Rabbi Shimon said: There are three crowns: the crown of Torah, the crown of priesthood, and the crown of kingship; but the crown of a good name surpasses them all.

(Pirkei Avot 4:13)

Open To All.

Aaron merited the crown of priesthood; David merited the crown of kingship; but the crown of Torah stands ready for anyone who wishes to crown himself with it (Rambam). The crowns of priesthood and kingship can only be acquired through lineage; but the crown of Torah can be acquired by anyone who works hard at it (Meiri).

Lest you think that this crown is inferior to the other two, know that it is not so. It is greater than both of them and it is the one that grants honor to others.

The crown of a good name also derives from Torah – i.e., knowledge and fulfillment of Torah – since, it is through Torah that one attains the truly good name (Rambam).

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Rabbi Shimon Ben Yochai

The Rabbi Shimon of our Mishnah is the famed 

rabbi Shimon Ben Yochai. Due to his negative comments about the Romans, whom he hated because of their persecution of the Jews, he was forced to flee from them together with his son. They hid in a cave for thirteen years and studied Torah. God provided them with sustenance by way of a carob tree and a stream that appeared outside the cave. During these thirteen years, Rabbi Shimon and his son studied the Torah continually; they delved into the deepest secrets of the Torah and of G-d’s creation. upon emerging from the cave after the Emperor’s death, they taught the Torah to many disciples, also instructing them in Kabbalah, revealing to them many secrets which now form the holy Zohar (seeShabbat 33b).

Rabbi Shimon epitomized the ability to unify the world and Torah, as the Talmud says of him (Shabbat 11a): “His Torah study was his occupation.”

Additionally, the Zohar (III:59b) relates that when the Land of Israel was in need of rain, Rabbi Shimon would study Torah and in its merit the rain would come forth (in contrast to other sages who would pray for rain, as in Taanit 10b).

Rabbi Shimon brought unity to the world by creating unity within Torah itself: he removed the barrier that stood between its revealed and esoteric dimensions. He took the esoteric secrets of the Torah and revealed them [see Pesachim119a; Chagigah 13a](the Rebbe in Biurim).

Rabbi Shimon ben Yochai died in Meron on Lag B’Omer, and his yartzeit is celebrated by our people to this day. Many thousands of Jews with their children gather in Meron, in the Upper Galilee, where they spend the night and day of Lag B’Omer in prayer and study, and are inspired by the holy teachings of “Bar Yochai.”