Pt1 R’ Shimon’s Flight from the Romans, Hiding, and Return: A Story of Persecution, Miracles, and Retribution (Shabbat 33b-34a)
Appendix: Five Divine Punishments of Twelve Months' Duration (Mishnah Eduyot 2:10)
This is the first part of a two-part series. The outline for the series is below.1
Outline
Hiding in the Study Hall; Fleeing to the Cave
Years of Study in the Cave
Elijah Announces Their Safety Due to the Death of the Roman emperor; Emerging and Burning the World; Divine Rebuke
Return to the Cave; Second Emergence and Moderation
A Fragrant Testament: An Elderly Man’s Myrtle Bundles in Honor of Shabbat Reaffirm R’ Shimon’s Faith in the Jewish People
The Price of Greatness: R’ Pineḥas ben Ya’ir’s Tears and R’ Shimon’s Painful Path to Mastery
Part 1: R’ Pineḥas ben Ya’ir’s Tearful Tending to R’ Shimon’s Cracked Skin
Part 2: The Cost of Scholarly Greatness: R’ Pineḥas ben Ya’ir’s Lament and R’ Shimon’s Rise to Intellectual Mastery Through Suffering
R’ Shimon’s Miraculous Gratitude: Resolving Ritual Impurity, Confronting Skepticism, and Enforcing Scholarly Unity with Lethal Authority
Part 1: R’ Shimon’s Grateful Response to Divine Miracles: Seeking to Alleviate the Priests’ Burden by Resolving a Site’s Uncertain Impurity Status
Part 2: R’ Shimon’s Methodical Investigation into the Site’s Ritual Purity: Unearthing Historical Testimony, Examining the Soil, and Restoring Clarity for the Priests
Part 3: R’ Shimon’s Confrontation with the Skeptical Elder: Defending His Ruling, Emphasizing Scholarly Cooperation, and Delivering a Fatal Rebuke
Fatal Revenge on Yehuda “Descendant of Converts”
Appendix: Five Divine Punishments of Twelve Months' Duration (Mishnah Eduyot 2:10)
The Passage
Hiding in the Study Hall; Fleeing to the Cave
R' Shimon (fl. early- to mid-2nd century CE) and his son, R' Elazar, initially hid in the study hall,2 where R' Shimon’s wife secretly brought them bread (ריפתא) and a jug (כוזא) of water every day.
When the persecution3 intensified, fearing that his wife might betray them under torture (מצערי)—since “women are light-minded“4—R' Shimon and his son fled to a cave.5
אזל הוא ובריה, טשו בי מדרשא.
כל יומא,
הוה מתיא להו דביתהו ריפתא וכוזא דמיא,
וכרכי.
כי תקיף גזירתא,
אמר ליה לבריה:
נשים דעתן קלה עליהן,
דילמא מצערי לה, ומגליא לן.
אזלו טשו במערתא.
R' Shimon bar Yoḥai and his son, R' Elazar, went and hid in the study hall.
Every day
R' Shimon’s wife would bring them bread and a jug of water
and they would eat.
When the decree intensified,
R' Shimon said to his son:
Women are easily impressionable
and, therefore, there is room for concern lest the authorities torture her and she reveal our whereabouts.
They went and they hid in a cave.
Years of Study in the Cave
A miracle provided them with a carob (חרובא) tree and a spring (עינא דמיא) for sustenance.
They would sit naked in sand up to their necks, studying6 all day.
For prayer (צלויי), they dressed, then removed their clothes again, to prevent the clothing from wearing out (ליבלו).
They remained in the cave for twelve years.
איתרחיש ניסא --
איברי להו חרובא ועינא דמיא,
והוו משלחי מנייהו,
והוו יתבי עד צוארייהו בחלא.
כולי יומא גרסי.
בעידן צלויי --
לבשי מיכסו, ומצלו,
והדר משלחי מנייהו,
כי היכי דלא ליבלו.
