MYSTIC INITIATION
Ribbí Shimón was a Sage of the time of the Mishná (approximately, year 150 of the common era). He was more connected to the Divine world than to the earthly one. For Ribbí Shimón there was nothing more important than the study of the Tora. The Torah is the most tangible connection to the Creator. Even more important than the Tefillah, is the prayer. Why? Because merging with the Divine Law was for Ribbí Shimón the most direct way to connect with God, the exclusive purpose of our lives. Ribbi Shimon once explained that the reason God did not lead His people Israel straight into the promised land when He rescued them from Egypt was not that they were not prepared for war, but because the Creator wanted us Jews to have the opportunity to spend more time in the desert, fed with the manna that came from heaven, and thus, without material concerns, we could dedicate ourselves exclusively to the Torah. Ribbí Shimón’s ideal was to live in the times of manna!
A DREAM FULFILLED
And Ribbí Shimón Bar Yojai saw his dream come true in an unexpected and involuntary way. After speaking critically of the Romans he was sentenced to death. He had to escape to a cave, hidden in the mountains of Meron, where he lived with his son for 12 years. In that very long quarantine, he survived by eating carob seeds and drinking water from a spring. The Gemara attributes the presence of the carob tree and the spring to a Providential act. It was the closest thing to receiving manna from heaven. Needless to say, the aspiration to devote himself exclusively to the study of the Torah implied a renunciation of all material comfort. Living with extreme minimalism. It was part of a package that Ribbí Shimón bar Yochai gladly accepted.
REPROGRAMMING
During all that time Ribbi Shimon dedicated himself to studying with his son El’azar. Until he was told that he could come out of his confinement and return to normal life. Ironically, returning to normal life was the most difficult thing for Ribbí Shimón. At first, he did not tolerate seeing other people who were distracted from studying with work. A Divine voice restrained him and ordered him to return to the cave for twelve more months. Ribbí Shimón and his son Ribbí El’azar had to be “rescheduled.” When he came out of the cave for the second time Ribbi Shimon had learned the lesson that he himself had once taught: ראיתי בני עלייה והן מועטין , “I have seen that individuals who ‘live on high’ [=in a state of permanent spiritual elevation ] they’re very few”. Ribbí Shimón realized that it was very difficult for ordinary people to maintain an uninterrupted relationship with God, like the one he and his son had. Ribbí Shimón realized that he and his son were not the rule, but the exception. And he became more tolerant towards others. Coming out of the cave transformed him. And once he arrived in the city, Ribbí Shimón Bar Yojai approached the people, began to help others, and found a second way of serving God in the world: helping his children.
GROW UP IN A CAVE
Ribbi Shimon Bar Yochai passed away on Lag lLaOmer and it is a widely accepted custom to celebrate his departure from this world. Why? Because there is much to learn from Ribbí Shimón Bar Yohai.
For example.
Although Ribbí Shimón represents a utopian and unattainable ideal in the cave, reflecting on that super-man motivates us to rediscover our existential purpose. He cannot live without thinking about sustenance. But he cannot be rooted only to the earthly either. Ribbí Shimón’s story reminds us that we can be dangerously trapped in a society in which the urgent leaves no time for the important.
When Ribbí Shimon comes out of the cave for the second time he reaches a delicate balance. In Judaism, there is a great difference between the elevated man and the one who lives in the clouds. The ideal is represented by Yaakob Abinu’s dream: to go up and then to go down. Ascending to the heights of the Tora and then descending, bringing something from heaven – what we learned, what we absorbed – and sharing it with the rest of society.
