Bidspirit auction | Early Testimony to the Tziyun

Early Testimony to the Tziyun of the Rashbi in Meron - Yichus HaTzaddikim. Mantua, 1561. First Edition Yichus HaTzaddikim, describing the resting places of the tzaddikim in Eretz Yisroel and Yerushalayim, together with traditions and divrei Torah associated with the Avos Hakedoshim, kings, nevi'im, and Chazal. Compiled by the noted traveler Rabbi Gershom ben Moshe of Shkarmela, who journeyed throughout Eretz Yisroel. Printed by Yaakov ben Naftali HaKohen Gazolo, Mantua, 1561. First edition. This sefer contains the earliest appearance in print of the famous tefillah recited at the kever of Rochel Imeinu. It also records the resting places of numerous geonim and identifies the traditional site of Bris Bein HaBesarim. Rediscovery of the Beis Medrash and Kever of Rabbi Shimon Bar Yochai It should be noted that the accepted identification of many kivrei Tannaim in the Galil was established later through the mesorah transmitted by the Arizal. The kever of Rabbeinu Shimon bar Yochai, however, together with his Beis Medrash, had already been known centuries earlier. Approximately eight hundred years ago, Rabbi Yaakov ben Nesanel HaKohen, who traveled throughout Eretz Yisroel, recorded in his diary: “In Meron lies Rabbi Shimon bar Yochai with his son, two monuments within his Beis Medrash, which still stands…” (Masa'os Eretz Yisroel). Over the generations, other travelers visited the area, although many made no mention of having found the Beis Medrash of Rashbi. In the present work, the mechaber again records its location: “In Meron are the cave of Hillel and Shammai and their twenty-four talmidim, and Rabbi Yochanan HaSandlar. To the south of the village stands the Beis Medrash of Rabbi Shimon bar Yochai, where he and his son Rabbi Elazar are buried.” Following the arrival of the Arizal in Tzfas in 1570, the tziyun was restored and rebuilt by Rabbi Avraham Galanti at the request of the Arizal. Thus, the testimony preserved in the present volume predates that restoration and preserves an earlier record of the site.