Rabbi David Sedley

A repository of written, audio and video Torah classes given by Rabbi David Sedley

This is not Jewish!

Posted by:

|

On:

|

, , , ,

Look at these photographs that kumah took last night! These bonfires are several stories high. And to place a kid on top of one of them to show how high it is! What is going on?

In Scotland, on the top of Calton Hill in Edinburgh, they do a similar thing (although they also paint themselves with woad and get naked – so don’t go looking on the web for images – it can be bad for your spiritual health) – it is called Beltane and occurs on April 30 (so no connection to Lag B’Omer then is there)

This is a pagan fire ritual, and marks the beginning of the pastoral summer season.
Is this bonfire thing yet another pagan ritual adopted and ‘koshered’ by Judaism?
I’m just glad the Jews decided to keep their clothes on!

BTW There are many other pagan fire rituals that this custom could have been taken from, not to mention Guy Fawlkes (if you are British you will know what I mean). I just happen to know about Beltane, having lived in Edinburgh for 4 years and heard stories of what goes on there.

al capone bemidbar biodiversity death ecology emily dickinson emor Evolution fats waller Limmud mashiach messiah parsha rosh hashana sacrifices science unetane tokef yom kippur