וַיָּבֹא יַעֲקֹב שָׁלֵם עִיר שְׁכֶם …. וַיִּחַן אֶת פְּנֵי הָעִיר
RIBBI SHIMON IN THE CAVE
In a couple of days we will celebrate Lag La’omer (also known as Lag Ba’omer). On this day Ribbi Shimon bar Yohai passed away, and as a tribute to this great sage I would like to share with you a part of the story of his life that is not so well known. Ribbi Shimon , who lived in the second century CE, had been sentenced to death by the Romans for publicly criticizing the Empire, and was wanted by local authorities. He and his son El’azar escaped to a cave in Meron, a mountainous area in northern Israel. They lived in the cave for 12 years, drinking water from a spring and eating from a carob tree. They spent all that time studying Tora, and reached a spiritual level and depth of understanding that was unparalleled in the rabbinical world. The Zohar, the book of splendor, which is the fundamental work of Jewish mysticism (Qabbalah), contains many stories, ideas and sayings of Ribbi Shimon Bar Yohai. So far, what I just mentioned is more or less known. But the continuation of that same story is not …
RIBBI SHIMON AND OUR PATRIARCH JACOB
When Rabbi Shimon finally returned to civilization, safe and sound, he said to himself: “God saved my life and my son’s life and I want to thank HaShem for this miracle.” The Gemara (Shabbat 33b) tells that in that moment Ribbi Shimon recalled the story of Ya’aqob Abinu, when he was saved from Laban and Esav and finally arrived safely (in Hebrew: shalem) in the city of Shekhem. Ya’aqob was well aware that he owed his slavation to Divine intervention and upon reaching Shekhem he decided to do something for the people of the city. The Gemara then debates what did exactly Ya’aqob do for the inhabitants of Shekhem, and mentions three opinions. Rab said that Ya’aqob Abinu established a monetary system, “matbe’a”, replacing the primitive barter method, which was not as efficient. Shemuel says that Ya’aqob developed a new trading system for the people of Shekhem: the market, where sellers and buyers conveniently met a couple of times a week to buy and sell their goods. Ribbi Yohanan says that Ya’aqob Abinu established a public bathing system to improve hygiene and public health. And while they differ as to what exactly Ya’aqob did, the three Rabbis agreed that Ya’aqob did a great, selfless act of charity from his own money, for the benefit of the people of Shekhem.
THERE IS ALWAYS SOMETHING WE CAN GIVE
Next, the Gemara tells that when Ribbi Shimon arrived safely in the city, the first thing he did was asking the people: Is there anything I can do for the benefit of the city? And they told him that there was a large piece of land between the city and the market, which in the past had been used as a cemetery, and the Kohanim were therefore unable to access the market. Ribbi Shimon inspected tha entire area, inch by inch, something that must have taken him a few weeks or months, verifying the consistency of the terrain, identifying all the areas in which he found some evidence of ancient graves, and he thus authorized the Kohanim to enter the “pure” areas. Unlike Jacob, who had a great fortune, Ribbi Shimon had nothing material to offer. That is why he volunteered his time, his knowledge and his efforts for the benefit of the inhabitants of the city.
HOW TO THANK HASHEM
The lesson we learn from these two stories is extremely important: What is the Jewish way of “returning the favor” to God, and expressing our gratitude to Him? The Jewish way of thanking God is by doing good to others –for “His children”. In thne same way that the best way to thank a friend for a favor that he did us, would be to do a favor for one of his or her children …
We can thank HaShem by doing something good for others with our money and assets, as Ya’aqob Abinu did, or with our time and dedication, as Ribbi Shimon bar Yochai did.
