Stirring Food On Shabbos

1. Stirring tends to accelerate the cooking process. Therefore, it is prohibited to stir a pot of partially cooked food or liquid. (S.A. 318:18)
2. Similarly, covering a pot hastens the cooking process. Thus, one may not cover a pot of partially cooked food. Therefore, if one uncovered a pot of food (such as cholent) and one realizes that the food is not fully cooked, one may not replace its cover (S.A. 254:4), unless the food is fully cooked. (See The Shabbos Kitchen page 9)
3. Stirring a partially cooked food is forbidden even if the food is off of the fire. (S.A. 252:1)
4. Interestingly enough, this prohibition extend to fully cooked food as well. Accordingly, one may not stir any food, cooked or uncooked, while over the flame, even if the flame is covered by a blech. (See Shar Hatzion 318:148 citing the view of the Kol Bo) When the food is off of the fire, cooked food may be stirred. (See Rama and M.B. 117 and Igros Moshe O.C. 4:74)
5. As cited above, one may not stir food that is on the fire, even if the food is fully cooked. The question is whether one may scoop food from the pot while still on the fire (dish out cholent) or is that considered stirring. The Mishnah Berurah writes that it is forbidden to do so. Therefore, one may not serve cholent directly from the pot if the pot is still on the fire. Rather, one must remove the pot from the fire and only then serve the food.
6. If the fire is not covered with a blech, since if he would remove the pot he would not be permitted to return it to the fire, (or if the pot is too heavy to lift or move), removing food with a spoon or fork from a pot of food which has been cooked completely may be permissible. (See Chazon Ish on M.B. and Halachos of Shabbos page 282. For a dissenting view see Igros Moshe O.C. 4:71) For normative halacha, a rabbi should be consulted.

A number of reasons are given for commemorating Lag B’Omer:
1. It commemorates the students of Rav Akiva who ceased dying during this day (Shelah, Pesachim 525).
2. This day is the yahrtzeit of Rabi Shimon bar Yochai, who revealed the inner secrets of the Torah (Chayei Adam Mo’adim 131:11).
3. This is the day that Rav Akiva granted ordination to his five students — among them Rabi Shimon bar Yochai (Pri Chadash OC 493).

Haircuts:
According to the opinion of the Shulchan Aruch one may not take haircuts or get married until the thirty-fourth day of the omer in the morning. The Rama feels that one may get a haircut on Lag B’Omer. The Rama explains that one must wait for Lag B’Omer morning (after Neitz Hachama) to get a haircut. According to the Rama one would not be allowed to get a haircut on the night of Lag B’Omer. However, the Mishnah Berurah cites authorities who permit getting a haircut on the night of Lag B’Omer. Harav Shlomo Zalman Auerbach zt”l is cited as explaining that the second view feels that since there are bonfires and parties that take place tonight one would likewise be permitted to shave. For normative halacha, a rav should be consulted.

As noted in a previous post, according to the Arizal shaving is not allowed even on Lag B’Omer.

Counting Sefira:

2) Harav Yitzchak Yosef shlit”a cites the above ruling and he adds that if one forgot to count the Omer the entire night and day of Lag B‘Omer, however, he mentioned in passing that “today is Lag B‘Omer” (e.g. he corrected the chazan who began to recite Tachanun that “today is LagB‘Omer“) he may continue to recite Sefira the following nights with a bracha. Post facto we can consider the statement of “Today is Lag B‘Omer” as a fulfillment of counting the Omer to allow him to continue to count with a bracha on the following nights.

Kevarim:

1) It is well known that there is a custom to go to the Kever of Rav Shimon Ben Yochai (or Rashbi) on Lag B‘Omer. Some poskim write that if one is in America and unable to go to the Kever Rashbi, he should try to daven at the grave of other tzaddikim. (Netai Gavriel Pesach vol. 3 page 342)