Meron (Israel)
Encyclopedia
Meron is a moshav
(cooperative village) on the slopes of Mount Meron, in the Upper Galilee
in northern Israel
near Safed
, and within municipal jurisdiction of the Merom HaGalil Regional Council
. Meron is most famous for the tomb
of Rabbi Shimon bar Yochai, and is the site of annual mass public commemoration of Lag Ba'omer
.
The association of Meron with the ancient Canaanite city of Merom or Maroma is generally accepted by Archeologists. According to Avraham Negev, by the Second Temple period, Merom was known as Meron. Meron is mentioned in the Bible as the site of Joshua
's victory over the Canaanite kings. In the 12th century, Benjamin de Tudela
visited Meron and described a cave of tombs located there believed to hold the remains of Hillel
, Shammai
, and "twenty of their disciples and other Rabbis." Until at least 1931, Meron consisted of an Arab and Jewish quarter (See also Mirun) . Meron's Arab inhabitants were driven out or have fled during the Israeli War of Independence
. The modern village of Meron was founded in 1949 on the site of the ancient settlement by Orthodox
soldiers discharged after the war.
or Jebel Marun, have also been considered. Merom is mentioned in 2nd milleniun BCE Egyptian
sources, and in Tiglath-pileser III
's accounts of his expedition to the Galilee
in 733-732 BCE (where it is transcribed as Marum).
Soundings conducted below the floors of houses excavated in the 1970s indicate the presence of even earlier structures with a different layout. While these lower levels have not yet been excavated, the possibility that they date back to the Early Bronze Age
was not ruled out by the archaeologists. A handful of artifacts dating to the Early Bronze Age, including seal impressions and a basalt
bowl, were also found during the digs.
According to Avraham Negev, an Israeli archaeologist
, by the Second Temple period, Merom was known as Meron. It is mentioned in the Talmud
as being a village in which sheep were reared, that was also renowned for its olive
oil. The Reverend R. Rappaport ventured that merino
, the celebrated wool
, may have its etymological roots in the name for the village.
dating to the Hellenistic period at the foundation of the site. The economic and cultural affinities of the inhabitants of the Meron area at this time were directed toward the north, to Tyre and southern Syria
in general. Josephus
fortified Meron in the 1st century CE and called the town Mero or Meroth; however, Negev writes that Meroth, another ancient town, was located further north, possibly at the site of Marun as-Ras.
A tower which still stands at a height of 18 feet (5.5 m) was constructed in Meron in the 2nd century CE. In the last decade of the 3rd century CE, a synagogue
was erected in the village. Known as the Meron synagogue, it survived an earthquake in 306 CE, though excavations at the site indicate that it was severely damaged or destroyed by another earthquake in 409 CE. "One of the largest Palestinian synagogues in the basilica
style," it is the earliest example of the so-called 'Galilean' synagogue, and consists of a large room with eight columns on each side leading to the facade and a three-doored entrance framed by a columned portico
. Artifacts uncovered during digs at the site include a coin of Probus (276-282 CE) and African ceramics dating to the latter half of the 3rd century, indicating that the city was commercially prosperous at the time. Coins found in Mieron are mostly from Tyre, though a large number are also from Hippos
, which lay on the other side of Lake Tiberias. Peregrine Horden and Nicholas Purcell write that Meron was a prominent local religious centre in the period of late Antiquity. Some time in the 4th century CE, Meron was abandoned for reasons as yet unknown.
In the 12th century, Benjamin de Tudela
, a Navarrese
rabbi, visited Meron and described a cave of tombs located there believed to hold the remains of Hillel
, Shammai
, and "twenty of their disciples and other Rabbis." On his visit to Meron in 1210, Samuel ben Samson
, a French
rabbi, located the tombs of Shimon Bar Yochai and his son Eleazar there. A contemporary of the second Jewish revolt against Rome (132-135 CE), Bar Yochai is venerated by Moroccan
Jews, whose veneration of saints is thought to be an adaptation of local Muslim customs. From the 13th century onward, Meron became the most frequented site of pilgrimage for Jews in Palestine.
