May 4, 2021
pleading ignorance
I know I am late to the game on this, but it is time for a comment.
Shortly after the Meron tragedy, this excerpt from the Zohar, from the Idra Rabba, got passed around..
This piece of Zohar has become a point of contention, to some extent.
Initially it was passed around with the explanation that it refers to a conversation between Elijah the Prophet and Rabbi Shimon bar Yochai, in which, briefly, Rabbi Shimon says 45 people will die on his yahrtzeit as he protects the masses from far worse. Or something like that.
A bit later this was followed up with some opposition, claiming that those who initially passed it around are preying on people's ignorance, as it says nothing like what was claimed. It refers to a conversation between Elijah and Rabbbi Shimon but is about Elijah killing 45 Roman guards, or something like that.
Honestly, I have no idea what it says. I never did well with Zohar. I find it overly cryptic, and even when I can make out what the words say I usually have no idea what they mean.
My point is that I am super impressed that so many people, both rabbis and lay people, are such experts in the Zohar, even in just translating it and understanding it on a basic level but even more so that so many know what he means to say! I guess it is just me that is fully ignorant in these things.
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I totally agree with Rabbi Hoffman and others who debunked this claim saying that the Zohar has no connection to what happened in Meron.
ReplyDeleteOn the other hand, the whole brouhaha over this Zohar caused a whole bunch of people to learn Zohar on Lag Ba'Omer, so you got to hand it to them for that at least.
IMO, such statements are nothing more than manifestations of the yetzer hara and the desire to avoid guilt for the reckless behavior that led to the tragedy. Whether or not the Zohar predicted this, the people involved still have much to do Teshuva for.
ReplyDeleteYou are right, some people trampled over others, killing them. They need to do cheshbon hanefesh.
Deletepeople fell. no one intentionally trampled anyone else!
DeleteDid not say that it was intentional. It was b'Shogeg. Still...
Delete(1) I was not thinking about the people there, althought you are right. I was thinking about the politicians who fought tooth and nail to avoid police oversight on the location. Those people should be quaking when they get to the parsha of Egla Arufah.
DeleteI recently learned that two people were killed almost the same way a couple of years ago at R. Wozner zt"l's funeral. That really worsens the Meron situation, since there was warning that something like this could happen.
(2) Anonmyous -- killing someone be'shogeg is very serious. The Torah calls that person a Rotzeach, and prescribes exile, which might go on for decades.