Rabbi Shimon Bar-Yochai
Rabbi Shimon
bar Yochai was a student of Rabbi Akiva, who was the spiritual leader of the Bar
Kochba Revolt against Rome in 135 CE, which began in glory and ended in tragedy. His
teacher was one of the four great Sages who entered the "Pardes," the
"Orchard" (not to be confused with the OU's Pardes
Program); specifically, who probed the depths of Kabbalah, and came out mentally and
spiritually whole. Clearly, Rabbi Akiva was the recipient of a living tradition which he
passed on orally to his beloved student, Rabbi Shimon.
As a student of the spiritual leader of the revolt, bar Yochai
was pursued relentlessly by the Romans. He and his son, Rabbi Elazar ben Shimon, took
refuge in a cave, where they remained for thirteen years.
During those years, Rabbi Shimon studied Torah with his son,
the Revealed Torah and the Hidden, or Secret, Torah, the "Torat HaSod," also
known as "Kabbalah," and translated, or mistranslated as "Jewish
Mysticism."
Rabbi Shimon wrote down the latter material, for the first time,
in a book called the "Zohar,"
meaning "Splendor" or "Radiance." This mystical tradition, kept alive
by the RAMBAN, in his Commentary to the
Bible, and others, resurfaced with a vengeance in the sixteenth century, and became the
splendor and the glory of the "Ari" (the "Lion"), Rabbi Yitzchak
Luria, and his followers in "Tzefat," or Safed, Palestine. It also became the
basis of the unique spirituality of Chassidut, founded in the eighteenth century, by
Yisrael ben Eliezer, the "Baal Shem Tov,"
in Eastern Europe.
The first time Rabbi Shimon came out of the cave, he was
completely "out of tune" with the people of his generation. He observed Jews
farming the land, and engaged in other normal pursuits, and made known his disapproval,
"How can people engage themselves in matters of this world and neglect matters of the
next world?"
Whereupon a Heavenly Voice was heard, which said "Bar
Yochai, go back to the cave! You are no longer fit for the company of other human
beings."
Rabbi Shimon went back to the cave, reoriented his perspective to
some extent, and emerged again. This time, he was able to interact with the people of his
generation, and become a great teacher of Torah, the Revealed and the Hidden.
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