(haipo) – The struggle over Lag BaOmer bonfires: On Wednesday, May 14, the Haifa Municipality sent trucks and tractors to collect the planks that children and teenagers had prepared for the Lag BaOmer bonfires. The planks were collected from various locations throughout the city, in preparation for the total ban on lighting bonfires in the city, which was announced by Mayor Yona Yahav – a decision that caused a stir among some residents.
Heavy rain and strong winds
The move was made in accordance with an order from the Fire and Rescue Commissioner prohibiting the lighting of bonfires due to the expected high temperatures and strong winds on Lag BaOmer, but the actual implementation – which included the physical removal of the planks – left many parents and children feeling frustrated and angry.
"Children crying in front of tractors – a difficult image"
Attorney Dror Meir Ohana, a resident of Kiryat Shmuel and representative of the "Otzma Yehudit" list, described what happened in his neighborhood this morning:
"This morning I saw with my own eyes the fulfillment of the sage's saying - 'He who has mercy on the cruel, will in the end be cruel to the merciful.' Tearful children watched as tractors unloaded into containers the fruits of their labor - planks they had collected over a month and a half, with blood, sweat, tears, as well as laughter and excitement."
According to him, this is a violation not only of tradition but also of the children's sense of belonging:
"They saw how all the investment was destroyed in a single moment of opacity. While in nearby cities it is possible to light bonfires in defined areas, Haifa chose a sweeping cancellation – about a week before the holiday. We parents worry about the safety of our children, but we expect a responsible and balanced approach – not one that erases tradition. It was possible to have patrols by inspectors, fire engines, regulate safe areas – and not simply ban everything."
Yahav: "We will not play with fire - literally"
No bonfires will be allowed.
The exceptional decision was made on Sunday, May 11, when the municipality announced that no bonfires would be allowed throughout the city until May 18 at 23:59 p.m. The decision was made after consultation with professional bodies and in accordance with an order from the Fire and Rescue Commissioner.
Mayor Yona Yahav explained the background to the decision:
"The severe weather and the possibility that even one human error could lead to a major fire led me to make a responsible and considered decision. We must not play with fire - literally. I led the city in dealing with two huge fires, and I know the risk well. The safety of the residents is above all considerations."
According to him, the directive to ban bonfires is intended to prevent a recurrence of disasters such as the great fire in 2016, and the disaster in Carmel, in which 44 people died. At the same time, Yahav instructed enforcement agencies to increase supervision throughout the city on Lag BaOmer and to prevent the lighting of bonfires.
And what is happening in neighboring cities?
While Haifa took a strict approach, nearby cities opted for more balanced solutions:
- Tirat Carmel – Mayor Dudu Cohen announced safe celebrations on Lag BaOmer, with several approved locations for bonfires.
- Nesher – As part of the tradition that has become established in recent years, one large community bonfire is held in Nesher. It is forbidden to light bonfires in other areas. The bonfire will feature a circus show and activity booths for youth.
- Kiryat Bialik – Approved bonfires in coordination with the police and fire department. Approved locations were determined and published exactly where the bonfires could be held.
- Kiryat Ata – Approved dozens of designated areas for lighting bonfires.
- Kiryat Yam – Selected seven approved locations that were trained in coordination with the fire department.
- Kiryat Motzkin – Limits to small classroom bonfires only, in coordination with parents and municipal supervision. Mayor Tsiki Avissar clarified that no more large urban bonfires will take place: "There are no open spaces in the city, and we will not allow smoke and soot hazards."
Haifa Municipality responds: "It has nothing to do with the agenda – just public safety"
Haifa Municipality gave a response to Haifa: "The mayor is not canceling symbols or Israeli holidays due to an agenda – quite the opposite is true. The campfire ban stems from clear safety considerations and is backed by an order from the Fire and Rescue Commissioner. We cannot take a risk. Past experience shows that the danger in Haifa is real – as happened in 2016 – and therefore it was decided not to take unnecessary risks. This is a decision aimed at protecting human lives, literally."
The open question: balancing tradition and security
The struggle over Lag BaOmer bonfires in Haifa illustrates the tension between preserving tradition and public and security responsibility. While the municipality presents a firm approach in the name of safety, some see the move as erasing an important cultural-religious experience – especially for children. The question that remains open: Could a more balanced solution have been found?
The fact that they ultimately came to fruition reflects our need as a community to balance innovation and environmental awareness with preserving our roots and culture.
I believe that with the help of cooperation and additional educational approaches, it will be possible in the future to reach solutions that optimally combine traditional values with environmental values.
May you be blessed, dear Dror, for all your important work and endeavors.
It's a good thing, enough of the clouds of smoke that surround the next day. Once the bonfires were small and modest and over the years they have become huge, exaggerated and polluting bonfires.
I think Yona Yahav doesn't want to repeat the farce of Independence Day when he announced the cancellation half an hour before the shows started, when people were on their way to the stages. So he decided to make a decision early. I actually liked the approach of the city's sparsely populated neighborhoods, with limited, supervised bonfires.
Haifa is a dangerous and flammable city full of pine, cypress, casuarina, Australian eucalyptus, and other trees that are flammable even when wet or green. It's better without fires, and Yahav is right.
Not even near the student beach?
In the past there was no choice, but today it is known how harmful burning wood is to health and the environment. This "holiday" creates heavy air pollution throughout the country, it is a tradition that needs to be passed on from the world to the whole country and not just in Haifa. We can and should find other ways to celebrate.
It's a shame there is no "uncompromising and unwavering struggle" against the phenomenon of municipalities in the Krayot and the north sending their drug addicts and homeless people to Haifa and even going so far as to rent apartments in Haifa through straw men on their behalf and housing homeless people and drug addicts in these apartments so that they become a problem for Haifa.
Have you noticed that recently, miraculously, in Hadar, you can't walk around without encountering dozens, and soon hundreds, of drug addicts and welfare cases on the streets? Oh, that's not surprising. Other municipalities are moving them to Haifa, and even buying cheap apartments for rent in Haifa to rehouse them here.
After the explosion of the hostels for the disabled in Kiryat Haim years ago, where families from all over the country flocked to fall on Haifa's shoulders, literally like an industry, here is the new industry that has arisen in Hadar Carmel.
Yes, yes, so where is the mayor's uncompromising fight against this phenomenon? How much longer will we remain silent?
Very good, there should always be opponents to every idea, even if it is true.
Well done…the right decision considering the expected weather.
We have no choice but to protect our land, not burn it. Today we are at war, and there are those who would be happy to burn any area just to have our house burned down. Today we must protect every piece of land, clean of all pieces of wood, in order to suppress a fire. Today we are in an atmosphere of unrest, only the lighting of fires was all that was missing. Israel must behave with great responsibility, and all students must understand this, not to be ostracized. On the contrary, we are the war and all the war is 2:XNUMX.
Yona Yahav is a hero to children. He takes the planks they have collected. We see him stoking the bonfire of the Hasidim of Vizhnitz.
"Vizhnitz followers." .. Another bunch of undisciplined little children who must have their toys despite the consequences?