Rabbi Sari and I both recently attended a virtual course through the Hadar Institute (a wonderful egalitarian Jewish education organization) around themes of reopening and reunion that are found in our Torah and other sacred texts. I was so grateful to have the opportunity to revisit the Talmudic story of Rabbi Shimon Bar Yochai—a man who spent many years in isolation—and to read it in a new light after 14+ months of pandemic seclusion and disjointed living. Here is an excerpt from Rabbi Shimon’s story, as taught to us by Rabbi Tali Adler:
Shimon bar Yochai spent 12 years in a cave dwelling in reclusion with only his son as a companion. After he re-emerged from his cave, Rabbi Pinchas ben Yair heard of his return and went to greet him. He brought Rabbi Shimon to the bathhouse to tend to his skin, because it had been terribly cracked and damaged from the dark and dry environment of the cave. Rabbi Pinchas began to cry, tears falling from his eyes at the sight of Rabbi Shimon’s great physical pain. Rabbi Pinchas said to him: “Woe is me, that I have to see you like this, my friend, with such wounds from your time in isolation!” But to his surprise, Rabbi Shimon responded, “Happy you should be to see me like this, for if you had not seen me this way, you would not have found me at all.” (Babylonian Talmud, Shabbat 34a)
I love Rabbi Shimon’s response to his friend Rabbi Pinchas: better for you to see me with all of my cracks and scars than to not see me at all, and also, these scars are a part of me now and you cannot truly know me again as a whole person without acknowledging them. It is a gift to truly be able to see another person, to acknowledge what they have been through, to bear witness to their vulnerability and their pain. We are all marked with spiritual, emotional, and physical scabs after these past fourteen months—wounds of boredom, loss, and longing. May we allow ourselves to be like Rabbi Shimon, wearing our vulnerability as our strength. And may we also be like Rabbi Pinchas, acknowledging the toll this year has taken on our loved ones and ourselves. Together, may they inspire and guide us to and through our increasing opportunities for meaningful reconnection and restoration as a holy community.
— Cantor Emma Lutz