איתיבו תריסר שני במערתא.
A miracle occurred
and a carob tree was created for them as well as a spring of water.
They would remove their clothes
and sit covered in sand up to their necks.
They would study Torah all day in that manner.
At the time of prayer,
they would dress, cover themselves, and pray,
and they would again remove their clothes afterward
so that they would not become tattered.
They sat in the cave for twelve years.
Elijah Announces Their Safety Due to the Death of the Roman emperor; Emerging and Burning the World; Divine Rebuke
Elijah appeared at the entrance of the cave, announcing that the Roman emperor (קיסר) had died and the persecutions had ended (בטיל).
Upon leaving the cave, they saw people engaged in agricultural work and were angered by their neglect of Torah study. The exclaimed: “[People] set aside (מניחין) eternal life7 and engage in temporal life?!“
Whatever they “set their eyes on"8 burned.
A bat kol (Divine Voice) rebuked them for destroying the world and ordered them back into the cave.
אתא אליהו וקם אפיתחא דמערתא,
אמר: מאן לודעיה לבר יוחי דמית קיסר, ובטיל גזירתיה?!
נפקו,
חזו אינשי דקא כרבי וזרעי,
אמרין: מניחין חיי עולם, ועוסקין בחיי שעה?!
כל מקום שנותנין עיניהן, מיד נשרף.
יצתה בת קול, ואמרה להם:
להחריב עולמי יצאתם?!
חיזרו למערתכם!
Elijah the Prophet came and stood at the entrance to the cave
and said: Who will inform bar Yoḥai that the emperor died and his decree has been abrogated?!
They emerged from the cave,
and saw people who were plowing and sowing.
R' Shimon bar Yoḥai said: These people abandon eternal life of Torah study and engage in temporal life?!
The Gemara relates that every place that R' Shimon and his son R' Elazar directed their eyes was immediately burned.
A Divine Voice emerged and said to them:
Did you emerge from the cave in order to destroy My world?!
Return to your cave!
Return to the Cave; Second Emergence and Moderation
As per the bat kol’s command, they returned to the cave where they remained for twelve more months, equating their punishment to the maximum time for sinners in Gehenna.9
They emerged again, but this time, R' Shimon “healed” (מסי) what his son R' Elazar “hit” (מחי).
R' Shimon told his son that their Torah learning alone sufficed for the world.10
הדור, אזול
איתיבו תריסר ירחי שתא.
אמרי: משפט רשעים בגיהנם שנים עשר חדש.
יצתה בת קול ואמרה: צאו ממערתכם!
נפקו.
כל היכא דהוה מחי רבי אלעזר, הוה מסי רבי שמעון.
אמר לו:
בני!
די לעולם אני ואתה.
They again went
and sat there for twelve months.
They said: The judgment of the wicked in Gehenna lasts for twelve months. Surely their sin was atoned in that time.
A Divine Voice emerged and said to them: Emerge from your cave!
They emerged.
Everywhere that R' Elazar would strike, R' Shimon would heal.
R' Shimon said to R' Elazar:
My son!
You and I suffice for the entire world, as the two of us are engaged in the proper study of Torah.
I recently analyzed the introductory story in this sugya, see here, section “Appendix 2 - The Price of Speech: R' Yehuda, R' Yosei, and R' Shimon's Fateful Debate on Roman Rule (Shabbat 33b)”
בי מדרשא - beth midrash.
גזירתא - literally: “decrees”. I.e. of Jews in Eretz Yisrael, by the Romans, in the aftermath of the Bar Kokhba revolt (i.e. after 135 CE).
נשים דעתן קלה עליהן.
See Hebrew Wikipedia, “נשים דעתן קלה“, that this idea is used elsewhere in the Talmud, my translation:
In Tractate Kiddushin (Kiddushin.80b.5), the expression appears once more, attributed to "Tanna Devei Eliyahu", as an explanation of the Mishnah's ruling prohibiting a man from being secluded (=yichud) even with multiple women, in contrast to a woman, who is permitted to be alone with multiple men.