In the early 14th century, Arab
geographer al-Dimashqi mentioned Meron as falling under the administration of Safad. He reported that it was located near a "well-known cave" where Jews and possibly non-Jewish locals traveled to celebrate a festival, which involved witnessing the sudden and miraculous rise of water from basins and sarcophagi in the cave.
Palestine
was incorporated into the Ottoman Empire
in 1517, and by 1596, Meron was a large village of 715 located in the nahiya ("subdistrict") of Jira, part of Sanjak Safad. The village paid taxes on goats, beehives, and a press that processed either grapes or olives.
Meron suffered relatively minor damage in the Galilee earthquake of 1837
. It was reported that during the earthquake the walls of the tombs of Rabbi Eleazer and Rabbi She-Maun were dislodged, but did not collapse.
A number of European travellers came to Meron over the course of the 19th century and their observations from the time are documented in travel journals. Edward Robinson
, who visited Meron during his travels in Palestine and Syria in the mid-19th century, describes it as "a very old looking village situated on a ledge of bristling rocks near the foot of the mountain. The ascent is by a very steep and ancient road [...] It is small, and inhabitated only by Muhammedans." The tombs of Shimon bar Yochai, his son R. Eleazar, and those of Hillel and Shammai are located by Robinson as lying within a khan-like courtyard underneath low-domed structures that were usually kept closed with the keys held in Safad. Robinson indicates that this place was the focal point of Jewish pilgrimage activities by his time; the synagogue is described as being in ruins.
Laurence Oliphant also visited Meron sometime in the latter half of the 19th century. His guide there was a Sephardic rabbi who owned the land that made up the Jewish quarter of the village. Oliphant writes that the rabbi had brought 6 Jewish families from Morocco
to till the land, and that they and another 12 Muslim families made up the whole of the village's population at the time. Karl Baedeker
described it as a small village that appeared quite old with a Muslim
population. By the late 19th century, Meron was a small village of 50 people who cultivated olives.
, the ruins of the Meron synagogue were acquired by the "Fund for the Redemption of Historical Sites" (Qeren le-Geulat Meqomot Histori'im), a Jewish society headed by David Yellin. Until at least 1931, Meron consisted of an Arab and Jewish quarter, with the former being the larger one and the latter being built around the tomb of bar Yochai. That year, there were 259 Arabs and 31 Jews. Sami Hadawi
's 1945 survey, conducted toward the end of the British Mandate in Palestine, depicted an entirely Arab population. Meron had a boy's elementary school. Agriculture and livestock was the dominant economic sectors of the village, with grain being the primary crop, followed by fruits. Around 200 dunams of land were planted with olive trees, and there were two presses in the village used to process olives.
.
exploded in Meron, claiming 2 lives - Yehudit Itzkovich, 57, and her 7-year-old grandson Omer Pesachov - and injuring four others. A new barrage of rockets hit Moshav Meron on July 15; there were no injuries.
of Rabbi Shimon bar Yochai, a first-century rabbi, who contributed greatly to the Mishna, is often quoted in the Talmud
, and to whom is attributed authorship of the kabbalistic
book of Zohar
. During the annual mass public commemoration of Lag Ba'omer
, hundreds of thousands of Jews make a pilgrimage
to the site. During the celebrations attended mostly by religious Jews, a highlight is the custom to perform the upsherin
. With torches, song and feasting, the Yom Hillula is celebrated by tens of thousands of people. This celebration was a specific request by Rabbi Shimon bar Yochai of his students. It is a custom at the Meron celebrations, dating from the time of Rabbi Isaac Luria
, that three-year-old boys are given their first haircuts (called upshirin), while their parents distribute wine and sweets.
Among other leading early rabbinical figures buried in Meron are Hillel
, Shammai
and Rabbi Elozor ben Shimon.
Moshav
Moshav is a type of Israeli town or settlement, in particular a type of cooperative agricultural community of individual farms pioneered by the Labour Zionists during the second aliyah...
