A Scholar of Miracles: 10 Fascinating Facts About Rabbi Shimon bar Yochai

1. Rabbi Shimon bar Yochai, abbreviated as Rashbi, was a divine tanna who lived in the second generation after the destruction. He was born in the Galilee and, according to tradition, passed away on the 18th of Iyar (Lag BaOmer).

2. In the beraita and the Talmud, he is referred to as Rabbi Shimon ben Yochai or simply Rabbi Shimon. He was a prominent student of Rabbi Akiva and was ordained by him. When Rabbi Akiva was captured and was in prison, Rashbi came to him to learn Torah. He is counted among the five students taught by Rabbi Akiva after the plague that killed his first 24,000 students.

3. The well-known story of Rashbi hiding in a cave due to Roman persecution is mentioned in the Talmud in several places. A year or two after Rabbi Akiva's death, sages gathered in Kerem B'Yavneh, including Rabbi Yehuda ben Ila'i, Rabbi Yosei, and Rashbi. Yehuda ben Gerim was also with them.

In various parts of the Talmud, the story is described: "Rabbi Yehuda ben Ila'i opened with the praise of the Romans and said: 'How beautiful are the works of this nation, they established markets, they made bridges, they built bathhouses.' Rabbi Yosei was silent. Rashbi responded and said: 'All that they established, they established for their own needs... bathhouses to pamper themselves, bridges to collect tolls.'

Yehuda ben Gerim went and reported their words, and they were heard by the government. They said: 'Yehuda, who praised, shall be elevated; Yosei, who remained silent, shall be exiled to Tzipori; Shimon, who defamed, shall be killed.' Rabbi Shimon and his son fled to the study hall, and when the decree intensified, they hid in a cave, and a miracle happened, they found a carob tree and a spring of water, sustaining themselves this way, and they studied there together all day for thirteen years. After the emperor (Hadrian) died, Elijah the prophet came and informed them, and they emerged." (Jerusalem Talmud Shevi'it 9, Babylonian Talmud Shabbat 33, and other places).

4. During those years in the cave, according to tradition, Rabbi Shimon bar Yochai composed the "Zohar," the primary text of Kabbalah, and also the "Mekhilta of Rabbi Shimon bar Yochai" on the Book of Exodus, of which a few fragments have survived.

5. Another legend tells of a student of Rabbi Shimon bar Yochai who went abroad and became wealthy, and his fellow students were envious of him. Rashbi took them "to a field on the outskirts of Meron and prayed, saying: 'Field, field! Fill yourselves with gold coins.' It began producing gold coins before them. He said to his students: 'If it's gold you seek, here is gold! Take as much as you please, but know this: Whoever takes now takes his portion of the world to come, for the reward of Torah is only in the world to come!" (Shemot Rabbah 52, 3).

6. In a poem about Rashbi, it is noted: "He purified the city of Tiberias and made it clean, for which he was thanked by heaven." In the tractate Shabbat, it explains that Rashbi purified Tiberias from corpse impurities by planting lupines in the markets, and wherever the lupine grew, he knew it was a pure place, and where it did not grow, he knew there was a grave beneath, and he removed the body from there.

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7. Rashbi went with Rabbi Eliezer bar Rabbi Yosei to Rome to try to annul the royal decrees. They sent him because he was accustomed to miracles, and indeed a miracle occurred when he expelled a demon from the emperor's daughter (Me'ila 17).

8. From his words:

"He used to say, there are three crowns: the crown of Torah, the crown of priesthood, and the crown of kingship, and the crown of good name surpasses them all." (Avot 4:12)

"Hashem gave three good gifts to Israel, and all were given only through suffering: these are Torah, the Land of Israel, and the world to come." (Berachot 5)

"Even a completely righteous person all his life who rebels in the end loses his earlier deeds; and even a completely wicked person all his life who repents in the end, his wickedness is no longer mentioned." (Kiddushin 40)

"Anyone who is arrogant is as if he worships idolatry." (Sotah 4)

"Anyone who shames his friend in public, better if he threw himself into a fiery furnace." (Berachot 43b)

"Where is it said that one should not placate a person during his anger as it is said 'My face shall go, and I will give you rest.'" (ibid)

"From the day Hashem created His world, there was no one who gave thanks to Hashem until Leah came and thanked Him as it is said 'this time I will thank Hashem.'"

"An evil culture within a person's house is more difficult than the war of Gog and Magog." (ibid)

"What does it mean when it is written, 'But as for me, my prayer is to you, Hashem, at a time of favor'? When is it a time of favor? When the congregation is praying." (ibid)

"Great is labor for it honors its owner." (Nedarim 49b)

"Verbal oppression is worse than monetary oppression, for the latter is said with 'and you shall fear Hashem,' while the former is not said with 'and you shall fear Hashem.'"

9. In his name and memory, they celebrate in Meron the "Hilula d'Rashbi." On Lag BaOmer, hundreds of thousands go to the site of Rabbi Shimon bar Yochai's tomb at the foot of Mount Meron to celebrate the holiday. Every year, on the eve of Lag BaOmer and throughout the holiday itself, the site of Rashbi's tomb serves as a place for the Hilula (according to the Zohar: "Hilula of Rabbi Shimon bar Yochai"), and for four consecutive days, about half a million people reach it.

On the eve of Lag BaOmer, the traditional events of the Hilula begin. The central lighting that opens the Hilula events is done by the Rabbi of Boyan. As part of the events, a "Chalaka" ceremony is held, where the hair of children who have reached the age of 3 is cut. According to tradition, on this day, a great fire rose from the sky to take him, and Rashbi completed the revelation of the secrets of Kabbalah to his students.

10. The tomb of Rabbi Shimon bar Yochai on Mount Meron is one of the famous graves of the righteous in Israel, and the second most visited religious site in Israel (after the Western Wall).

3 Empowering Minutes - This is the secret that Moshe Rabbeinu revealed to Rabbi Shimon bar Yochai:

For all the information on the poem "Bar Yochai Nimshachta Ashrecha" including a special segula, click here.