The Secret of the Even Shetiyah (Foundation Stone): The Power of Rabbi Shimon bar Yochai to Sweeten the Judgments
Lesson No. 141 | Wednesday, the eve of the 18th of Iyar, Parashas Behar - Lag BaOmer 5758
This article explains the secret of the immense power of the Divine Tanna, Rabbi Shimon bar Yochai, who serves as the Kohen Gadol (High Priest) entering the Holy of Holies to sweeten all the judgments from upon the Jewish people. This is achieved through the secrets of the Zohar and the mesirus nefesh (self-sacrifice) of Rashbi.
When a person enters the Holy of Holies, his sense of self is burned away. Nadav and Avihu were consumed by fire in the Holy of Holies, and only Moshe and Aharon were able to enter there. Rebbe Nachman of Breslov teaches (Likutey Moharan, Torah 61) that when a person is in the King's palace, he reaches the root of the Even Shetiyah (Foundation Stone). Traveling to Rabbi Shimon bar Yochai in Meron is a journey to the King's palace, to the Holy of Holies. Rashbi is the secret of the Even Shetiyah itself; he is the root of the Even Shetiyah.
During the time of the Holy Temple, the Kohen Gadol's entry into the Holy of Holies was not always effective in turning the crimson thread white and sweetening the judgments. Only Shimon HaTzaddik consistently succeeded in this. Hashem left us one Kohen Gadol who merited to sweeten all the judgments during his lifetime, leaving no harsh decrees behind. Today, this Kohen Gadol is Rabbi Shimon bar Yochai. He enters the Holy of Holies with all the prayers of the Jewish people, elevates them, and turns the crimson thread white.
Revealing the Secret of "Ayin" (Nothingness) and Nullification
Regarding this, it is stated in the Idra Rabba:
"Rabbi Shimon rejoiced and said: 'Hashem, I have heard of Your renown, and I am in awe.'"
Rabbi Shimon came to sweeten the entire matter of Rabbi Akiva's students. Rabbi Akiva expounded mountains upon mountains of halachos (Jewish laws) and revealed all the secrets in the world. He taught his students the great principle of the Torah: "Love your fellow as yourself," and he would constantly overlook offenses against him.
However, Rabbi Shimon bar Yochai, who was double the stature of Rabbi Akiva, revealed something entirely new. Rashbi revealed to a person: "I do not exist at all; I am simply nothing. I have not yet been born, I have not yet come into being, and I was never created at all." When one arrives at Rashbi in Meron, they realize that if a person has any sense of self, it is comprised solely of his sins, transgressions, and arrogance. Rashbi revealed that one simply needs to become a complete "Ayin" (nothingness). Through the holy Zohar, he revealed all the secrets of the Divine Name "Ehyeh Asher Ehyeh" (I Will Be What I Will Be), through which one can even fly in the air, because a person's entire reality in this world is only "Ehyeh Asher Ehyeh."
When Rashbi instilled this awareness in his students—that they do not exist at all and have not yet been created—a fire descended from heaven and surrounded him and all his disciples. This is the great joy of "Rabbi Shimon rejoiced."
The Yom Kippur of Lag BaOmer
Tzaddikim are greater after their passing than during their lifetimes. Rashbi is alive and enduring, and now he receives an entirely new, double portion of power to sweeten all the judgments and severities from upon us anew. Whoever has not found a shidduch (marriage match), whoever has not been blessed with viable offspring, whoever is ill—can be saved and experience a complete healing today. Lag BaOmer is a day even higher than Yom Kippur, because this Yom Kippur is orchestrated by Rabbi Shimon bar Yochai himself.
During the Second Temple era, there were more than three hundred Kohanim Gedolim, most of whom had to be dragged out of the Holy of Holies with chains. It is not enough for a person to be called a "Kohen Gadol"; he must truly be a Kohen Gadol, like Shimon HaTzaddik and Rabbi Shimon bar Yochai. They are the true High Priests who can turn the crimson thread white and elevate the prayers.
The night of Lag BaOmer is like the "Kol Nidrei" prayer. All sins are erased; all vows, oaths, bans, and penalties are annulled. Everything a person cursed himself or others with—everything is sweetened and forgiven. Millions of sins that a person committed from the day of his birth and throughout all his reincarnations, including the sin of the Tree of Knowledge, are atoned for when traveling to the Kohen Gadol who turns the crimson thread white.
The Root of Souls and Reaching Nullification
Hundreds of thousands of Jews travel to Rashbi every year, and the number only continues to grow. No one can understand this with human intellect. The reason for this is that the tzaddik is the root of all souls. Every soul is merely an infinite particle of the soul of the tzaddik, who encompasses all the worlds and Sefiros (Divine emanations).
