Tag Archives: Roman Empire

Jew of the Week: Shimon bar Yochai

The Zohar

One of the greatest sages of all time, Shimon bar Yochai (c. 2nd century CE), also known as Rashbi, lived in the era following the destruction of the Second Temple nearly two thousand years ago. He was one of just a handful of new students of the great Rabbi Akiva, whose original 24,000 students all perished, likely at the hands of the Roman Empire. Judaism was literally on the verge of extinction when Rabbi Shimon and a few others began to teach the masses once again. However, a spy informed on bar Yochai, forcing him to hide in a cave with his son for 13 years, where they did nothing but study Torah, living off a nearby carob tree and a spring of water. They attained such a level of greatness that it is said the whole universe was sustained only in their merit. After a change in the Roman government, Shimon and his son emerged from the cave. They established an academy in Tekoa where the top minds of the day studied (including Yehuda haNasi, who would later begin the process of writing down the Oral Torah). Unfortunately, a new Roman government began persecuting Jews once more. Rabbi Shimon headed a delegation to Rome. It just so happened that the Emperor’s daughter was suffering from an incurable ailment that no physician could cure. With his mystical powers, Shimon cured the girl and for his reward, asked that the edict against the Jews be rescinded. He thus saved the community, and returned to Israel spending the rest of his life re-establishing the Jewish nation. It was on the 18th of Iyar, the 33rd day of the Omer period, that Rashbi gathered his students and began revealing the deepest secrets of the Torah. It is said that of all the secrets he revealed, just one out of 22 parts was ultimately preserved. This one volume was later published as the famous Zohar, the primary text of Kabbalah. Because of this great revelation of light, Shimon bar Yochai’s extraordinary life is celebrated on Lag B’Omer (“Lag” meaning 33), with the lighting of large bonfires and many other mystical customs.

Words of the Week

There are three crowns: the crown of the Torah, the crown of priesthood, and the crown of royalty; but the crown of a good name surpasses them all.
– Rabbi Shimon bar Yochai

Jew of the Week: Beruria

Women Are Always Right

A Page of Talmud

Beruria (c. 170 CE) Despite the fact that her parents were executed by the Romans for the crime of teaching Torah, Beruria went on to become a famous Jewish sage herself, exceeding the greatness of many rabbis of her time (and all-time). She is said to have learned 300 chapters of Jewish law in a single day (a bad day, no less) and settled quite a few rabbinic disputes. Married to the miracle worker Rabbi Meir, they were forced to flee Israel from the Romans and lost two of their sons in a plague. A well-known story narrates the couples’ heroic rescue of Beruria’s kidnapped sister from a brothel. In a nod to the modern-day adage that women are always right, the Talmud ends a debate between the sages by stating simply: “Beruria has spoken correctly.”

Words of the Week

“Seek G-d when He may be found, call upon Him when He is near” (Isaiah 55:6) These are the ten days between Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur.
– Talmud, Rosh HaShana 18a