Iyar

A bonfire in Israel on Lag BaOmer celebrated on the 18th of Iyar

Eighth month of the civil year (which starts on 1 Tishrei) and the second month of the Jewish religious year (which starts on 1 Nisan) on the Hebrew calendar.

- Iyar

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Independence Day (Israel)

National day of Israel, commemorating the Israeli Declaration of Independence in 1948.

An air display in Tel Aviv on Israel's 61st Independence Day
David Ben-Gurion proclaiming independence beneath a large portrait of Theodor Herzl, founder of modern Zionism.
Independence Day celebrations in Tel Aviv's Rabin Square, 2008
Israeli Air Force Independence Day flypast, 2011
International Bible Contest, 1985
Visitors around an IDF Caterpillar D9 at the Israel Defense Forces exhibition at Yad La-Shiryon, Independence Day 2012.
Hallel recited at the Day to Praise Israel Independence Day event in Jerusalem, 23 April 2015
Families celebrating in Israel Defense Force fair in Sderot, 2019.
IAF F-35I Adir in Independence Day 2019 flypast.

Because Israel declared independence on 14 May 1948, which corresponded with the Hebrew date 5 Iyar in that year, Yom Ha'atzmaut was originally celebrated on that date.

Israeli Declaration of Independence

The UN partition plan
On the day of its proclamation, Eliahu Epstein wrote to Harry S. Truman that the state had been proclaimed "within the frontiers approved by the General Assembly of the United Nations in its Resolution of November 29, 1947".
A celebratory crowd outside the Tel Aviv Museum, located in 16 Rothschild Boulevard, to hear the Declaration
The invitation to the ceremony, dated 13 May 1948.
David Ben-Gurion declaring independence beneath a large portrait of Theodor Herzl, founder of modern Zionism
Ben Gurion (Left) Signing the Declaration of Independence held by Moshe Sharett
Independence Hall as it appeared in 2007

The Israeli Declaration of Independence, formally the Declaration of the Establishment of the State of Israel (הכרזה על הקמת מדינת ישראל), was proclaimed on 14 May 1948 (5 Iyar 5708) by David Ben-Gurion, the Executive Head of the World Zionist Organization, Chairman of the Jewish Agency for Palestine, and soon to be first Prime Minister of Israel.

Hebrew calendar

Lunisolar calendar used today for Jewish religious observance, and as an official calendar of the state of Israel.

Jewish calendar, showing Adar II between 1927 and 1948
The Trumpeting Place inscription, a stone (2.43×1 m) with Hebrew inscription "To the Trumpeting Place" is believed to be a part of the Second Temple.
A bronze Shabbat candlestick holder made in Mandatory Palestine in the 1940s.
The Jewish calendar's reference point is traditionally held to be about one year before the Creation of the world.
A shofar made from a ram's horn is traditionally blown in observance of Rosh Hashanah, the beginning of the Jewish civic year.

Ziv – second month

Lag BaOmer

A Lag BaOmer bonfire celebration in Israel, symbol of the holiday
Children watch Lag BaOmer bonfire in Tel Aviv, Israel.
Entrance to the tomb of Rabbi Shimon bar Yochai and his son, Rabbi Eleazar
The tomb of Rabbi Shimon bar Yochai in Meron on Lag BaOmer
Israeli boys collect wood for a Lag BaOmer bonfire.
A wood pile awaiting Lag BaOmer celebration
A Lag BaOmer parade in front of Chabad headquarters at 770 Eastern Parkway, Brooklyn, New York, in 1987
A first-grade classroom in Tel Aviv in 1973 with holiday displays; the Lag BaOmer display showing Bar Kokhba is on the left.

Lag BaOmer (, LaG Bāʿōmer), also Lag B'Omer or Lag LaOmer, is a Jewish religious holiday celebrated on the 33rd day of the Counting of the Omer, which occurs on the 18th day of the Hebrew month of Iyar.

Moses Isserles

Commonly known by the Hebrew acronym for Rabbi Moses Isserles, "Rema" .

Moses Isserles (Artist's rendering)
The Rema's tombstone at the Remuh Cemetery, Kraków

Rabbi Moses Isserles (משה בן ישראל איסרלישׂ, Mojżesz ben Israel Isserles) (22 February 1530 / 25 Adar I 5290 – 11 May 1572 / 18 Iyar 5332), also known by the acronym Rema, was an eminent Polish Ashkenazic rabbi, talmudist, and posek (expert in Jewish law).