The entry there explains, my translation:
Rashi [in tractate Kiddushin, ibid.] explained: “Because [women’s] minds are light, and both [women] are easily swayed; neither will fear the other, as she too will act in the same manner.” […]
Interpretation
According to its straightforward meaning, as inferred from the context in Tractate Shabbat, the expression “nashim da'atan kala” (“women’s minds are light”) refers to the notion that women have less resilience in the face of pressure and suffering. This was the concern of R’ Shimon, who feared that his wife might reveal his hiding place, even though she knew it would seal his fate with a death sentence.
Some have interpreted the expression to mean that a woman's mind is "light" in the sense of being easily moved—meaning that even after she has firmly decided on something, she is more easily persuaded to change her stance, in contrast to men, who, once they have made a decision, are more difficult to sway.
Likely one of the many caves in the Judean Desert, near the Dead Sea.
See Wikipedia, “Judaean Desert“, section “Jewish–Roman Wars“:
During the latter phase of the Bar Kokhba revolt, Jewish refugees and their families escaped to refuge caves, especially following the fall of Betar in 135 CE. Many of these caves were found nestled in the deep ravines of the Judaean Desert, near intermittent streams.
As of 2019, over 30 refuge caves have been discovered in the Judaean Desert, including […] the Cave of Letters (where the letters Simon bar Kokhba wrote to the residents of En Gedi and the Babatha archive were discovered) in Nahal Hever, and three caves in Tze'elim Stream.
The Judaean Desert is connected with early forms of Christian monasticism. There are examples of Desert Fathers and Desert Mothers and a number of other influential Christian figures, some of which spent much of their lives in the desert as hermits or as members of monastic communities of the lavra or the cenobium type, or on the fringe of the desert in or near settled places such as Bethlehem and Jerusalem, but are still considered to belong to the same monastic environment.
On this specific story of R’ Shimon hiding in the cave, see Hebrew Wikipedia, “רבי שמעון בר יוחאי“, section “הסתתרותו במערה“, my translation:
The story of [R’ Shimon] hiding in the cave appears in different versions in the Babylonian Talmud, the Jerusalem Talmud, and also in midrashic texts […]
Due to the fact that the story of hiding in the cave is mentioned in no fewer than seven sources in rabbinic literature, there is broad scholarly consensus that the story is based on historical events rather than being purely literary […]
Some have speculated that the Roman emperor in question was Antoninus Pius, who died in 161 CE, implying that R’ Shimon emerged from the cave (for the second time) around 162 CE, a year after the emperor's death, when Marcus Aurelius and Lucius Verus ascended to power.
However, based on several sources, most scholars date the event earlier, to the reign of Emperor Hadrian, during the period of the Bar Kokhba revolt.
גרסי - i.e. studying Torah.
חיי עולם - i.e. of Torah study.
The Talmud often contrasts “eternal life”—referring to Torah study—with “temporal life” (חיי שעה), referring to anything that isn’t Torah study, including prayer.
See Hebrew Wikitionary on the meaning of the latter—”temporal life” (חיי שעה):
[…B]ehavior that focuses solely on the present.
[…] A life that is in danger, whose imminent end is certain.
See my Appendix to this series (in the next part), for the mishnaic source of this line.
An example of rabbinic elitism. On this, see at length my series “Rabbinic Elitism and the Am Ha’aretz: Hierarchy, Hostility, Hatred, and Distrust (Pesachim 49b)“, final part here. And see my extended intro there, at the beginning of Part 1 of that series.
See a similar elitist idea, also by R’ Shimon, in tractate Sukka. And compare my previous pieces on the elitist statements of Ben Zoma, see my note here, on the statement “The entire world was created solely as companionship for this [Torah scholar]” and “the blessing of “Blessed…Knower of secrets (חכם הרזים)“.