(cooperative village) on the slopes of Mount Meron, in the Upper Galilee
Upper Galilee
The Upper Galilee is a geographical-political term in use since the end of the Second Temple period, originally referring to a mountainous area overlapping the present northern Israel and southern Lebanon, its borders being the Litani river in the north, the Mediterranean Sea in the west, the Beit...
in northern Israel
Israel
The State of Israel is a parliamentary republic located in the Middle East, along the eastern shore of the Mediterranean Sea...
near Safed
Safed
Safed , is a city in the Northern District of Israel. Located at an elevation of , Safed is the highest city in the Galilee and of Israel. Due to its high elevation, Safed experiences warm summers and cold, often snowy, winters...
, and within municipal jurisdiction of the Merom HaGalil Regional Council
Merom HaGalil Regional Council
The Merom HaGalil Regional Council is a regional council in the northern Galilee of northern Israel. The regional council was established in 1950...
. Meron is most famous for the tomb
Tomb
A tomb is a repository for the remains of the dead. It is generally any structurally enclosed interment space or burial chamber, of varying sizes...
of Rabbi Shimon bar Yochai, and is the site of annual mass public commemoration of Lag Ba'omer
Lag Ba'omer
Lag BaOmer , also known as Lag LaOmer amongst Sephardi Jews, is a Jewish holiday celebrated on the thirty-third day of the Counting of the Omer, which occurs on the 18th day of Iyar. One reason given for the holiday is as the day of passing of Rabbi Shimon bar Yochai. Modern Jewish tradition links...
.
The association of Meron with the ancient Canaanite city of Merom or Maroma is generally accepted by Archeologists. According to Avraham Negev, by the Second Temple period, Merom was known as Meron. Meron is mentioned in the Bible as the site of Joshua
Joshua
Joshua , is a minor figure in the Torah, being one of the spies for Israel and in few passages as Moses's assistant. He turns to be the central character in the Hebrew Bible's Book of Joshua...
's victory over the Canaanite kings. In the 12th century, Benjamin de Tudela
Benjamin of Tudela
Benjamin of Tudela was a medieval Jewish traveler who visited Europe, Asia, and Africa in the 12th century. His vivid descriptions of western Asia preceded those of Marco Polo by a hundred years...
visited Meron and described a cave of tombs located there believed to hold the remains of Hillel
Hillel the Elder
Hillel was a famous Jewish religious leader, one of the most important figures in Jewish history. He is associated with the development of the Mishnah and the Talmud...
, Shammai
Shammai
Shammai was a Jewish scholar of the 1st century, and an important figure in Judaism's core work of rabbinic literature, the Mishnah....
, and "twenty of their disciples and other Rabbis." Until at least 1931, Meron consisted of an Arab and Jewish quarter (See also Mirun) . Meron's Arab inhabitants were driven out or have fled during the Israeli War of Independence
1948 Arab-Israeli War
The 1948 Arab–Israeli War, known to Israelis as the War of Independence or War of Liberation The war commenced after the termination of the British Mandate for Palestine and the creation of an independent Israel at midnight on 14 May 1948 when, following a period of civil war, Arab armies invaded...
. The modern village of Meron was founded in 1949 on the site of the ancient settlement by Orthodox
Orthodox Judaism
Orthodox Judaism , is the approach to Judaism which adheres to the traditional interpretation and application of the laws and ethics of the Torah as legislated in the Talmudic texts by the Sanhedrin and subsequently developed and applied by the later authorities known as the Gaonim, Rishonim, and...
soldiers discharged after the war.
Geography
Among the local attractions are the Meron Vineyards. Meron is conducive to growing grapes for wine as a result of its 600-meter altitude and chalky soil. The vineyard was first planted in 2000 and is part of the Galil Mountain Winery.Ancient
The association of Meron with the ancient Canaanite city of Merom or Maroma is generally accepted, though the absence of hard archaeological evidence means other sites a little further north, such as Marun as-RasMaroun al-Ras
Maroun al-Ras is a Lebanese village nestled in Jabal Amel in the district of Bint Jbeil in the Nabatiye Governorate in southern Lebanon...
or Jebel Marun, have also been considered. Merom is mentioned in 2nd milleniun BCE Egyptian
Ancient Egypt
Ancient Egypt was an ancient civilization of Northeastern Africa, concentrated along the lower reaches of the Nile River in what is now the modern country of Egypt. Egyptian civilization coalesced around 3150 BC with the political unification of Upper and Lower Egypt under the first pharaoh...
sources, and in Tiglath-pileser III
Tiglath-Pileser III
Tiglath-Pileser III was a prominent king of Assyria in the eighth century BC and is widely regarded as the founder of the Neo-Assyrian Empire. Tiglath-Pileser III seized the Assyrian throne during a civil war and killed the royal family...
