Simeon bar Yochai

Shimon ben Yohai (Hebrew שמעון בן יוחאי; well Shimon bar Yochai, in Mishnah and easy Baraita R. Simon; Yochai is the abbreviation of Johanan, and the short name Rashbi happens) was a Tannait the so-called third (after the other fourth) generation.

He lived in the second century AD Z. and was a student of Rabbi Akiva in Bnei Brak, although Akiba initially did not want to accept as a pupil him because Shimon's father had at the time of the Bar Kochba revolt supported the Roman side.

According to legend, Rabbi Simon joined later on against the Romans and held, condemned by these to death, with his son Rabbi Eleazar hid 13 years in a cave, where she constantly studied the Torah. After the death of Emperor Hadrian, he went to Rome and healed them there the imperial princess from a serious illness. Thus he obtained at the abolition of the Emperor Antoninus Hadrian Jewish laws.

From Shimon ben Yohai, there are no written records, there are however some works attributed to him:

• Sifre, an exegetical midrash for the 4th and 5th book Book of Moses
• Mechilta, a midrash on the book of Exodus (abbreviation: MRS)
• It was believed for some time that he had the Zohar dictated to his pupils. Today it is rather the view of the author of the Zohar was Moses de Leon in the 13th century. In Orthodox Judaism Rabbi Shimon ben Yohai is still considered the author of the Zohar.

Rabbi Simon was a teacher of Judah ha - Nasi.

Shimon's tomb is located in Meron in Galilee, near Safed. It is a pilgrimage site for Jewish pilgrims and in particular on 18 Iyar, the traditional date of death of Shimon, visited. This is at the same time lag baomer, the festival on the 33rd day after Passover.

Others

The lawyer and " chronicler in the Jewish style " Christoph Gottlieb Richter (1717 - 1774) used for one of his historical works the pseudonym Simeon ben Yohai.