Meron
You are looking at the remains of the ancient synagogue in Meron, the burial place of Rabbi Shimon Bar Yochai, also known as the Rashbi. Rabbi Shimon is often quoted in the Talmud but is ultimately known as the author of the Zohar, according to Kabbalistic traditions. The Zohar holds the foremost place in kabbalistic writings and is the leading source for almost all later authoritative Kabbalistic teachings.
Thousands of Orthodox Jews make a yearly pilgrimage to Meron on the yahrzeit of the Rashbi. The day is better known as Lag b’Omer, the 33rd day of the Omer count as stated in Leviticus 23:15-16:
"You shall count for yourselves, from the morrow of the rest day, from the day when you bring the Omer that is waved, they shall be seven complete weeks, until the morrow of the seventh week, you are to count fifty days and then offer a new meal-offering to the L-rd."
Ancient Synagogue in Meron
Credit: Bukvoed, CC BY 3.0 <https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0>, via Wikimedia Commons
The Zohar with the Tree of Life
Image: AnaRina Kreisman
Overview
Ancient Synagogue in Meron, burial place of Rabbi Shimon Bar Yochai (Rashbi). Rabbi Shimon is often quoted in the Talmud.
The Rashbi is better known as the author of the Zohar, according to Kabbalistic traditions. The Zohar holds the foremost place in kabbalistic writings and is the leading source for almost all later authoritative Kabbalistic teachings.
In the Bible
"You shall count for yourselves, from the morrow of the rest day, from the day when you bring the Omer that is waved, they shall be seven complete weeks, until the morrow of the seventh week, you are to count fifty days and then offer a new meal-offering to the L-rd."
וּסְפַרְתֶּם לָכֶם, מִמָּחֳרַת הַשַּׁבָּת, מִיּוֹם הֲבִיאֲכֶם, אֶת-עֹמֶר הַתְּנוּפָה: שֶׁבַע שַׁבָּתוֹת, תְּמִימֹת תִּהְיֶינָה.
עַד מִמָּחֳרַת הַשַּׁבָּת הַשְּׁבִיעִת, תִּסְפְּרוּ חֲמִשִּׁים יוֹם; וְהִקְרַבְתֶּם מִנְחָה חֲדָשָׁה, לַהי
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