Despite the crowding and congestion, tens of thousands of Israelis chose to visit the tomb of Rabbi Shimon Bar Yochai in Meron this past weekend, in honor of Lag Ba'omer.

The hasidic newspaper Hamevaser claimed Monday morning that beneath the celebrations lies a deeper debate over identity, tradition, and the future of Israeli society.

“Secularism will not survive,” argues the editorial titled “The Balance of the Carts is Not New,” referencing the historic debate between David Ben-Gurion and the Chazon Ish regarding which group carries the "full cart" and which the "empty one."

According to the article, “Secular culture fails to produce something that is passed down from generation to generation... What will always remain are the prayer book, the holidays, the Sabbath, the fast days.”

The editorial links this claim to the sharp public debate over issues like drafting yeshiva students and National Service, which have returned to the center of public discourse amid the ongoing war.

The Hamevaser article also describes the joy among the hundreds of thousands participating in the celebration of Rabbi Shimon Bar Yochai, while simultaneously criticizing “the misguided or mistaken brothers who stand by without understanding the commotion or why this matters to us.”

The paper adds in a polemical tone that secular Israelis “seek every means and pretext to restrict the steps of those who sit in the tent and study Torah.”

The article concludes: “Whoever sees the chain of generations on Lag Ba'omer knows that our cart is laden for generations to come. It carries truth, it carries eternity.”