's accounts of his expedition to the Galilee
Galilee
Galilee , is a large region in northern Israel which overlaps with much of the administrative North District of the country. Traditionally divided into Upper Galilee , Lower Galilee , and Western Galilee , extending from Dan to the north, at the base of Mount Hermon, along Mount Lebanon to the...
in 733-732 BCE (where it is transcribed as Marum).
Soundings conducted below the floors of houses excavated in the 1970s indicate the presence of even earlier structures with a different layout. While these lower levels have not yet been excavated, the possibility that they date back to the Early Bronze Age
Bronze Age
The Bronze Age is a period characterized by the use of copper and its alloy bronze as the chief hard materials in the manufacture of some implements and weapons. Chronologically, it stands between the Stone Age and Iron Age...
was not ruled out by the archaeologists. A handful of artifacts dating to the Early Bronze Age, including seal impressions and a basalt
Basalt
Basalt is a common extrusive volcanic rock. It is usually grey to black and fine-grained due to rapid cooling of lava at the surface of a planet. It may be porphyritic containing larger crystals in a fine matrix, or vesicular, or frothy scoria. Unweathered basalt is black or grey...
bowl, were also found during the digs.
According to Avraham Negev, an Israeli archaeologist
Syro-Palestinian archaeology
Syro-Palestinian archaeology is a term used to refer to archaeological research conducted in the southern Levant. Palestinian archaeology is also commonly used in its stead, particularly when the area of inquiry centers on ancient Palestine...
, by the Second Temple period, Merom was known as Meron. It is mentioned in the Talmud
Talmud
The Talmud is a central text of mainstream Judaism. It takes the form of a record of rabbinic discussions pertaining to Jewish law, ethics, philosophy, customs and history....
as being a village in which sheep were reared, that was also renowned for its olive
Olive
The olive , Olea europaea), is a species of a small tree in the family Oleaceae, native to the coastal areas of the eastern Mediterranean Basin as well as northern Iran at the south end of the Caspian Sea.Its fruit, also called the olive, is of major agricultural importance in the...
oil. The Reverend R. Rappaport ventured that merino
Merino
The Merino is an economically influential breed of sheep prized for its wool. Merinos are regarded as having some of the finest and softest wool of any sheep...
, the celebrated wool
Wool
Wool is the textile fiber obtained from sheep and certain other animals, including cashmere from goats, mohair from goats, qiviut from muskoxen, vicuña, alpaca, camel from animals in the camel family, and angora from rabbits....
, may have its etymological roots in the name for the village.
Classical Antiquity
Excavations at Meron found artifactsArtifact (archaeology)
An artifact or artefact is "something made or given shape by man, such as a tool or a work of art, esp an object of archaeological interest"...
dating to the Hellenistic period at the foundation of the site. The economic and cultural affinities of the inhabitants of the Meron area at this time were directed toward the north, to Tyre and southern Syria
Syria
Syria , officially the Syrian Arab Republic , is a country in Western Asia, bordering Lebanon and the Mediterranean Sea to the West, Turkey to the north, Iraq to the east, Jordan to the south, and Israel to the southwest....
in general. Josephus
Josephus
Titus Flavius Josephus , also called Joseph ben Matityahu , was a 1st-century Romano-Jewish historian and hagiographer of priestly and royal ancestry who recorded Jewish history, with special emphasis on the 1st century AD and the First Jewish–Roman War, which resulted in the Destruction of...
fortified Meron in the 1st century CE and called the town Mero or Meroth; however, Negev writes that Meroth, another ancient town, was located further north, possibly at the site of Marun as-Ras.
