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IN-DEPTH FEATURES
Uniting Jews from all walks of life, the Lag BaOmer
hillula of Rabbi Shimon bar Yochai at Meiron is a
unique Jewish experience. No matter where they come from and
no matter what their closeness to Yiddishkeit the
year round, Jews feel a draw to Meiron on this day. Sounds
of singing and dancing permeate the air and the joy is
contagious. Hard-working men hand out food and drink to any
and all, fulfilling the mitzvah of hachnosas orchim
en masse. Those who go say the kedushoh of the place
and the time makes one yearn to become closer to HaKodosh
Boruch Hu, through the merits of the Tana
Hakodosh, Rabbi Shimon Bar Yochai.
Preparations for the festivities at Meiron begin weeks
before the actual date, when somewhere between 100,000 and a
quarter of a million Jews of all ages and descriptions
converge upon this tiny Galilean moshav from all
parts of the country. Bus services advertise, some boasting
that they come the closest to the tsiyun. Parking
lots are prepared for the thousands of buses and private
cars that will arrive. The highway is closed and traffic
rerouted, as the whole area is covered with tents and vans
for miles around. The pace of people coming and going will
keep up uninterrupted throughout the night and day of Lag
BaOmer.
A lively procession from Tsefas sets out at night. This
custom dates from the beginning of the 19th century. A
special sefer Torah under a decorated chuppah
leads the way to Meiron, accompanied by music, singing and
dancing.
This was indeed a hike before the road was built. A report
from some seventy years ago notes that, "only those who were
old or weak rode. The local Arabs knew about the yearly
celebration and they would come to Tsefas to rent their
donkeys and mules to the Jews."
A bonfire is lit on the roof of the domed tsiyun at
Meiron. The fire which surrounded the house on his last day,
preventing any but Rabbi Shimon's closest students from
approaching, is one reason cited for the custom of lighting
bonfires on Lag BaOmer. Another is a remembrance of the fire
at Har Sinai at the time of matan Torah. Still
another explanation is that the fire reminds us of the fire
that was always present whenever Rabbi Shimon Bar Yochai
learned Torah.
Rabbi Yisroel of Rozhin purchased the right to light the
main bonfire in Meiron on Lag BaOmer for all time -- at
great expense. It has passed on to his descendants as an
inheritance. Once, when his grandson the Sadigorer rebbe was
asked about this phenomenon, he answered, "Tens of thousands
of souls have been healed because of this bonfire which is
lit in the honor of the Holy Rabbi Shimon bar Yochai!" The
fire is now lit by the Admor of Boyan.
Before this arrangement was reached, a ceremony would
procede lighting of the bonfires. In a room off to the side,
the zchus to light the bonfires was auctioned off.
The announcer would call out "amud ho'olom,"
referring to the Rashbi, and add "zechuso ta'amod
lonu." To urge people to up the price, he would add
slogans like, "Anyone who raises the price will receive more
mitzvos!"
Throughout the twenty-four hours of Lag BaOmer, groups of
energetic dancers rejoice, singing over and over the
traditional songs in praise of Rabbi Shimon. Individuals and
small groups study and recite the Zohar and recite
Tehillim, while the dense crowds continuously flowing
into the main room struggle to reach the tomb. During the
day, dozens of sheep are schechted, barbecued, and
consumed. At night, many people rest in huge tents over
multi-course dinners and live music.
Throughout the day, hundreds or even thousands of three-year-
old boys, Ashkenazim and Sephardim alike, receive their
first haircuts, the chalakeh, following the custom of
the Arizal. This, too, is reason to rejoice.
The steep winding path leading to the tsiyun is lined
by booths. Many are manned by representatives of yeshivas
and other worthy causes. Further away, vendors hawking all
sorts of merchandise dominate the main thoroughfares. All
over, people are camping, picnicking, and partying, and
often it seems easy to lose sight of the original nature of
the celebration. It is interesting to note that no other
forefather, sage or prophet has merited a day like this in
which so many Jews come together from all over the world.
As we know, twenty-four thousand disciples of Rabbi Akiva
died in an epidemic. The underlying spiritual cause of the
epidemic was the students' lack of respect for each other.
This sad event, and others, took place during sefiras
haOmer. In remembrance of this, Chazal ordered that
certain particulars of mourning be observed during this
period: no music, haircuts and weddings may take place. But
because the epidemic was suspended on the 33rd day -- Lag
BaOmer, this day has become a joyous day of celebration.
Tachanun is not said, and weddings, haircuts, and
music are allowed.
After all his students died, Rabbi Akiva started over and
began teaching others. One of his foremost students was
Rabbi Shimon bar Yochai, the author of the Zohar
Hakodosh. The Zohar, which means "The Shining," is the
basis of Toras hanistar, the sublime secret teachings
of the Torah.
Composing the Zohar
Every Jewish child knows the story of Rabbi Shimon bar
Yochai and his son, Rabbi Elozor. The story is recounted in
the Talmud Bavli, maseches Shabbos 33b. Escaping
from the Romans, they hid in a cave at Pekiin. A carob tree
miraculously emerged from the ground to provide fruit for
nourishment, while a spring brought forth water to quench
their thirst. There they composed the Zohar HaKadosh.
When they finally left the cave, they bathed in the
curative waters of Tiveria and continued to disseminate
Torah.
We find wondrous descriptions of the holiness of Rabbi
Shimon bar Yochai. The Zohar HaKodosh (2:38a) quotes
Shemos 34:23: "Three times each year shall each man
appear before the face of his master, the G-d of Israel."
The Zohar Hakodosh then asks, what is meant by the
face of his master? The answer is that the Zohar is
referring to Rabbi Shimon bar Yochai. In the Zohar
Hakodosh (3:144b) we find that he is also considered to
be a gilgul of Moshe Rabbenu (according to a
sicha of the Slonimer rav).
