What's with the burning of clothes at Meron on Lag b'Omer?

Rabbi Dr. Dovid Katz

What's with the burning of clothes at Meron on Lag b'Omer?

Rabbi Dr. Dovid Katz

May 4, 2026 · 00:28:16

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Throwing clothes onto a coffin was an (incorrect but emotionally understandable) practice in Talmudic days expressing an excess of grief. With Rashbi (described as ascending to Heaven in a Pillar of Fire), the tossing of clothes morphed into burning them to celebrate his unique petirah.