Rabbi Shimon ben Yochai and the day of Lag B’Omer

This is an audio lesson (5:08) on the life of Rabbi Shimon ben (or bar) Yochai. Rabbi Shimon was one of the outstanding Talmudic sages. He lived after the destruction of the Second Temple by the Romans. He was renown as a great miracle worker. There are many stories about this, including one that came through his expounding on Psalm 133.

In addition, he is famous as the author of the holy kabbalistic book of Zohar. He revealed those teachings on the day of his passing, which was the 33rd day of counting the Omer (Lag b’Omer). Before he passed away, he commanded that this day should be honored with great happiness and celebration.

Audio file: https://asknoah.org/wp-content/uploads/rabbi-shimon-ben-yochai.mp3

The book Who’s Who in the Talmud has short biographic information about all the Sages who are mentioned in the Talmud.