A tower which still stands at a height of 18 feet (5.5 m) was constructed in Meron in the 2nd century CE. In the last decade of the 3rd century CE, a synagogue
Synagogue
A synagogue is a Jewish house of prayer. This use of the Greek term synagogue originates in the Septuagint where it sometimes translates the Hebrew word for assembly, kahal...
was erected in the village. Known as the Meron synagogue, it survived an earthquake in 306 CE, though excavations at the site indicate that it was severely damaged or destroyed by another earthquake in 409 CE. "One of the largest Palestinian synagogues in the basilica
Basilica
The Latin word basilica , was originally used to describe a Roman public building, usually located in the forum of a Roman town. Public basilicas began to appear in Hellenistic cities in the 2nd century BC.The term was also applied to buildings used for religious purposes...
style," it is the earliest example of the so-called 'Galilean' synagogue, and consists of a large room with eight columns on each side leading to the facade and a three-doored entrance framed by a columned portico
Portico
A portico is a porch leading to the entrance of a building, or extended as a colonnade, with a roof structure over a walkway, supported by columns or enclosed by walls...
. Artifacts uncovered during digs at the site include a coin of Probus (276-282 CE) and African ceramics dating to the latter half of the 3rd century, indicating that the city was commercially prosperous at the time. Coins found in Mieron are mostly from Tyre, though a large number are also from Hippos
Hippos
Hippos is an archaeological site in Israel, located on a hill overlooking the Sea of Galilee. Between the 3rd century BC and the 7th century AD, Hippos was the site of a Greco-Roman city. Besides the fortified city itself, Hippos controlled two port facilities on the lake and an area of the...
, which lay on the other side of Lake Tiberias. Peregrine Horden and Nicholas Purcell write that Meron was a prominent local religious centre in the period of late Antiquity. Some time in the 4th century CE, Meron was abandoned for reasons as yet unknown.
Islamic era
Denys Pringle describes Meron as a "[f]ormer Jewish village," with a synagogue and tombs dating to the 3rd and 4th centuries, noting the site was later reoccupied between 750 and 1399.In the 12th century, Benjamin de Tudela
Benjamin of Tudela
Benjamin of Tudela was a medieval Jewish traveler who visited Europe, Asia, and Africa in the 12th century. His vivid descriptions of western Asia preceded those of Marco Polo by a hundred years...
, a Navarrese
Kingdom of Navarre
The Kingdom of Navarre , originally the Kingdom of Pamplona, was a European kingdom which occupied lands on either side of the Pyrenees alongside the Atlantic Ocean....
rabbi, visited Meron and described a cave of tombs located there believed to hold the remains of Hillel
Hillel the Elder
Hillel was a famous Jewish religious leader, one of the most important figures in Jewish history. He is associated with the development of the Mishnah and the Talmud...
, Shammai
Shammai
Shammai was a Jewish scholar of the 1st century, and an important figure in Judaism's core work of rabbinic literature, the Mishnah....
, and "twenty of their disciples and other Rabbis." On his visit to Meron in 1210, Samuel ben Samson
Samuel ben Samson
Samuel ben Samson was a rabbi who lived in France and made a pilgrimage to Palestine in 1210, visiting a number of villages and cities there, including Jerusalem. Rabbi Jonathan ha Cohen, said to be "the most influential and wealthy French Jew of his time," was ben Samson's travelling companion,...
, a French
France
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
rabbi, located the tombs of Shimon Bar Yochai and his son Eleazar there. A contemporary of the second Jewish revolt against Rome (132-135 CE), Bar Yochai is venerated by Moroccan
Morocco
Morocco , officially the Kingdom of Morocco , is a country located in North Africa. It has a population of more than 32 million and an area of 710,850 km², and also primarily administers the disputed region of the Western Sahara...
Jews, whose veneration of saints is thought to be an adaptation of local Muslim customs. From the 13th century onward, Meron became the most frequented site of pilgrimage for Jews in Palestine.
In the early 14th century, Arab
Arab
Arab people, also known as Arabs , are a panethnicity primarily living in the Arab world, which is located in Western Asia and North Africa. They are identified as such on one or more of genealogical, linguistic, or cultural grounds, with tribal affiliations, and intra-tribal relationships playing...
geographer al-Dimashqi mentioned Meron as falling under the administration of Safad. He reported that it was located near a "well-known cave" where Jews and possibly non-Jewish locals traveled to celebrate a festival, which involved witnessing the sudden and miraculous rise of water from basins and sarcophagi in the cave.
