New Meron Plan will Enable Stacked Entry to Ticket Holders

By: Yitzy Fried

With three weeks to Lag Ba’Omer, marking one year since the tragedy of last year, authorities have unveiled the plan which would still allow the crowds to come, albeit with a number of changes geared to making the event safe. 

One big change that has been mentioned throughout this year is that there will be only one bonfire, which will be lit by the Boyaner Rebbe, shlit”a, who holds the chazakah on this tradition. By contrast, in past years, there were twenty meduros. There will however be a number of different events around the area. 

Entry to Meron will only be allowed for ticket holders, allowing the police to keep track of how many people are in Meron at any given time. These tickets will also be for designated times, enabling holders to remain in Meron for a few hours, and then making room for others. 

This is in addition to the many infrastructural changes that have been made throughout this past year. 

Tzviki Tessler, a police commander who has been placed in charge of the festivities this year, noted: “In advance of Lag Ba’Omer, there were many who had called for the cancellation of the festivities altogether. But our thinking is that this is so important for a large section of the public, and we must do everything to accommodate them.”