Rabbi Shimon bar Yochai in the Cave and the Zohar
Condemned to death by Rome, the sage hid thirteen years in a cave with his son, living on carob fruit; the central book of Kabbalah is linked to his name.
Three sages once spoke about the Romans. Rabbi Yehuda said: how fine their works are—bridges, bathhouses, marketplaces. Rabbi Yose kept silent. Rabbi Shimon bar Yochai answered: everything they made, they made for themselves. The words were reported to the authorities. Rabbi Yehuda was honoured, Rabbi Yose exiled, Rabbi Shimon condemned to death.
He hid with his son Elazar in a cave, where a carob tree grew and a spring burst forth. They took off their clothes so as not to wear them out, buried themselves in sand to the neck and studied all day, dressing only to pray. After twelve years Elijah announced at the entrance: the emperor is dead, the decree annulled.
They came out and saw men ploughing. They abandon eternal life for the passing one, said Rabbi Shimon—and everything their eyes fell upon burned. A voice cried: have you come out to destroy My world? Return! Twelve months later—thirteen years in all—they emerged again and met an old man running at Friday dusk with two bundles of myrtle: one for remember, one for keep. See how precious the commandments are to Israel, he told his son. And he was at peace.
Rabbi Shimon is the father of the hidden teaching. The Zohar, circulated in Spain at the end of the 13th century by Rabbi Moshe de Leon, is written as records of his circle. His grave at Meron became a place of pilgrimage, and the day of his death is Lag BaOmer.
How we know
Sources
Chazal: Mishnah, Talmud, midrash, Zohar
- Shabbat 33b–34a — the conversation about the Romans, the thirteen years in the cave, the old man with the myrtles
- Sukkah 45b — “I have seen men of high standing — and they are few”
- the Zohar (the teaching of Rabbi Shimon) — the book printed as his teaching; on the date of its writing see the note (by tradition the teaching of Rabbi Shimon bar Yochai; the corpus was published in Castile at the end of the thirteenth century)
- Pirkei Avot 4:13 — the three crowns — and the crown of a good name above them all
Basis: tradition.
People and places
Rabbi Akiva · Rabbi Shimon bar Yochai · Tzfat · Zohar · Kabbalah · Rabbi Yehuda bar Ilai · Rabbi Pinchas ben Yair · Rabbi Elazar beRabbi Shimon · Lag BaOmer · Peki'in · Rabbi Isaac the Blind—Isaac Saggi Nehor · Rabbi Azriel of Gerona · Rabbi Todros ha-Levi Abulafia · Rabbi Abraham Abulafia · Rabbi Joseph Gikatilla · Rabbi Moses de Leon · Gershom Scholem