Palestine
Palestine
Palestine is a conventional name, among others, used to describe the geographic region between the Mediterranean Sea and the Jordan River, and various adjoining lands....
was incorporated into the Ottoman Empire
Ottoman Empire
The Ottoman EmpireIt was usually referred to as the "Ottoman Empire", the "Turkish Empire", the "Ottoman Caliphate" or more commonly "Turkey" by its contemporaries...
in 1517, and by 1596, Meron was a large village of 715 located in the nahiya ("subdistrict") of Jira, part of Sanjak Safad. The village paid taxes on goats, beehives, and a press that processed either grapes or olives.
Meron suffered relatively minor damage in the Galilee earthquake of 1837
Galilee earthquake of 1837
The Galilee earthquake of 1837, often called the Safed earthquake, was a devastating earthquake that shook the Galilee on January 1, 1837.-Impact:...
. It was reported that during the earthquake the walls of the tombs of Rabbi Eleazer and Rabbi She-Maun were dislodged, but did not collapse.
A number of European travellers came to Meron over the course of the 19th century and their observations from the time are documented in travel journals. Edward Robinson
Edward Robinson (scholar)
Edward Robinson was an American biblical scholar, known as the “Father of Biblical Geography.” He has been referred to as the “founder of modern Palestinology.” -Biography:...
, who visited Meron during his travels in Palestine and Syria in the mid-19th century, describes it as "a very old looking village situated on a ledge of bristling rocks near the foot of the mountain. The ascent is by a very steep and ancient road [...] It is small, and inhabitated only by Muhammedans." The tombs of Shimon bar Yochai, his son R. Eleazar, and those of Hillel and Shammai are located by Robinson as lying within a khan-like courtyard underneath low-domed structures that were usually kept closed with the keys held in Safad. Robinson indicates that this place was the focal point of Jewish pilgrimage activities by his time; the synagogue is described as being in ruins.
Laurence Oliphant also visited Meron sometime in the latter half of the 19th century. His guide there was a Sephardic rabbi who owned the land that made up the Jewish quarter of the village. Oliphant writes that the rabbi had brought 6 Jewish families from Morocco
Morocco
Morocco , officially the Kingdom of Morocco , is a country located in North Africa. It has a population of more than 32 million and an area of 710,850 km², and also primarily administers the disputed region of the Western Sahara...
to till the land, and that they and another 12 Muslim families made up the whole of the village's population at the time. Karl Baedeker
Karl Baedeker
Karl Baedeker was a German publisher whose company Baedeker set the standard for authoritative guidebooks for tourists.- Biography :...
described it as a small village that appeared quite old with a Muslim
Muslim
A Muslim, also spelled Moslem, is an adherent of Islam, a monotheistic, Abrahamic religion based on the Quran, which Muslims consider the verbatim word of God as revealed to prophet Muhammad. "Muslim" is the Arabic term for "submitter" .Muslims believe that God is one and incomparable...
population. By the late 19th century, Meron was a small village of 50 people who cultivated olives.
British Mandate of Palestine
Towards the end of World War IWorld War I
World War I , which was predominantly called the World War or the Great War from its occurrence until 1939, and the First World War or World War I thereafter, was a major war centred in Europe that began on 28 July 1914 and lasted until 11 November 1918...
, the ruins of the Meron synagogue were acquired by the "Fund for the Redemption of Historical Sites" (Qeren le-Geulat Meqomot Histori'im), a Jewish society headed by David Yellin. Until at least 1931, Meron consisted of an Arab and Jewish quarter, with the former being the larger one and the latter being built around the tomb of bar Yochai. That year, there were 259 Arabs and 31 Jews. Sami Hadawi
Sami Hadawi
Sami Hadawi was a Palestinian scholar and author. He is known for documenting the effects of the 1948 Arab-Israeli War on the Arab population in Palestine and published statistics for individual villages prior to Israel's establishment. Hadawi worked as a land specialist until he was exiled from...
