Meron and Mt. Meron

Each year on the holiday of Lag Ba’Omer (April 29 in 1994), thousands converge on the tiny village of Meron, 4km west of Tzfat, at the tomb of Rabbi Shimon Bar Yohai, the great 2nd-century Talmudic scholar. Some believe he composed the Zobar (the central work of Jewish mysticism) while hiding in a cave in Peki’in. According to the Kabbalists, Bar Yohai once vowed to God that the Jews would never forget the importance of the Torah. Mindful of this vow, the Tzfat Hasidim dance and sing their way to his tomb, accompanied by an ancient Torah scroll from the Bana’a Synagogue in the Spanish Quarter. Contact the GTIO in Tzfat for details.

Near the tomb are the ruins of an outwardly unimpressive but historically noteworthy synagogue dating from the 3rd century AD, when Meron was a center in the booming olive oil trade. From Bar Yohai’s grave, walk to your right, past the yeshiva, and follow the uphill path to your left. Virtually all that’s left of the synagogue is a lintel. Legend has it that this lintel’s fall will herald the coming of the Messiah. The Israeli Department of Antiquities has nervously buttressed the artifact with reinforced concrete, but every year, pious Jews from Tzfat enthusiastically dance and stomp in efforts to accelerate its fall.