Today in the Jewish calendar, It’s Lag BaOmer, the day that marks the end of the plague that killed 24,000 of Rabbi Akiva’s students like 2 millennia ago. In normal times, it’s a celebration. Like a field day. There are bonfires at Dockweiler Beach. It’s pretty fun. Last year we were all locked down. This year, it seemed worth it to wait till next year to start celebrating again.

Now, there’s another tradition for the celebration of Lag BaOmer. From Haaretz:

In the 16th century, Rabbi Isaac Luria (“Ha’Ari”) decided that Rabbi Simeon bar Yochai, who according to (a false) tradition wrote the Kabbalistic book the Zohar, died on Lag Ba’omer, and on his deathbed he revealed to his disciples mystical traditions. From that time, Lag Ba’omer has been marked specially at Mount Meron, where bar Yochai is believed to be buried.

Haaretz: The Real Story of Lag Ba’omer

And tonight, scores are dead after a reported gathering of 100K+ went to celebrate at Mount Meron. They survived covid only to die at a Lag Baomer celebration. It’s very sad.

I kinda don’t even really want to write the rest of the Spelling Bee post, but you probably didn’t want to read the Lag Baomer part, but you did, so it would be wrong of me not to do my part.

Yesterday I missed ACCLAIM, EMCEE, LLAMA, MALICE, MICA, MILL, and MIMIC.

Meatier Misses

CAMELLIA: An evergreen eastern Asian shrub related to the tea plant, grown for its showy flowers and shiny leaves.

HEME: Biochemistry An iron-containing compound of the porphyrin class which forms the nonprotein part of hemoglobin and some other biological molecules.
LAMELLA/LAMELLAE: A thin layer, membrane, or plate of tissue, especially in bone.
LEMMA: A subsidiary or intermediate theorem in an argument or proof.
MALIC: : involved in and especially catalyzing a reaction in which malic acid participates

Today’s summary

Final score: 31 words for 189 points.
Genius minimum: 186 points.
First word: TACKING.
Pangrams: TACKING and ATTACKING.
Final word: CANTINA.