's 1945 survey, conducted toward the end of the British Mandate in Palestine, depicted an entirely Arab population. Meron had a boy's elementary school. Agriculture and livestock was the dominant economic sectors of the village, with grain being the primary crop, followed by fruits. Around 200 dunams of land were planted with olive trees, and there were two presses in the village used to process olives.
1948 War
Meron's Arab inhabitants were driven out or have fled during the 1948 Arab-Israeli war1948 Arab-Israeli War
The 1948 Arab–Israeli War, known to Israelis as the War of Independence or War of Liberation The war commenced after the termination of the British Mandate for Palestine and the creation of an independent Israel at midnight on 14 May 1948 when, following a period of civil war, Arab armies invaded...
.
2006 Lebanon-Israel War
On July 14, 2006, a Katyusha rocket fired from LebanonLebanon
Lebanon , officially the Republic of LebanonRepublic of Lebanon is the most common term used by Lebanese government agencies. The term Lebanese Republic, a literal translation of the official Arabic and French names that is not used in today's world. Arabic is the most common language spoken among...
exploded in Meron, claiming 2 lives - Yehudit Itzkovich, 57, and her 7-year-old grandson Omer Pesachov - and injuring four others. A new barrage of rockets hit Moshav Meron on July 15; there were no injuries.
Tomb of Shimon Bar Yochai
Meron is most famous for the tombTomb
A tomb is a repository for the remains of the dead. It is generally any structurally enclosed interment space or burial chamber, of varying sizes...
of Rabbi Shimon bar Yochai, a first-century rabbi, who contributed greatly to the Mishna, is often quoted in the Talmud
Talmud
The Talmud is a central text of mainstream Judaism. It takes the form of a record of rabbinic discussions pertaining to Jewish law, ethics, philosophy, customs and history....
, and to whom is attributed authorship of the kabbalistic
Kabbalah
Kabbalah/Kabala is a discipline and school of thought concerned with the esoteric aspect of Rabbinic Judaism. It was systematized in 11th-13th century Hachmei Provence and Spain, and again after the Expulsion from Spain, in 16th century Ottoman Palestine...
book of Zohar
Zohar
The Zohar is the foundational work in the literature of Jewish mystical thought known as Kabbalah. It is a group of books including commentary on the mystical aspects of the Torah and scriptural interpretations as well as material on Mysticism, mythical cosmogony, and mystical psychology...
. During the annual mass public commemoration of Lag Ba'omer
Lag Ba'omer
Lag BaOmer , also known as Lag LaOmer amongst Sephardi Jews, is a Jewish holiday celebrated on the thirty-third day of the Counting of the Omer, which occurs on the 18th day of Iyar. One reason given for the holiday is as the day of passing of Rabbi Shimon bar Yochai. Modern Jewish tradition links...
, hundreds of thousands of Jews make a pilgrimage
Pilgrimage
A pilgrimage is a journey or search of great moral or spiritual significance. Typically, it is a journey to a shrine or other location of importance to a person's beliefs and faith...
to the site. During the celebrations attended mostly by religious Jews, a highlight is the custom to perform the upsherin
Upsherin
Upsherin or Upsherinish is a Jewish haircutting ceremony, kabbalistic in origin, held when a Jewish boy is three years old...
. With torches, song and feasting, the Yom Hillula is celebrated by tens of thousands of people. This celebration was a specific request by Rabbi Shimon bar Yochai of his students. It is a custom at the Meron celebrations, dating from the time of Rabbi Isaac Luria
Isaac Luria
Isaac Luria , also called Yitzhak Ben Shlomo Ashkenazi acronym "The Ari" "Ari-Hakadosh", or "Arizal", meaning "The Lion", was a foremost rabbi and Jewish mystic in the community of Safed in the Galilee region of Ottoman Palestine...
, that three-year-old boys are given their first haircuts (called upshirin), while their parents distribute wine and sweets.
Among other leading early rabbinical figures buried in Meron are Hillel
Hillel the Elder
Hillel was a famous Jewish religious leader, one of the most important figures in Jewish history. He is associated with the development of the Mishnah and the Talmud...
, Shammai
Shammai
Shammai was a Jewish scholar of the 1st century, and an important figure in Judaism's core work of rabbinic literature, the Mishnah....
and Rabbi Elozor ben Shimon.