On the day Rabbi Shimon Bar Yochai was preparing to leave this world, he told his son Reb Elazar and the students who were gathered around him, "now is an auspicious time and I will reveal holy secrets that I have never yet disclosed, so that I arrive in the World to Come without reason for embarrassment. I see that today is special, for Hashem and all the tzaddikim are rejoicing in my celebration (Hilula)."
He instructed his student Rabbi Abba to write, Rabbi Elazar to repeat it and the rest of the students to listen carefully, and then revealed to them the section of Zohar known as Idrah Zutah. At that time, the holiness of Rabbi Shimon was so great that none of the students were able to gaze at him, and throughout the day, a fire surrounded the house, preventing anyone from approaching it.
Rabbi Abba recalls, "I was in middle of writing, when in middle of quoting a verse, Rabbi Shimon stopped at the word 'Chaim'. I waited, wanting to continue, but did not raise my head to see why Rabbi Shimon had stopped, for I was unable to look at the great light that was shining around him.
"Suddenly, I heard a voice call out a verse with the word 'Chaim', and then another voice called out another verse. I fell to the ground and wept. When the fire and the light departed, I saw that the great light, Rabbi Shimon, had passed away. He was lying on his right side and his face was smiling."
reprinted from The Weekly Farbrengen by Merkaz Anash, on-line at TheWeeklyFarbrengen.com
