Tonight will mark Lag Ba’Omer. This is a day of joy in honor of the great Tanna, Rabbi Shimon bar Yochai. Let us therefore discuss some things Maran Rabbeinu Ovadia Yosef zt”l would customarily speak about on Lag Ba’Omer.
Our Sages taught in Pirkei Avot (Chapter 4), “Rabbi Shimon bar Yochai says: There are three crowns: The crown of Torah, the crown of Kehunah, and the crown of kingdom. The Gemara (Yoma 72b) discusses something similar to the aforementioned teaching of Rabbi Shimon. The Gemara there states that there were three crowns in the Bet Hamikdash: The crown surrounding the Mizbe’ach (altar), the crown surrounding the Shulchan (table), and the crown surrounding the Aron (holy ark). The crown around the Mizbe’ach represents the Kehunah which Aharon Ha’Kohen and his children merited receiving, as the Torah states, “And it shall be for him and for his offspring after him as an everlasting covenant of Kehunah.” The crown around the Shulchan represent kingdom which King David merited receiving, as the verse states, “His offspring shall endure forever and his throne as the sin before Me. It shall be established forever as the moon and be steadfast as the witness in the sky, Selah.” The crown around the Aron represents the Torah which was not claimed by any one person specifically; rather, it is designated for the entire Jewish nation and whoever wishes to claim it may come forward and do so.
If one believes that the crown of Torah is less important than the other two crowns which Aharon and David received, this is incorrect, for the verse states, “By me kings reign; by me princes rules.” This means that there is no greater level than that of the Torah. Our Sages (Horayot 13a) have taught us that even a Mamzer (child born from an illicit union) who is a Torah scholar takes precedence over a Kohen Gadol who is an ignoramus. This is hinted in the verses themselves, for regarding the Mizbe’ach and Shulchan, the Torah states, “And you shall make for it a golden crown all around” while with regards to the Aron, the Torah states, “And you shall make upon it a golden crown all around” in order to hint that the crown of Torah is above all other crowns.
The Gemara (Yoma 71b) recounts that once, a Kohen Gadol exited the Bet Hamikdash on Yom Kippur while Shamaya and Avtalyon (who were of the greatest Tannaim and leading Torah luminaries of the generation but happened to have been converts who descended from Sanheriv, King of Assyria) happened to have been present. When the entire congregation realized they were there, they all crowded around them in order to greet them and left the Kohen Gadol alone.
Eventually, Shemaya and Avtalyon came to the Kohen Gadol in order to request his permission for them to return home. The Kohen Gadol who was extremely insulted by what had transpired replied to them with contempt, “May the descendants of the nations of the world come in peace.” They replied to him, “It is better for the descendants of the nations of the world who pursue the legacy of Aharon, who loved peace and chased peace, to come in peace, and not the son of Aharon to come in peace when he does not pursue the legacy of Aharon!” They meant that Shemaya and Avtalyon who did not have the most impressive lineage and were righteous converts but followed the path of Aharon took precedence over someone descending from Aharon who acted in a way contrary to Aharon’s actions.
Indeed, the Jewish nation did the correct thing by showing honor to the Torah by respecting Shemaya and Avtalyon and not the Kohen Gadol. They derived this from the teaching of Rabbi Shimon bar Yochai that the crown of Torah surpasses the crowns of Kehunah and kingdom, for there is nothing more precious than the Torah and nothing can ever equal it.
Rabbi Shimon bar Yochai’s intense love of the Torah brought him to a great level of love for the Jewish nation as well. The Midrash recounts that a certain woman from Tzidon was married to her husband for ten years and was unable to conceive. The couple came before Rabbi Shimon bar Yochai and they wished to divorce. Rabbi Shimon told them, “Just as you married one another amid eating and drinking, so too, shall you separate from one another through eating and drinking!” They heeded the words of Rabbi Shimon and they made a grand festive meal to mark the occasion. The wife gave her husband a large amount of wine to drink. The husband told the wife, “My dear wife, take the most valuable object in my house with you and go back to your father’s home!” When her husband eventually fell asleep, she told her servants to carry her husband in his bed and place him in her father’s house. When the effects of the wine wore off in the middle of the night and the husband awoke, he became startled and asked his wife, “Where am I?” She replied, “In my father’s home.” He then asked, “What am I doing in your father’s house?” She told him, “Last night, you told me to take the most valuable object in your house with me to my father’s house and there is nothing more valuable to me than you!” The next day, they returned to Rabbi Shimon bar Yochai and he proceeded to pray for them and the woman eventually bore children. (See Ma’or Yisrael, Derushim, page 161)
May the great merit of Rabbi Shimon benefit us all and may we merit seeing him with the Resurrection of the Dead and the Ultimate Redemption, speedily and in our days, Amen.
