[Avodah] Celebrations Lag baOmer Evening

[Zev Sero]

On 11/5/20 7:22 am, Micha Berger via Avodah wrote:
>> Again, it depends what it is that one is marking in the first place...

> Does it? I am talking about not obeying consensus in sifrei halakhah.
> I said nothing about motive.

I think it does.  The sifrei halacha are talking about the end of 
aveilus for Talmidei R Akiva.  That happens, as they say, on the day of 
the 33rd.  And it's not a celebration, any more than the end of shiva.

That remains the case, but what has happened is that people are adopting 
a new and different occasion, Yom Simchas Rabbi Shimon, which is a 
positive simcha, and starts in the evening, and just happens to fall on 
the same day.  And the custom is that it overrides the aveilus.  Not 
that the aveilus is over, because that doesn't happen till the morning 
(or even till the following evening, according to the Mechaber), but 
something new that overrides it, just as those who celebrate Iyar 5 say 
that it overrides the aveilus.

This doesn't contradict the sifrei halacha because they're simply not 
talking about it.  And the authority would seem to come from the AriZal, 
though the Shaar Hakavanos notes that it was already an established 
simcha before then; he just gave the reason for it, which I suppose had 
been forgotten.

-- 
Zev Sero            Wishing everyone a *healthy* and happy summer
zev at sero.name       Seek Jerusalem's peace; may all who love you prosper