Preparations for Lag Ba'omer are well underway and close to completion. Police are expecting some 250,000 people to visit the grave of Rabbi Shimon bar Yochai at the foot of Mount Meron beginning Saturday night and continuing into Sunday. Police will be fully deployed in the area starting Friday night, and will be closing off roads to private vehicles in the vicinity of the large event. Ample parking will be available at large parking lots in Ein Zeitim and Farod, and a shuttle service will be provided to transport revelers to Bar Yochai's grave. The 180-year-old, traditional Lag Ba'omer procession will begin Friday afternoon at Abu Square in Safed in the direction of the gravesite. On Saturday night, beginning at 11:30 p.m., the signal will be given to kick off the public celebration in memory of the revered rabbi, and Rabbi Nachum Dov Brayer, rebbe of the Boyaner Hasidic community, will start the great bonfire. The party continues throughout the night and into the next day, when attendees traditionally sing and dance and participate in the "upsherin," a Jewish haircutting ritual held when a boy reaches three years of age. Thousands of Boyaner Hasidim are expected to sleep on benches arranged in henhouses, which were sold to Moshav Meron especially for the Lag Ba'omer gathering in the Upper Galilee region. Many different organizations and groups have worked together in recent months to ensure that the festival runs smoothly, including the Northern District Police department, Magen David Adom, Israel Fire and Rescue Services, the ZAKA emergency response organization, other local emergency services, and the Interior Ministry. Public Security Minister Yitzhak Aharonovitch visited the gathering site on Tuesday, accompanied by relevant parties, to review preparations. The Israel Fire and Rescue Services has issued a list of guidelines for making this Lag Ba'omer a safe holiday.
