For the Jewish tradition called "upsherin," 3-year-old Avi Mendel Heart gets his hair cut by his father at a recent picnic at Camp Long thrown by the West Seattle Torah Learning Center.
A picnic was held Tuesday night, May 12, at Camp Long by the West Seattle Learning Center to celebrate the Jewish holiday Lag B'Omer. This refers to counting of days between Passover, which commemorates the Exodus from Egypt, and Shavu'ot, which commemorates the giving of the Torah, the first five books of the Hebrew Bible.
As the bonfire was made, two boys, each 3 years old, had their hair cut as part of the "upsherin," a ritual which ties into the holiday.
In traditional Judaism, fruit from trees are off limits for human consumption for the first three years. Similarly, the boy's hair should be left alone for the first years of life, and then cut afterwards.
