Isaac Scharf, Author at Daily Hampshire Gazette

Israeli security officials and rescuers stand around the bodies of victims who died during a Lag Ba’Omer celebrations at Mt. Meron in northern Israel, Friday. The director of an Israeli ambulance service has confirmed that nearly 40 people died in a stampede at a religious festival in northern Israel.

Israel mourns deaths of 45 in stampede at religious festival

by Josef Federman Associated Press, and Isaac Scharf Associated PressApril 30, 2021

JERUSALEM — The holiday of Lag BaOmer is one of the happiest days on the calendar for Israel’s ultra-Orthodox community — a time of mass celebrations in honor of a revered sage. But in a split second Friday, the festive gathering in northern Israel…