When the sun sets on May 8, Jews worldwide will be celebrating the holiday of Lag B’Omer.

Lag B’Omer is the 33rd day of the counting of the Omer. According to the Bible, Jews are commanded to count the days from the second night of Passover to the day before Shavuot — seven full weeks. This period is known as the counting of the Omer. An omer is a unit of measure.

On the second day of Passover, in the days of the Temple, an omer of barley was cut down and brought to the Temple as an offering.

The word “Lag” is not an actual word. It represents the Hebrew letters Lamed and Gimmel, which when added up, become the number 33.

The counting of the Omer is intended to remind us of the link between Passover, which commemorates the Exodus, and Shavuot, which commemorates the giving of the Torah. It reminds the Jewish people that the redemption from slavery was not complete until we received the Torah.

This period is a time of partial mourning, during which weddings, parties, and dinners with dancing are not conducted, in memory of a plague during the lifetime of Rabbi Akiba. Haircuts during this time are also forbidden. Lag B’Omer is a minor holiday commemorating a break in the plague. Mourning practices of the omer period are lifted on that date.

Historically, on one day only, Lag B’Omer, Rabbi Akiva’s pupils were not persecuted. As a result, the date was made into a festival in the middle of days of mourning that precede and follow it. The ban on weddings and joyful occasions is lifted, and the day is filled with games and festivities.

This year, as in years past, Kedma, the university’s Orthodox community, will be sponsoring a community-wide Lag B’omer celebration in the Hillel parking lot as its last event of the year. The festivities will begin at 6:45 p.m. on May 9, following services.

“We’re having a celebration that we have every year, but this year we want it to be bigger,” said Kedma President Naomi Korb, a senior marketing major. “We will make a big bonfire, as it is traditional for Lag B’omer, people will bring guitars and we’ll sing and have a big barbeque.”