Cheshvan

Second month of the civil year (which starts on 1 Tishrei), and the eighth month of the ecclesiastical year (which starts on 1 Nisan) on the Hebrew calendar.

The Great Flood, which according to the Bible wiped out the world, started in Marcheshvan.

Fast of Behav: According to the custom of most Eastern Ashkenazic communities, on the first Sabbath after Rosh Chodesh Cheshvan, a prayer is recited on behalf of all those who are going to fast on Bahab. Bahab, or in Hebrew בה"ב, stands for 2, 5, 2, i.e., Monday (2nd day of the week), Thursday (5th day), and another Monday. On the Monday, Thursday, and second Monday after the Sabbath, it is customary in many communities (mostly Ashkenazic, although there were some Sephardic communities who adopted this custom as well) to fast and/or to recite penitential prayers called Selichot. According to the Western Ashkenazic rite, as well as some Eastern Ashkenazic communities (especially Hungarian communities), the second Monday of Bahab is the Monday before Rosh Chodesh Kislev, the Thursday is the Thursday preceding that, the first Monday is the Monday preceding that, and the Sabbath in which the prayer is recited is the Sabbath preceding that. Bahab is also observed at the beginning of Iyar; in Iyar it is observed at the beginning of the month in both Eastern and Western Ashkenazic rites.

Jerusalem Day

Israeli national holiday that commemorates the "reunification" of East Jerusalem (including the Old City) with West Jerusalem following the Six-Day War of 1967, which saw Israel occupy East Jerusalem and the West Bank, effectively annexing the former.

The Israeli Dance of Flags at Jaffa Road, 2007
Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Yitzhak Rabin in the entrance to the old city of Jerusalem during the Six Day War, with Moshe Dayan and Uzi Narkiss
Logo of 40th anniversary celebrations, Jaffa Gate
Jerusalem Day 2004 at the Western Wall
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu speaking at the ceremony in Jerusalem alongside the Priests of Beta Israel, 1998

It is celebrated annually on 28 Iyar on the Hebrew calendar, and is marked officially throughout Israel with state ceremonies and memorial services.

Sivan

Ninth month of the civil year and the third month of the ecclesiastical year on the Hebrew calendar.

Shavuot, the Festival of Weeks, marks the day the Torah was given to the Israelites at Mount Sinai. Bikkurim are given as offerings, as in this picture from Nahalal, Israel in 2006.

1 Sivan (1096) – Worms Jews massacred as part of the Rhineland massacres by the First Crusade during morning prayers after taking refuge in a local castle. (see "Iyar in Jewish History" for Iyar 8.)

Theodor Herzl

Austro-Hungarian Jewish journalist, playwright, political activist, and writer who was the father of modern political Zionism.

Herzl in 1897
A plaque marking the birthplace of Theodor Herzl, Dohány Street Synagogue, Budapest.
Herzl and his family, c. 1866–1873
Herzl as a child with his mother Janet and sister Pauline
Herzl (seated in the middle) with members of the Zionist Organization in Vienna, 1896
Theodor Herzl in Basel, 1897
Herzl on board a vessel reaching the shores of Palestine, 1898
Theodor Herzl (center) with a Zionist delegation in Jerusalem, 1898. From right to left: Joseph Seidener, Moses T. Schnirer, Theodor Herzl, David Wolffsohn, Max Bodenheimer
Theodor Herzl at the Second Zionist Congress in Basel, 1898
Herzl's last photograph (1904)
David Ben-Gurion declaring the establishment of the State of Israel, in Tel Aviv, May 14, 1948, beneath a large portrait of Theodor Herzl
Julie Naschauer
Herzl and his children in 1900
Herzl and his children on a trip in 1900
Portrait of Herzl
Title page of Der Judenstaat (1896)
Title page of Altneuland (1902)
Stephen Norman garden marker at Mount Herzl in Jerusalem

Herzl Day (יום הרצל) is an Israeli national holiday celebrated annually on the tenth of the Hebrew month of Iyar, to commemorate the life and vision of Zionist leader Theodor Herzl.

Rabbi Meir

Jewish sage who lived in the time of the Mishnah.

Historical photo of Rabbi Meir's tomb in Tiberias in 1894.
Rabbi Meir's tomb, view from the seashore of the Sea of Galilee
Recent photo of the tomb.
Rabbi Meir's tomb, 1930

In this view, pilgrims visit his grave and recite Tehillim and a special prayer, especially on his yahrtzeit (anniversary of his death) the 14th of Iyar, which is also Pesach Sheni.