Bonfire Lighting Ceremony for Lag Ba'Omer

See also this description of Lag Ba'Omer

Moderator:		While lighting our bonfire this evening, let us reflect on how fire has played a role in Jewish observance from ancient days and onward. In early times fire was a danger and difficult to come by. It took a long time before there could ever be a bonfire; the very meaning of the word is "good fire." Fire had to be tamed in order for it to be used safely. Today it still represents great danger to us as well as all the good we derive from it. Once man learned how to use it even in its simplest forms great care had to be exercised to use it safely and to maintain it constantly. After all there were no matches, pilot lights, automatic thermostats or pocket lighters. Burning coals had to be preserved in braziers. Today although we almost never see the fire that heats our homes and our water, that powers our cars, or creates our electrical power we know that underlying our civilization there is fire. The ancients were well aware of the importance of fire; it was an integral part of their lives. I call out the following scouts who will represent the different roles of fire in Jewish Life.
Scout # 1:		I represent the fire of the Jewish home and hearth. The Jewish home, the envy of cultures down through the ages, where the family, the basic unit of society is taught by our faith to live together in harmony, to practice and observe the Jewish Religion, and realize G-d's commandments.
Scout #2:		I represent the Ner Tamid, the Eternal Light. G-d's light, which burns continually in front of the Ark in the synagogue sanctuary. It is symbolic of the light of the Torah before which it hangs and is also a reminder of the Temple Candelabrum. The Ner Tamid tells us of G-d's presence in all of our lives.
Scout #3:		I represent the Chanukah Menorah. During Chanukah, the Festival of Lights, candles are kindled to proclaim the miracle of the Temple Lights when the cruse of oil containing only enough oil to last for one day sufficed for eight days, thus keeping alight the Menorah or Candelabrum of the Temple.
Scout #4:		I represent the kindling of the Lights, the ceremony performed by the mistress of the household on the eves of Sabbaths and holy days. This custom is early talmudic and the rabbis intended thereby to add to the joyous atmosphere and domestic happiness of the home.
Scout #5:		I represent the Havdalah Candle. Havdalah means Separation. We light the twisted, braided candle and perform the ceremony with wine and spices which bids farewell to Shabbat, ends and separates the holy Sabbath from rest of the week.
Scout #6:		I represent the three miraculous holy fires. The first one occurred when G-d appeared to Moses in the Burning Bush. He called upon Moses to represent the Jewish slaves to Pharaoh in Egypt and plead their case to get permission to take them forth to the wilderness so that they could worship G-d in their own way. The second miraculous fire caused the pillar of smoke by day and the fire by night at the front of the line of march that led the tribes of Israel across the desert. The third miraculous fire occurred on the top of Mount Sinai when amidst flames and lightning and thunder and the blowing of the Shofar G-d presaged the giving of the Torah to Israel. The Torah teaches us how to live a moral life.
Scout #7:		I represent the flame of the Shoah, the Holocaust, and the memorial candle of Yizkor, Remembrance. We remember loved ones no longer with us with love and deep affection. We remember those who have no one to remember them who perished throughout the ages at the hand of tyrants. Today we stand exultant, our tormentors lost to history. Am Yisroel Chai. The people of Israel live!
Moderator:		Now we come to the actual lighting of our bonfire. We are going to have each of our scouts here, in an act of Jewish unity, which will represent our hope for Jewish unity throughout the world, light their torches and with them ignite our fire. The bible tells us in the Book of Numbers, "When we light one flame from another, the new flame gives off light and the original flame continues to burn just as brightly." That is the way we pass our heritage on to the next generation. But today where will the starting flame come from? It has been said that a Boy Scout can start a fire by rubbing two sticks together. Tell me the truth. By a raise of your hands, has anyone here ever seen that done? Anyone care to try? What kind of sticks would you use? In keeping with our Lag Ba'Omer celebration theme and its ancient origins we have our own Jewish Committee Chairman, Alan Yanofsky, who is going to demonstrate this ancient and primitive fire lighting method. But just in case, does anybody have a match?

Contributed by Alan Yanofsky, Chairman Jewish Committee on Scouting Theodore Roosevelt Council