Bar-Yochai, Happy is the Nation that Learns From You, Rabbi Dov Begon
Excerpts;
Rabbi Shimon Bar-Yochai merited this stature by virtue of self-sacrifice. He was ready to exempt the whole world from divine punishment through his suffering, like loving parents who are ready to suffer so that their children don’t have to (see Succah 45b). Rabbi Shimon Bar-Yochai particularly felt the pain of the Jewish People and of Eretz Yisrael. He couldn’t bear to have a foreign nation, the Romans, ruling over the People and the Land of Israel; and he spoke to the Roman’s detriment. As a result, the Romans pursued him and wished to kill him, and he was forced to hide in a cave for twelve years with his son.
Rabbi Shimon Bar-Yochai’s self-sacrifice for the People and Land of Israel stemmed from his clear faith in and recognition of Israel’s essence and purpose, as well as of the meaning of Jewish rule over Eretz Yisrael for the Jewish People and for all mankind. Not only Rabbi Shimon Bar-Yochai understood and recognized the connection between the People and Land of Israel, but all the mystics who followed and who continue to follow in his path, such as Rabbi Yehuda HaLevi, Ramban, the Arizal, Ramchal, the disciples of the Baal Shem Tov and of the Vilna Gaon, and others who exhibited self-sacrifice for Eretz Yisrael, coming here despite the great dangers and hardships involved.
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