Rebbe Nachman explains (Likutey Moharan, Torah 55) that when one travels to the tzaddik, they are literally traveling to the Holy of Holies, to the Even Shetiyah (Foundation Stone). When arriving at the King's palace, a person becomes completely nullified. His sense of self dissolves, and he realizes that there is nothing here but the King Himself. As Rabbi Nosson of Breslov brings down (Hilchos Tzedakah), "There is none besides Him; the whole earth is filled with His glory." If a person knows that he is a 'no,' that he does not exist and was never anything—then he sees that 'the whole earth is filled with His glory.' He sees only Hashem, may He be blessed, and the Holy Names of Havayah.
The Holiness of the Land of Israel and the Self-Sacrifice of the Tzaddikim
The Land of Israel and Jerusalem are the Holy of Holies, and within them lies the tikkun (rectification) of all the worlds and souls. However, in order to receive the holiness of the Land of Israel and remain there, one must reach an entirely new level of nullification at every single moment. How can a person reach a state where he says, "I do not exist," while he still sees his hands, his feet, and the world around him?
The Kohen Gadol achieved this. Rashbi buried himself in the sand inside a cave for thirteen years until all his skin peeled off, fulfilling within himself, "And let my soul be like dust to all." His son, Rabbi Elazar son of Rabbi Shimon, accepted upon himself terrible afflictions. Every night, he would invite the suffering, calling out to them: "My brothers and friends, come." His wife had to remove sixty basins of blood from under his bed every night and change sixty bedsheets.
The true tzaddik takes upon himself the suffering of all generations, until the end of all generations. Through this suffering, he reaches a wondrous state of bitul (self-nullification), which allows him to enter the Holy of Holies and receive the light of the Ein Sof (Infinite).
Moshe Rabbeinu, the Sin of the Golden Calf, and the Secret of the "Atika Kadisha"
The greater the tzaddik, the more obstacles he faces in reaching the Land of Israel and attaining this bitul. The Vilna Gaon, the Baal Shem Tov, and Rabbi Naftali Katz did not merit to reach the Land of Israel.
It is brought down in the book Semichas Chachamim on the verse, "You ascended on high, you took captives (shavita shevi)": When Moshe Rabbeinu ascended on high to receive the Tablets, he could not receive them in any way until he joined to himself the soul of Rabbi Shimon bar Yochai, which is hinted at in the word "shevi" (an acronym for Shimon Bar Yochai).
At the exact second that Hashem handed the Tablets to Moshe, the Jewish people finished making the Golden Calf. Hashem held onto two handbreadths of the Tablets from above, and Moshe held onto two handbreadths from below (and the entire length of the Tablets was six handbreadths). Hashem wanted to take the Tablets out of Moshe's hands and pull them back up, while Moshe hung onto them with all his might and pulled them down.
The Jerusalem Talmud (Taanis, Chapter 4) states that Moshe's hand overpowered Hashem's hand. How is this possible? Hashem revealed Himself at that time in the aspect of Zeir Anpin (the attribute of strict judgment), but Moshe Rabbeinu, through his self-sacrifice and his absolute self-nullification to the Ayin (Divine Nothingness), ascended to a higher level called Atika Kadisha (the Holy Ancient One). In *Atika Kadisha*, there is no left side and no judgments; everything is the right side and pure mercy. From there, Moshe Rabbeinu drew down three hundred jugs of the oil of mercy (*tlas me'ah garvei d'meshcha*) in order to sweeten the judgment from upon the Jewish people.
The Humility of Moshe Rabbeinu
Moshe Rabbeinu merited to reach this level because he was lowlier in his own eyes than a person afflicted with boils. The Midrash (Yalkut Shimoni) describes that Moshe was lowlier in his own eyes even than people whose limbs were falling off from severe illness.
Moshe Rabbeinu attained all levels of humility and self-nullification (the aspect of "Mah" - "What are we?"). He truly and sincerely felt that everyone was more of a tzaddik than him. Out of immense compassion, he ran to the tents of Korach, Dassan, and Aviram and said to them: "Korach the tzaddik, Dassan and Aviram the tzaddikim, you were holy and pure at Mount Sinai!" Moshe knew that he was infinitely worse than everyone else.
When a person knows that he is infinitely worse, he understands that any wisdom or intellect he possesses is solely a free gift from Hashem. He does not think he is better than his friend because he prays better or has less of an evil inclination. This realization, this absolute self-nullification, is something only the true tzaddik knows how to instill within us, and that is why we travel to him.
Part 2 of 3 — Lesson No. 141