Despite the heavy traffic and jam-packed conditions, more than a hundred thousand people made their way to Meron over the weekend to daven at the kever of Rav Shimon Bar Yochai in honor of Lag Ba’omer.
On Monday, Hamevaser published an editorial suggesting that beyond the music, bonfires, and dancing lies a deeper conversation—one centered on identity, values, and the future direction of Israeli society.
“Secularism will not survive,” asserts the editorial, which is titled “The Balance of the Carts is Not New.” The headline references the well-known encounter between David Ben-Gurion and the Chazon Ish about which group in society carries the “full cart” and which is “empty.”
The piece argues that “Secular culture fails to produce something that is passed down from generation to generation… What will always remain are the prayer book, the holidays, the Sabbath, the fast days.”
The editorial connects this claim to the increasingly intense arguments in the public sphere over the drafting of yeshiva students and the push for chareidim to participate in National Service—issues reignited by the ongoing war.
Alongside descriptions of the deep simcha and spiritual fervor among the multitudes who took part in the celebrations honoring Rabbi Shimon Bar Yochai, the paper offers pointed criticism of “the misguided or mistaken brothers who stand by without understanding the commotion or why this matters to us.”
In strong language, the article accuses secular segments of society of being hostile to Torah values, stating that they “seek every means and pretext to restrict the steps of those who sit in the tent and study Torah.”
The editorial ends with a message of confidence and continuity: “Whoever sees the chain of generations on Lag Ba’omer knows that our cart is laden for generations to come. It carries truth, it carries eternity.”

{Matzav.com}