Israelis of all backgrounds and faiths rallied together over the weekend after a stampede that left 45 dead occurred during a festivity on Mount Meron on Thursday night, offering food, shelter and blood to survivors and their families. The tragedy occurred when ultra-Orthodox worshippers exited the annual mass celebration of the Jewish festival of Lag Ba’Omer on Thursday night. Crowding in a narrow corridor on their way out, people crushed one another before on-site emergency services began evacuating the premises. Throughout the weekend, cultural events and music concerts were canceled out of solidarity with the families of the deceased and survivors, and radio stations played solemn music usually associated with Israel’s remembrance days. In addition, blood donation stations were set up across the country, and secular and religious Jews alike lined up to donate their blood for the wounded. Some 2,000 blood transfusions were donated, and the mass mobilization meant that Magen David Adom had managed to acquire all the blood that was required. Source: ISRAEL21c