Long Island Jewish community mourns lives lost in Israel festival stampede

The Jewish community on Long Island is reacting to the deadly stampede in Israel that took place at a religious festival.

News 12 Staff

Apr 30, 2021, 7:17 PM

Updated 1,319 days ago

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The Jewish community on Long Island is reacting to the deadly stampede in Israel that took place at a religious festival.
More than 100 people were injured at Mount Meron in Israel for Lag B'Omer, one of the happiest and holiest festivals on the calendar for the ultra-Orthodox community. At least 45 people were crushed to death at the festival Friday.
Rabbi Jay Rosenbaum, of Temple Israel of Lawrence, attended the same festival back in 2015. Tens of thousands, mostly ultra-Orthodox, come from around the world to honor Rabbi Shimon Bar Yochai, a 2nd century sage and mystic who is believed to be buried there.
"They were going forward to perform a great mitzvah, a great sacred act, reverence to the soul of one of the greatest rabbinic figures in history, Rabbi Shimon Yhai, whose grave is Meron," says Rosenbaum.
The tragedy unfolded when scores of adults and children were crushed and suffocated in an overcrowded, narrow passageway that turned into a death trap, according to witnesses.
Rosenbaum says he will remember the victims in his service at Temple Israel and pray for the families.