Chazal (Sukkah 45b) teaches that Rabbi Shimon alone had the power to exempt the entire world from strict justice. Why was this so?
Rabbi Shimon completely excelled in the trait of gratitude. Despite all the hardships he endured, he never had any complaints and accepted everything with love—being grateful for everything he gained from his experiences.
Rabbi Shimon was forced to hide from the Romans after being accused of treason. Together with his son, he was confined to a cave for thirteen years. They only had one set of clothing, which they wore only for davening in order to preserve it, and spent most of the day covered in sand. This caused their skin to become cracked and full of bruises.
When Rabbi Pinchas ben Yair, Rabbi Shimon’s Rebbi, visited them after they left the cave, he was shocked by their appearance and wept uncontrollably, saying, “Woe to me who is seeing you in this state.” However, Rabbi Shimon had a very different perspective: “Fortunate are you who is seeing me in this state,” he replied.
He went on to explain that because he was confined to the cave for so many years without distractions, he was able to amass a vast and profound amount of Torah and reach an entirely new level. He related how originally, when he would ask a question, Rabbi Pinchas would respond with twelve answers. But after leaving the cave, when Rabbi Pinchas asked a question, Rabbi Shimon gave twenty-four answers.
He was so appreciative of the fact that he was miraculously saved that he immediately wanted to do something to benefit the public. He discovered that there was an area of land that was questionable in terms of tumah, so the Kohanim avoided going there. He researched and confirmed that there was actually no issue. This act of benefiting the public was his way of expressing appreciation (Shabbos 33a–b).
Our Rabbis teach that gratitude has the power to exempt us from judgments. In the words of the Imrei Emes, “Hashem performs many kindnesses with every Jew; we need to remember these acts constantly and never forget them. When doing so we will be saved from the attribute of strict justice.”
So we can explain that Rebbi Shimon’s tremendous gratitude helped exempt the entire world from justice.
It is no surprise that Lag Ba’Omer, Rabbi Shimon’s Hillula, falls on the day of the Omer that corresponds to the attribute of Hod shebeHod. The Tikunei Zohar (13) teaches that the word hod (glory) stems from hoda’ah (gratitude), since expressing our thanks is the ultimate way of glorifying Hashem. Lag Ba’Omer corresponds to gratitude, the trait that Rabbi Shimon truly embodied. In this merit, he was able to exempt the whole world from judgment.
