The minor Jewish holiday of Lag ba-Omer, which begins this evening, is traditionally celebrated with picnics, outings, and, nowadays, barbecues. Lenny Ben-David examines a rare photograph, which he dates to April 30, 1918, of Jerusalem schoolchildren setting out on a Lag ba-Omer field trip:

The boys and girls [in the picture’s foreground] come from ultra-Orthodox schools, evidenced by the boys’ hats and frocks. The girls are wearing ultra-Orthodox fashion: shapeless, modest smocks. [To the photographer’s left is] a second batch of girls, behind a Star of David banner, wearing more stylish dresses and hats. . . .

Traditionally, on Lag ba-Omer Jews flock to the Galilee mountaintop of Meron and to the grave there of Simon bar Yoḥai, one of the most famous scholars in the Talmud, [who lived in the 2nd century CE]. But some 100 years ago, travel to Meron would have taken days. Instead, the children took a hike to [the outskirts of Jerusalem to visit] the grave of Simon the Righteous, [the high priest and Jewish leader of the 3rd or 4th century BCE], a common custom 100 years ago in Jerusalem.

The picture was taken just four months after the British forces captured the city of Jerusalem [from the Ottoman Turks]. The city’s Jewish residents received the soldiers as their saviors—saving them from severe hunger and deadly diseases. The children had much to celebrate. . . .

Today, Lag ba-Omer is a day when Jewish children still go out to parks and forests to celebrate. In Jerusalem, many traditional Jews still visit Simon’s grave.

For some time, opponents of U.S support for Israel have been urging the White House to end the war in Gaza, or simply calling for a ceasefire. Douglas Feith and Lewis Libby consider what such a result would actually entail:

Ending the war immediately would allow Hamas to survive and retain military and governing power. Leaving it in the area containing the Sinai-Gaza smuggling routes would ensure that Hamas can rearm. This is why Hamas leaders now plead for a ceasefire. A ceasefire will provide some relief for Gazans today, but a prolonged ceasefire will preserve Hamas’s bloody oppression of Gaza and make future wars with Israel inevitable.

For most Gazans, even when there is no hot war, Hamas’s dictatorship is a nightmarish tyranny. Hamas rule features the torture and murder of regime opponents, official corruption, extremist indoctrination of children, and misery for the population in general. Hamas diverts foreign aid and other resources from proper uses; instead of improving life for the mass of the people, it uses the funds to fight against Palestinians and Israelis.

Moreover, a Hamas-affiliated website warned Gazans last month against cooperating with Israel in securing and delivering the truckloads of aid flowing into the Strip. It promised to deal with those who do with “an iron fist.” In other words, if Hamas remains in power, it will begin torturing, imprisoning, or murdering those it deems collaborators the moment the war ends. Thereafter, Hamas will begin planning its next attack on Israel:

Hamas’s goals are to overshadow the Palestinian Authority, win control of the West Bank, and establish Hamas leadership over the Palestinian revolution. Hamas’s ultimate aim is to spark a regional war to obliterate Israel and, as Hamas leaders steadfastly maintain, fulfill a Quranic vision of killing all Jews.

Hamas planned for corpses of Palestinian babies and mothers to serve as the mainspring of its October 7 war plan. Hamas calculated it could survive a war against a superior Israeli force and energize enemies of Israel around the world. The key to both aims was arranging for grievous Palestinian civilian losses. . . . That element of Hamas’s war plan is working impressively.