According to tradition, Rav Shimon bar Yochai died on Lag
BaOmer, the eighteenth of Iyar. Even though the death of
such a great sage is a sad event, there is also joy
surrounding the fact that he attained his final reward (as
the Zohar Hakodosh explains), and the fact that he
revealed many deep secrets of the Torah to his students on
his dying day.
The yahrtzeit of a tzaddik is a propitious
time to beseech Hashem and ask that our prayers be heard in
his merit. Since the soul of the tzaddik becomes even
more elevated on this day, we ask that he be meilitz
yosher before the Kisei Hakovod, and Jews have
been doing so for quite a long time.
Historical Reports
Visiting Eretz Yisroel, Rav Binyomin Metudela and later,
Rabbi Petachia, speak of Meiron and mention a few holy grave
sites, but not those of Rashbi and Elozor. The first Jewish
tourist to mention these graves in Meiron was Rabbi Shmuel
bar Shimshon, passing through Eretz Yisroel in the year 4970
(1210). He tells of his visit in Meiron, "I found the
beis medrash of Rabbi Shimon Bar Yochai and it is
square and inside it is the tsiyun of Rabbi Shimon
Bar Yochai and his son Elozor. Upon it are two trees, and it
is a beautiful place."
Twenty-five years later, Yaacov Hashaliach visited Meiron,
and he said, "The grave of Rabbi Shimon Bar Yochai and a
nice tsiyun, and near him Rabbi Elozor, his son. It
is said that here was the beis midrash of Rabbi
Shimon Bar Yochai."
Five hundred years later, an anonymous traveler said, "On
the three Regolim the Jews come to the burial place
of the tzadik Rabbi Shimon Bar Yochai and beseech
with prayers, selichos and tachanunim to
Hashem that He grant them rain to enable them to stay there
for a few days. And rain follows immediately.
An anonymous traveler from the year 5255 (1495) tells of his
visit to Meiron and mentions a cave in which twenty-two
talmidei chachomim are buried. He says that these
were students of Rabbi Shimon Bar Yochai. He also mentions
the tsiyun of the kever of Rashbi, noting that
it was beautiful and visible all the way to Tsefas.
Rabbi Moshe Basolo tells of his visit in 5282 (1522) to
Meiron: "There I saw the cave of Rashbi and his son,
aleihem hasholom. It is closed and there is no room
to enter it." At another visit he said, "We detoured to
Meiron, for there many Jews would come on the holidays to
the graves of the righteous. . . . On Tu Be'Iyar, Pesach
Sheini, great caravans of people gather at Meiron. There
were more than one hundred people there, many coming from
Damascus with their wives and children . . . We were there
for two days and two nights."
The author of Yichus Ho'ovos Vehanevi'im in the year
5297 (1537) also describes these gravesites: " . . . and on
them were beautiful matzeivos."
Ta'amei Haminhogim reports that the first to frequent
the tsiyun were the students of the Rashbi
themselves, following his directives. Throughout the
generations, gedolei Yisroel would come to the
tsiyun to learn and to beseech Hashem. The Sheloh
Hakodosh relates, " . . . and at the grave of Rashbi they
study the Zohar with awe and trembling and great
deveikus, for miracles took place there, and the
Zohar must be learned with great awe, trembling and
deveikus, and then one must rejoice with great
spiritual happiness, and with no mourning or sadness, for
the Rashbi did not desire any of these, and then [they] made
nedorim and nedovos and pray . . .
The Mass Pilgrimage
It seems that the custom of a mass pilgrimage to the grave
of Rashbi was popularized by the Arizal, who came once for
the occasion from Egypt before he moved to Tsefas, as
recorded by his student, Rabbi Chaim Vital. He came to learn
and to fulfill the "ancient custom" of the chalakah,
the first cutting of his three-year-old son's hair. The
custom spread, and others joined the mekubalim from
Tsefas who had started to come on Lag BaOmer. Rabbi Ovadia
MiBartenura mentions the lighting of torches at Lag BaOmer
at Meiron, and adds that, "Many barren women were remembered
and many sick people were cured with a neder and a
nedovo to the place."
There is mention in Ateres Zekeinim on Shulchan
Oruch, Orach Chaim, simon 493 of the hilula.
Unrestrained dancing and the custom of throwing expensive
clothing into the great bonfire generated a strong protest
from Rabbi Yosef Karo and later, from the Chasam Sofer.
For many generations, the tsiyun of Rashbi and his
son were in an exposed field. Construction of a stone
building to house the tziyunim was begun in the
sixteenth century. The Chida relates, "And I heard from a
rav who received the tradition that HaRav Avrohom was
wealthy and built a courtyard for the tsiyun of the
Rashbi and Rabbi Elozor, zechosom yogen oleinu."
Rabbi Avrohom is the sofer hamekubal Rabbi Avrohom
Galanti, a student of Rabbi Moshe Cordovero (the Ramack),
who was niftar in Tsefas in the year 5325 (1565).
The building housing the tsiyun served as a beis
midrash and hostel for those who came to learn Torah and
kabalah. Many talmidei chachomim wrote
important works there. Rabbi Eliezer Azkari, a student of
the Arizal in Tsefas, writes at the beginning of his
Sefer HaChareidim of his experiences at Meiron. Rav
Yisroel Kimchi also notes that he began his work at the
tsiyun.
Throughout the year, the tsiyun is never empty. Day
and night, kol am Yisroel is there, learning and
davening and pouring out their hearts to the Ribono Shel
Olom for yeshu'os, in the merit of Rabbi Shimon
Bar Yochai.
Zechuso yogen oleinu ve'al kol Yisroel, Omen!
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