Chapter 34: LAG BA'OMER
God's Little Drop of Water
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After the ups and downs of the previous holidays, Taliya was most pleased when Lag BaOmer arrived. Lag BaOmer was a religious holiday decreed by scripture. It symbolized the counting of the days between Pesach and Shavuot (which was on its way!). Taliya loved Lag BaOmer because once night had come, virtually everyone in the country went outside, built bonfires, cooked food, and stayed up all night celebrating.
Children all over the country spent several days leading up to the holiday searching out and accumulating firewood for their bonfire.
Taliya took charge of her family’s wood-finding operation. She began several weeks in advance. She and Yair and Yaron scoured the neighborhood in search of wood. They visited construction sites hoping to find scraps. And they trudged through fields, picking up sticks and branches. They also found a special hiding place where all the wood could be kept hidden, a place where none of the other kids in the neighborhood would find it and take it for a bonfire of their own. Taliya and her brothers made regular trips to their hiding place, in order to confirm that the wood was still there.
Taliya’s favorite food was the baked potatoes. Potatoes were wrapped in aluminum foil and were then hurled into a roaring bonfire. When the potatoes were ready, the adults would use a long stick or branch to extract the potatoes from the fire. The hot potatoes were carefully unwrapped and found to be thoroughly cooked. Along with the potatoes, they enjoyed onions, which were cooked in the same manner. And roasting marshmallows for dessert followed.
Everyone stayed awake until four o’clock in the morning. Taliya considered it part of the fun to see if she could stay awake all night. And when they went home, everyone took a shower and Ima promptly put everyone’s clothes in the washing machine, trying to prevent the powerful scent of campfire smoke from completely taking over the house. Taliya always enjoyed taking a nice hot shower and watching the water turn gray and black as she rinsed the soot and dust from her skin and hair.
This year, Taliya was delighted when Ima and Abba said that they were going to celebrate Lag BaOmer across the street in the vacant lot. It would certainly be easier than driving someplace in order to meet family or friends, which, while certainly enjoyable, also meant dealing with a great deal of traffic.
Even better, Abba’s sister Liora and his brother Gil drove from Netanya to celebrate with everyone.
Once Abba and Gil had gotten the campfire roaring and the smoke was rising high into the pitch-black sky, the preparations were made to roast the potatoes and onions.
At last, the food was ready, and everyone dug in.
Taliya stared into the orange fire, mesmerized, as she savored her baked potato. She heard drums. And chanting. But there was no music, and no chanting nearby. Another group of people was enjoying their fire on the other side of the vacant lot, but they were mostly quiet.
Taliya stared into the flames, listening. She saw figures dancing around the fire, stomping their feet upon the earth, and offering prayers, which rose upward higher and higher, like glowing embers riding upon the smoke.
Everyone laughed suddenly at the conclusion of one of Abba’s jokes, and Taliya found herself once more sitting beside the fire, surrounded by her family.
After the potatoes and onions were eaten, everyone roasted marshmallows. As they ate, they sang songs and told stories. And Abba told many, many additional jokes, something he did constantly.
When it became clear that they were in need of additional wood, Abba and his brother went looking for more. Gil came back a few minutes later bearing an armload of wood.
“Where is Abba?” Taliya asked.
After several more minutes, everyone became concerned. And then worried. Everyone called out to him. Daniel! Daniel! But they received no reply. There was talk of going to search for him. But it was pitch black, and venturing beyond the light of the bonfire would be treacherous.
At last, Abba arrived. He staggered into the firelight, covered from head to toe in wet cement. He explained that nearby was a construction site. He had tumbled into a pit of wet cement, sinking up to his neck. It had been like quicksand. He had barely been able to move. But somehow he had swam his way to the edge of the pit, where he clawed at the earth with his fingers, and fought his way out. As a boy, he had been stung by a scorpion, bitten by a snake, and kicked by a donkey, but this was by far the most terrifying.
Undeterred, Abba went upstairs, took a shower and donned clean clothes, and returned to the campfire. Taliya hugged him fiercely when he returned. All was well.
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