Hundreds celebrated Lag BaOmer at the Michigan Jewish Family Festival in Metro Detroit on Sunday.
The event was hosted in partnership with The Shul-Chabad Lubavitch, Chabad of Bingham Farms, Chabad of Royal Oak, Friendship Circle, Chabad of Troy, Chabad of Bloomfield Hills and Chabad of Livonia.
The festival activities included an assortment of inflatable obstacle courses, challenges and bounce houses for older and younger children alike; a petting zoo, horse and pony rides, balloon twisting, face painting, crafts, marshmallow roasting, laser tag, a BMX stunt show and more.
The day was full of fun, but was also a meaningful day, as the event featured a powerful and uplifting community prayer with inspiring messages from local community activists, with current events in Israel on everybody’s mind.
“The festival is also a display of Jewish unity and support for our brothers and sisters in the Holy Land of Israel with community prayers for the safety of Jews in Israel and around the world,” says Rabbi Kasriel Shemtov, vice president and executive director of Chabad Lubavitch of Michigan. “We are all coming together for a special event celebrating our shared Jewish identity and our commitment to building a safe and thriving community.”
A home-like structure was built of hundreds of cardboard “Mitzvah-bricks,” each decorated by a community member with the design of a mitzvah they’d like to do for those on the frontlines in Israel. The structure represents the idea of bringing the hostages and soldiers back home with the power of all of the mitzvot together.
Itty Shemtov, The Shul’s director of education, says that with the challenges the Jewish community has been facing this year, the need to come together as a large group is more important than ever — as is responding to the challenges with spirituality as our collective Jewish response.
A former Detroiter, I will always have fond memories of this heimish welcoming and warm community.
Yashar koach on this and the great ahavas yisroel of detroit
B”H.
The Detroit Yeshiva also made a great Lag Ba’omer event for the community with a marching band parade, clowns, an escape artist, food pesukim led by Rabbi Shmotkin, moon bounces, a train ride, and tour of a Hatzalah truck.