Why carob? Why bar? This year's thought on Lag B'Omer

Add chttps://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/b/be/Garroves.JPGaption

I've posted about Lag B'Omer topics a few times. See https://kallahmagazine.blogspot.com/2014/05/counting-by-12s-and-lag-bomer.html
https://kallahmagazine.blogspot.com/2016/05/hadassim-for-shabbos-thoughts-for-lag.html


You should definitely read all of them. I'll only recap the essence of the story as background for my musings this year. The cave story of Rav Shimon Bar Yochai that is recounted in
Shabbat 33b (the number that corresponds to Lag B'Omer). In the past I've begun the story from going into hiding, but this year I'll add the cause that is also in the Gemara's account:

An incident that took place when Rabbi Yehuda and Rabbi Yosei and Rabbi Shimon were sitting, and Yehuda, son of converts, sat beside them. Rabbi Yehuda opened and said: "How pleasant are the actions of this nation, the Romans, as they established marketplaces, established bridges, and established bathhouses."

 Rabbi Yosei was silent. 

Rabbi Shimon ben Yoḥai responded and said: "Everything that they established, they established only for their own purposes. They established marketplaces, to place prostitutes in them; bathhouses, to pamper themselves; and bridges, to collect taxes from all who pass over them."

Yehuda, son of converts, went and related their statements to his household, and those statements continued to spread until they were heard by the monarchy. 

They ruled and said: "Yehuda, who elevated the Roman regime, shall be elevated and appointed as head of the Sages, the head of the speakers in every place. Yosei, who remained silent, shall be exiled from his home in Judea as punishment, and sent to the city of Tzippori in the Galilee. And Shimon, who denounced the government, shall be killed."

[I hear echoes here of the MIdrashic account of  Pharoah's 3 advisors that I recounted here https://kallahmagazine.blogspot.com/2010/12/divrei-chaim-time-to-cry-out.html. It goes without saying that R' Shimon did regard it as his civic duty under a mistaken application of dina demalchusa dina, which is in fact limited to monetary issues, to turn himself in and be executed. Instead...]

R' Shimon went into hiding along with his son, Elazar. Seeing that so long as anyone knew where they were, they would still be in serious danger, they went to cave. With no other food, they subsisted on the fruit of the carob tree that miraculously grew there and drank water from a stream. They spent all their time -- for the duration of 12 years - immersed in Torah study.
At the end of that time, Eliyahu came and stood at the entrance to the cave and exclaimed, "Who will inform the son of Yochai that the emperor is dead and his decree annulled?" So they emerged. Seeing people engaged in farming, they exclaimed, "They forsake eternal life for temporal life!" Whatever they cast their eyes on would burn. 

Thereupon a Heavenly voice came forth and cried out, "Have you emerged to destroy My world: Return to your cave!"

So they returned and stayed twelve more months, saying, "The punishment of the wicked in Gehenom is [limited to] twelve months." At the end of that time, a Heavenly voice proclaimed, "Go forth from your cave!"
They went out. Where his son would wound, R' Shimon would heal. He explained, "My son. you and I are sufficient for the world."

On the eve of the Sabbath before sunset they saw an old man holding two bundles of myrtle and running at twilight. What are these for?' they asked him. 'They are in honor of the Sabbath,' he replied. "Would not one suffice? " The man answered, "One is for zachor and one is for shamor." Then R' Shimon declared to his son, "'See how precious are the commandments to Israel!'"

There's a lot to unpack here, as some people are fond of saying, and I did explore some of the issues in the blog posts listed on top. For this year, I was thinking about how extended isolation can make people feel less empathetic to their fellow human beings who are out in the world doing the work that sustains society that cannot subsist on miraculous carob. 

But I was also thinking about carob. Why carob, of all things? I also thought there has to be something to it in light of the declaration attributed to G-d about a measure of carob sufficing for R' Chanina ben Dosa. I raised these questions in my family, and am fortunate enough to have a very learned husband and son who did look into it. 

My son dug this interesting thing up on carob, better in original Hebrew here: http://www.daat.ac.il/daat/kitveyet/emunat/10/01004.htm, though you can also read it in English with some minor translation errors here http://www.daat.ac.il/daat/kitveyet/emunat/10/01004.htm 

I won't copy the whole thing, but do check it out. My only additional observation is that to have Choni ha'ma'agal linked to the 70 years, of course, is a perfect lead-in to his Rip Van Winkle experience. 

Aside from the carob, I was thinking about why the Rashbi is called bar Yochai and not ben Yochai. Both my husband and son found answers to that. I've copied the source that quotes it below that should make you have greater appreciation for the term bar mitzvah from http://ladaat.info/showgil.aspx?par=20200509&gil=226:

One more blog of interest for R' Shimon is https://kallahmagazine.blogspot.com/2018/03/thoughts-on-r-yishmael-and-r-shimon-bar.html:

See the dispute betweeteen R' Shimon and R' Yishmael in Brachos 35b.


אמר אביי הרבה עשו כרבי ישמעאל ועלתה בידן כר' שמעון בן יוחי ולא עלתה בידן

Summing up this dispute, Abaye said: Although there is room for both opinions, many have acted in accordance with the opinion of Rabbi Yishmael, and combined working for a living and learning Torah, and although they engaged in activities other than the study of Torah, were successful in their Torah study. Many have acted in accordance with the opinion of Rabbi Shimon ben Yoḥai and were not successful in their Torah study. They were ultimately forced to abandon their Torah study altogether.

In short, yes, there were a very select few that could live up to R' Shimon's ideal of not putting any time into earning a livelihood. but those were the EXCEPTION to the general rule, which is exactly what I have observed in my own lifetime: most fail at this and have to change direction.

***What's particularly interesting about Abaye's psak in this case is that it seems to be based on a scientific approach. We have two hypotheses about cause and effect presented by two rabbis. Instead of the third one being machria based on his own judgment about what makes sense to him in interpreting the verses, he basically puts it to the test. He observes what happens in general to those who follow the Torah only regimen vs. what happens to those who follow the balanced diet regimen. After tallying the results, he very scientifically concludes that even though both theories have merit, from a practical standpoint one works better for most people. ***

I'll now add this footnote: there may be an  ideal, but if it is something that people will fail at, it's not a feasible direction to enforce or demand. The sign of true leadership is not forcing a path on people that they are not suited for but defining a way for them to do the best possible within their capacity in a sustainable way. Hamevin yavin.

Like and follow on Facebook https://www.facebook.com/KallahMagazine/