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

1. This is an audio lesson on the life of Rabbi Shimon ben (or bar) Yochai. Rabbi Shimon was one of the most outstanding Talmudic sages. He lived after the destruction of the Second Temple by the Romans. He was also renown as a great miracle worker, and there are many stories about his miracles.

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 also the 33rd day of the Omer. Before he passed away, he commanded the Jewish people to honor this day of Lag B’Omer with happiness and celebration.

The reading is from Who’s Who in the Talmud. It has short biographic information about all the Sages mentioned in the Talmud.

2. This reading by the Director of Ask Noah of a talk by the Lubavitcher Rebbe explains that Rabbi Shimon’s teachings focused on unity. For example, he is famous for expounding on Psalms 133:1, “How good and how pleasant it is for brothers to sit together”.

Audio lessons from Rabbi Nachman Simon:

3. Lag B’Omer is also the anniversary of the passing of Rabbi Shimon bar Yochai:

4. Kabbalistic teachings from Rabbi Shimon stress the importance of improving the spiritual level of the world:

5. Miraculously, the plague on Rabbi Akiva’s 24000 students stopped on Lag B’Omer. Only five of them did not die in the plague, including Rabbi Shimon.