“For 12 years, Rabbi Shimon Bar Yochai and his son hide from the Romans in a desert cave. When it’s finally safe to return, the rabbi finds himself unable to do so. Encased in his own limited perspective, he sees human beings working, plowing, and sowing, and declares, ‘These people abandon eternal life of Torah study and engage in temporal life for their own sustenance.’

A divine voice sends him back to the cave for 12 more months. This time, when he emerges, Bar Yochai is ready to see differently. As the sun is setting on the eve of Shabbat, he encounters an older man holding two bundles of myrtle branches and, rather than rushing to judge, poses a question: ‘Why do you have these?’ The older man responds, ‘In honor of Shabbat.’ ‘But wouldn’t one suffice?’ Bar Yochai asks. The man explains that one is from the verse to ‘remember the Shabbat day, to keep it holy’ (Exodus 20:8), and the other is from the admonition ‘Observe the Shabbat day, to keep it holy’ (Deuteronomy 5:12). Bar Yochai looks at his son and says, ‘See how beloved the mitzvot are to Israel.’ With this encounter, Bar Yochai’s harsh judgment is softened. He returns home…”

Read the full piece in Sapir: A quarterly journal of ideas for a thriving Jewish future