The Knesset’s obsession with the death penalty in Israel once again collided with the Jewish liturgical calendar in yet another telling synchronicity, highlighting how that legislative body has upended the Jewish value of life. Many in the Jewish world were shocked last month when Israeli Minister of National Security Itamar Ben Gvir celebrated the passage of his “Death Penalty for Terrorist” law with a champagne toast just ahead of Passover, effectively desecrating that sacred holiday’s observance. The unfolding impact of that macabre development in turn defiled the subsequent commemoration of Yom Hashoah (Holocaust Remembrance Day), just as it violated Yom Hazikaron (Israeli Memorial Day), and betrayed the core Jewish values celebrated on Yom Haatzmaut (Independence Day) later that month. As if on cue, earlier this week, just ahead of the festive Jewish holiday of Lag Ba’Omer, the Knesset publicly released details of a second death penalty bill detailing its plans to establish military tribunals with the authority to put to death convicted terrorists who helped carry out the horrific October 7th, 2023, massacre in Israel. Once again, the dark shadow of capital punishment eclipsed any light and joy cast by Jewish life and values, with the totality of that eclipse bringing only suffering and death. We, the thousands of members of “L’chaim! Jews Against the Death Penalty” in Israel and across the world, stand against this insidious fixation with vengeful killing. Instead, we support the victims of the October 7th acts of terror by siding with restorative justice – and life.

The Uplifting of Death as the Antithesis of Lag Ba’Omer’s Joy

The traditional Jewish ritual of Sefirah, or counting the omer, begins on the second day of Passover. It marks the ancient practice of presenting an omer – an offering of the new barley crop – at the Temple. It lasts for forty-nine days (seven weeks) until Shavuot, the “Feast of Weeks” festival that commemorates the giving of the Torah on Mount Sinai. The enumerating of days connects the national Jewish redemption story of Passover’s Exodus narrative to the idea of collective revelation that Shavuot underscores.

This season of “Counting the Omer” also constitutes a seven-week mourning period associated with various calamities in the Jewish calendar, notably a plague that killed upwards of 24,000 students of the famed rabbinic sage Akiva ben Yoseif (50 -135 CE). The period is associated with various massacres recorded in Jewish history that tradition teaches occurred in these spring months, beginning with the execution and martyrdom of the same Rabbi Akiva and his students at the hands of the Romans, and continuing through targeted attacks on Jewish communities during the three Crusades (1096-1192). To memorialize these awful events, many Jews across the world refrain from participation in celebrations during this time span. According to the Code of Jewish Law in Orakh Hayim 493:2, no weddings should take place, and even cutting one’s hair is prohibited during the Sefirah, reflecting similar Jewish practices during periods of mourning.

In years past, the members of “L’chaim!” have juxtaposed the Omer period’s counting of days with the psychological torture of our condemned pen pals (Jewish and non), who have been forced to count down their final days ahead of Shavuot executions in the United States. This year presents another awful parallel between the Omer and the death penalty. That correlation centers on the Jewish holiday of Lag Ba’Omer that falls in the middle of this countdown.

Lag Ba’Omer is a festive day occurring on the 33rd day of this Omer count (May 5-6, 2026), breaking the forty-nine-day mourning period between Passover and Shavuot. Tradition holds that the aforementioned plague halted........

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