Leaving our Caves
Lag Baomer
This past Lag Baomer, as we all celebrated in our own backyards, the following thought came to me as we sat by the fire and discussed the story of the 13 years that Rabbi Shimon bar Yochai spent hiding in his cave.
Rabbi Yehuda praised the Romans for 3 things that they did for the benefit of the local Jewish population; building bathhouses, establishing marketplaces and building bridges. Rabbi Shimon argued that they only built these things for their own benefit; marketplaces for immoral activities, bathhouses for their own indulgence and bridges to collect taxes.
When the Roman authorities heard of Rabbi Shimon’s criticism, he and his son were forced to run away. They hid in a cave for 12 years until Eliyahu Hanovi tells them that it is safe to emerge.
They had spent 12 years in the cave, immersed in prayer and Torah study at the highest and deepest of levels, completely isolated from others. They did not suffer the worries of the world and had no involvements in physicality.
As a result, they had become so holy that they could not tolerate seeing simple Jews working the field instead of learning Torah. Wherever they set their sights, the fields would be consumed by fire.
A heavenly voice rebuked them “have you come out to destroy My world? go back to your cave!” They returned to their cave for another 12 months, emerging once again after a total of 13 years.
Whilst Rabbi Elozor was still fiery with zealousness, Rabbi Shimon no longer burned inside. He made peace with the fact that not everyone could be like him and his son. He recognised that the simple Jewish people were good, sincere and G-d fearing. He was no longer judgemental and critical and was able to focus on their goodness.
On his return Rabbi Shimon reasoned “because a miracle has been wrought for me, let me go and repair something.” The Gemara says that he learned this from Yaakov Avinu. After having been miraculously saved from Eisav, Yaakov went to do something of benefit for the city and inhabitants of Shchem.
Some say that he minted a coin for them, others say that he established marketplaces and a third opinion says that he built bathhouses for them
Note that these are connected to the 3 things that Rabbi Shimon had criticised the Romans for (the minted coins corresponds to the collection of taxes). But whereas they had done so for their own benefit, Yaakov was completely altruistic, devoting his time and energy to benefit others, even where he would have no benefit himself.
And this is what Rashbi did. He asked what he could do to fix something for the people of the town. They told him that there were unidentified graves somewhere along the main road. As a result, the Kohanim were inconvenienced, having to walk around. Rabbi Shimon bar Yochai set about rectifying this situation, to ease the burden on these Kohanim.
We, like Rabbi Shimon, have been in self-isolation in the caves of our own homes. With the easing of restrictions, we are starting to emerge. But we cannot come out of our caves the same as we went into them. An experience such as this, is supposed to provoke us to introspect and come out as better people.
Even though our confinement has only been for a couple of months, we can still take a lesson from Rabbi Shimon on what aspect of our lives this is supposed to impact.
Rabbi Shimon could not leave his cave for good until he had internalised the lesson of tolerance, love and compassion for a fellow Jew. He needed to realise that more important than one’s personal spiritual service and level, is the need to connect with others and to better the world and lives around us.
When we emerge, excited to go back to our Minyanim and shiurim with religious zeal and passion, we also need to come out more sensitised to the needs and feelings of others. We need to be less critical and fault-finding and actively look to see the good in everyone. We need to value our interactions with every person that we meet.
We also need to become more active in our contributions to the benefit of our community and to bettering the lives of those around us. To be willing to ‘put ourselves out’ to do a favour for someone else.
If every person in the world will leave their caves with the mindset of Rabbi Shimon, imagine what a world it will be. A Messianic world that is deserving of Moshiach.
Rabbi Yehuda praised the Romans for 3 things that they did for the benefit of the local Jewish population; building bathhouses, establishing marketplaces and building bridges. Rabbi Shimon argued that they only built these things for their own benefit; marketplaces for immoral activities, bathhouses for their own indulgence and bridges to collect taxes.
When the Roman authorities heard of Rabbi Shimon’s criticism, he and his son were forced to run away. They hid in a cave for 12 years until Eliyahu Hanovi tells them that it is safe to emerge.
They had spent 12 years in the cave, immersed in prayer and Torah study at the highest and deepest of levels, completely isolated from others. They did not suffer the worries of the world and had no involvements in physicality.
As a result, they had become so holy that they could not tolerate seeing simple Jews working the field instead of learning Torah. Wherever they set their sights, the fields would be consumed by fire.
A heavenly voice rebuked them “have you come out to destroy My world? go back to your cave!” They returned to their cave for another 12 months, emerging once again after a total of 13 years.
Whilst Rabbi Elozor was still fiery with zealousness, Rabbi Shimon no longer burned inside. He made peace with the fact that not everyone could be like him and his son. He recognised that the simple Jewish people were good, sincere and G-d fearing. He was no longer judgemental and critical and was able to focus on their goodness.
On his return Rabbi Shimon reasoned “because a miracle has been wrought for me, let me go and repair something.” The Gemara says that he learned this from Yaakov Avinu. After having been miraculously saved from Eisav, Yaakov went to do something of benefit for the city and inhabitants of Shchem.
Some say that he minted a coin for them, others say that he established marketplaces and a third opinion says that he built bathhouses for them
Note that these are connected to the 3 things that Rabbi Shimon had criticised the Romans for (the minted coins corresponds to the collection of taxes). But whereas they had done so for their own benefit, Yaakov was completely altruistic, devoting his time and energy to benefit others, even where he would have no benefit himself.
And this is what Rashbi did. He asked what he could do to fix something for the people of the town. They told him that there were unidentified graves somewhere along the main road. As a result, the Kohanim were inconvenienced, having to walk around. Rabbi Shimon bar Yochai set about rectifying this situation, to ease the burden on these Kohanim.
We, like Rabbi Shimon, have been in self-isolation in the caves of our own homes. With the easing of restrictions, we are starting to emerge. But we cannot come out of our caves the same as we went into them. An experience such as this, is supposed to provoke us to introspect and come out as better people.
Even though our confinement has only been for a couple of months, we can still take a lesson from Rabbi Shimon on what aspect of our lives this is supposed to impact.
Rabbi Shimon could not leave his cave for good until he had internalised the lesson of tolerance, love and compassion for a fellow Jew. He needed to realise that more important than one’s personal spiritual service and level, is the need to connect with others and to better the world and lives around us.
When we emerge, excited to go back to our Minyanim and shiurim with religious zeal and passion, we also need to come out more sensitised to the needs and feelings of others. We need to be less critical and fault-finding and actively look to see the good in everyone. We need to value our interactions with every person that we meet.
We also need to become more active in our contributions to the benefit of our community and to bettering the lives of those around us. To be willing to ‘put ourselves out’ to do a favour for someone else.
If every person in the world will leave their caves with the mindset of Rabbi Shimon, imagine what a world it will be. A Messianic world that is deserving of Moshiach.