Monday evening is the start of Lag b’Omer. This special day commemorates a number of important events in the history of the Jewish people. One of these is the revelation of Jewish mystical teachings by Rabbi Shimon bar Yochai (or Rashbi), who had fled from the Romans and spent a total of 13 years hiding in a cave with his son. As is well-known, the teachings that he revealed would later be expanded upon and compiled into the Zohar, the primary textbook of Kabbalah. What isn’t as well-known is that there are several other ancient texts attributed to Rashbi. Perhaps the most enigmatic is Nistarot d’Rabbi Shimon bar Yochai, the “concealed matters” or “secrets” of Rashbi.
Tag Archives: Year 6000
Are We Actually in the Year 6000?
The Torah portion that we read on the first day of Passover tells us that “the habitation of the children of Israel, that they dwelled in Egypt, was four hundred and thirty years.” (Exodus 12:40) The Torah makes it quite clear that the Israelites spent a total of 430 years residing in Egypt. However, the accepted tradition is that the Israelites only spent 210 years there. This is the number derived by counting up the ages of all the people from one generation to the next. However, it contradicts the peshat reading of the Torah. To make sense of this, the Sages offered various explanations. Continue reading