the 'Yom Hillula' (day of rejoicing) at the tomb of Rabbi Shimon bar Yochai in Meron, Israel.[1] The highlight of the event is the traditional bonfire lit after nightfall on the roof of the tomb, after which celebration with music and dancing begins. From the 13th century onwards, the site became the most popular Jewish pilgrimage site in all of Israel,[2] the celebration first being mentioned by an Italian traveller in 1322.[3] Today it forms the largest mass annual event in Israel.

  1. ^ Schwartz (1999), p. 47.
  2. ^ Horden, Peregrine; Purcell, Nicholas (2000), The Corrupting Sea: A Study of Mediterranean History, Blackwell Publishing, ISBN 9780631218906, p. 446: "From the thirteenth century the most frequented pilgrim shrine for Jews in Palestine was at Meiron in Galilee… While it was a prominent local religious centre in late Antiquity, with a fine synagogue built in a conspicuous position and a much-venerated copies spring, it had then nothing like the status which it would acquire in the Middle Ages."
  3. ^ Bension (1932), Preface, xxxi.